300mm - 400mm Prime for my k10d suggestions?

**BigMackCam** · 03-19-2018, 01:29 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Ronald Oakes

THANK YOU ! I never even knew darktable existed until now. I just tried it and its relative easy use has me really excited.

Thank You Sincerely.

You're very welcome!

I like Darktable a lot. One of these days, I'll switch to it completely. There are just a few areas where it's still lagging behind Lightroom's develop module a little - but for day-to-day use it's just as good, IMHO, and in some respects better. Enjoy!

swanlefitte · 03-19-2018, 01:46 PM - **1 Like**

Just took some pics with my ks-2 and both the tak 300 v4 and 55-300plm. The head to head goes to the 55-300plm but last time it was clearly the tak. I attribute this to my lazy 3 turns of manual focus. I thoght the focus trhow of the tak being huge would need more than 5mm turn. 1 cm made back focus to front focus extreme. but Here are pictures. The 55-300 is only at 55mm and not compact in the photo with it sitting on the side. I include 2 pictures I took with the 55-300 and 1.4 tc that happened during set up. They would not have happened without closefocus and fast af.

**UncleVanya** · 03-19-2018, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by swanlefitte

Just took some pics with my ks-2 and both the tak 300 v4 and 55-300plm. The head to head goes to the 55-300plm but last time it was clearly the tak. I attribute this to my lazy 3 turns of manual focus.

Looking at the photos I'm not sure which is sharper. But I can see lighting changes and slight differences in image magnification. That's a pretty impressive result for that old lens - or an equally impressive result from that simple lightweight zoom.

**BigMackCam** · 03-19-2018, 02:05 PM

Originally posted by swanlefitte

Just took some pics with my ks-2 and both the tak 300 v4 and 55-300plm. The head to head goes to the 55-300plm but last time it was clearly the tak.

Originally posted by UncleVanya

Looking at the photos I'm not sure which is sharper. But I can see lighting changes and slight differences in image magnification. That's a pretty impressive result for that old lens - or an equally impressive result from that simple lightweight zoom.

I'd have to agree, the old Tak is making a good fist of it considering its age. Importantly, the detail is there even if the sharpness isn't so "crisp". A little judicious sharpening in post should bring that out very nicely. Looks like a keeper

swanlefitte · 03-19-2018, 02:22 PM - **2 Likes**

I did not do anything to those 2 photos. The light was changing but the exposure is pretty consistent. There was a slight breeze. As i said in the post, the tak is sharper. I only took 3 photos each and my tak pics were 1 seriously front focuses. 3 the back "fence" was in focus. Its like a 270 degree focus throw so i thought my about 1 degree turn would be better tan my eye sight. With the focus throw so long and at f8 and about 25'/8 metres away i was surprised by how far critical focus moved.
My last test showed the tak making text readable at half the size.

---------- Post added 03-19-18 at 02:29 PM ----------

By the way the crow is in tree past the fence and the anole was a pace to the right of the flower.

**UncleVanya** · 03-19-2018, 02:44 PM

Gotcha - I was looking online on Flickr - one picture with the flower has a dark shadow on the diagonal and the other does not. But I understand your point.

swanlefitte · 03-19-2018, 03:04 PM - **2 Likes**

well I dug out my 100% liveview focus tests and quickly cropped them about equal. The tak is clearly better in this comparison.

Here is real world 300plm with 1.4x vs the tak.

Hope this has been enlightening to more than myself.

---------- Post added 03-19-18 at 03:13 PM ----------

one last one. this was the tak with the 1.4x tc AW yeah it worked hand held and lots of post sharpening.

With that I have nothing to add about old vs new lenses at 300mm.

**UncleVanya** · 03-19-2018, 03:30 PM

Again I notice a serious difference in magnification assuming the tidy cat shots were made from the exact same location. How far away was the tidy cat shot made from? I would expect perhaