[noelpolar]

The only credible comparison I've seen showed the DA*300 with TC was more than one stop sharper (i.e. sharper at f5.6 than the zoom at f8).

I've not seen any credible comparison. So, so complex and difficult to do.... especially if covering focus etc.

I'd only trust a methodical and experienced persons process such as Digitalis... no tv antennas out the upstairs window stuff.

---------- Post added 10-01-17 at 03:28 PM ----------

Like me F*300 all the way baby! Eat my dust!

and beyond.....

---

Last edited by noelpolar; 01-09-2017 at 09:59 PM.

[luftfluss]

Nah...FA* 250-600/5.6...with the K-1...and a FA* 600/4... why not a FA* 200/4 Macro while I'm at it...wait...where's the $20000 coming from?

Ah, but you want WR, remember? And the FA*'s don't have it. So with all the money you will save by not buying the FA* 250-600, etc. you can buy the DA 300/4 + 1.4x TC!

Maybe we can hold a benefit concert... "Bert Aid"... young Pentaxian needs high quality tele lens, won't you please help?...

IIRC, a couple years ago the 300/4 could be had new for something like $800... oy

[normhead]

Ah, but you want WR, remember? And the FA*'s don't have it. So with all the money you will save by not buying the FA* 250-600, etc. you can buy the DA 300/4 + 1.4x TC!

Maybe we can hold a benefit concert... "Bert Aid"... young Pentaxian needs high quality tele lens, won't you please help?...

IIRC, a couple years ago the 300/4 could be had new for something like $800... oy

You haven't heard me sing....

Maybe crowd funding....

Bert, tell the cadets you want to switch from the bagpipe section to the photography section.

[UserAccessDenied]

Ah, but you want WR, remember? And the FA*'s don't have it. So with all the money you will save by not buying the FA* 250-600, etc. you can buy the DA 300/4 + 1.4x TC!

Maybe we can hold a benefit concert... "Bert Aid"... young Pentaxian needs high quality tele lens, won't you please help?...

IIRC, a couple years ago the 300/4 could be had new for something like $800... oy

Whatever you do, it's worth the wait!

It took me a year to get the DA*300 + HD 1.4x
But, I'm glad I waited for the right deal!

Scored the DA*300 for $700 on the marketplace, and the HD 1.4x from Adorama as a demo model for $389

Check around Craigslist for local labor help needed.
Make a few bucks here or there moving firewood, furniture, helping paint, lawncare, etc.
It all adds up!

[BrianR]

Like me F*300 all the way baby! Eat my dust!

I won't get caught again, I've developed a clever code.

TCS has pretty much all Pentax lenses in store:
SLR Lenses

Yes, my Pentax Lens, Model No. 21760, came from The Camera Store just over a year ago. It was an in-stock refurbished model. I haven't seen any refurbished Pentax equipment on their website since, but it might be worth asking them if they still get refurbished stuff.

[normhead]

Yes, my Pentax Lens, Model No. 21760, came from The Camera Store just over a year ago. It was an in-stock refurbished model. I haven't seen any refurbished Pentax equipment on their website since, but it might be worth asking them if they still get refurbished stuff.

My DA*200 came from them as an open box store demo.

[luftfluss]

You haven't heard me sing....

Oh, but we want to!

[luftfluss]

It took me a year to get the DA*300 + HD 1.4x
But, I'm glad I waited for the right deal!

Scored the DA*300 for $700 on the marketplace, and the HD 1.4x from Adorama as a demo model for $389!

That's it... patience, and then jumping at the opportunity.

[bertwert]

Oh, but we want to!

I second that notion!

[normhead]

Oh, but we want to!

I second that notion!

Not gonna happen.

We go the gym, and put our headsets on when we work out. Ocassionally, we sing to the iPod tunes. People who have walked in on us, claim they thought we were having a loud conversation.

So, if you can figure out where my gym is, manage to get a member's key, and sneak in while I'm on the elliptical, then you'll hear me sing. Otherwise you're fresh out of luck. They don't even let people under 21 into our facility.

[UserAccessDenied]

That's it... patience, and then jumping at the opportunity.

Though, there's something to be said for that duration...
Sometimes I think I should have just put a new one on the credit card. Sure I'd probably be paying twice what I did including interest over that year, but I would have 12 more months shooting with this lens.
I'd probably even be a better photographer now with 12 extra months of DA*300 experience under my belt...

Oh well, don't dwell on the past!
And I hate buying on credit, so there's that!

[audiobomber]

I've not seen any credible comparison. So, so complex and difficult to do.... especially if covering focus etc.

I'd only trust a methodical and experienced persons process such as Digitalis... no tv antennas out the upstairs window stuff.

---------- Post added 10-01-17 at 03:28 PM ----------



and beyond.....

The samples were provided by brandrx (RIP), a highly respected contributor to telephoto lens testing on DPR.

[ccc_]

I was considering all the choices presented bertwert here and I thought about the money I've spent to go in a similar direction

without the dollars this is what I've done-
vivitar 70-210
vivitar 100-200
vivitar 2xtc
50-200
50-200wr
tamron 70-300 (designed by Harold of the purple crayon series)
55-300
tamron 500 f8 mirror
55-300hd
sigma 15-500
tamron 1.4tc
da*300
1.4 tc hd

the list is chronological
the lens good and bad let me get shots my fieldcraft wouldn't

with prior knowledge this is what I would own-
55-300hd
da*300
1.4 tc hd

with the addition of the 100mm wr macro this would be my perfect wildlife kit
if I needed more than this can deliver...i'd rent it

this kit cost a bit more than i'm used to spending but it allows me to make adequate images in almost any environment (which is why the sigma is not on the list)

gear choice is a compromise

I suppose if I had just started with what i'm using today I would still want something else (human nature?)

starting here instead of ending here would have saved be a lot of aggravation and money
it also would have saved me from having a lot of fun and learning as well

so the kit i'm using now including the bodies is pushing five grand retail
not including tripods, flashes.......

I started out with a spotmatic and a bag full lenses for fifty dollars and here I am now

I was lucky
I had some talent as an artist so a lot of my images worked

I am totally crap as a technician
all those numbers and specifications make my head hurt

if I was starting where you are
i'd spend the three hundred or so on the 55-300hd and start taking the pictures you want to take
that 100mm makes a lot of difference

you can continue saving for the more refined glass
but you'd be out there doing it

the faster glass is great if you can afford it but SR or a tripod can get you a lot shots cheaper

[Des]

The samples were provided by brandrx (RIP), a highly respected contributor to telephoto lens testing on DPR.

This one? 150-450mm versus DA*300/4 +1.4X (8 imgs): Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
Dan, I suspect you are right that the DA*300 +TC is better wide open (f5.6) or close to it than the DFA 150-450 at 450 (f5.6). But you could hardly say definitively from these few snaps that the 300+TC is clearly 1 stop better. FWIW the MTF charts for the DFA150-450 at 450 don't show a huge difference between f5.6 and f8: Pentax HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 ED DC AW Review

Where the charts do show a big jump is at 300mm. That's where I guess you'd really see a one-stop or more difference with the F*/FA*/DA*300 primes, which are really good wide open and outstanding one stop down. But my surmise is that most people who buy a long zoom for wildlife will be using it disproportionately at the long end, so they might not care so much about the 300mm comparison.

You can make an argument that versatility is not all in favour of the zoom. The maximum aperture on the DFA 150-450 is f4.5 up to about 250mm, then f5.6 to 450mm (so at 300mm it's about the same as the screw-driven DA 55-300). In low light a lens that is going to perform very well at 300mm f4 (or f4.5 in the case of the F*/FA*) might be more "versatile" than a lens that is only f5.6 (or has to go out to 250mm for f4.5) and is not great even then. (And I say nothing of focus breathing, because I don't know how they compare.)

[audiobomber]

This one? 150-450mm versus DA*300/4 +1.4X (8 imgs): Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
Dan, I suspect you are right that the DA*300 +TC is better wide open (f5.6) or close to it than the DFA 150-450 at 450 (f5.6). But you could hardly say definitively from these few snaps that the 300+TC is clearly 1 stop better.

I'm looking at images 2 and 3. It's clear that the prime + TC is sharper wide open than the 150-450 at f8.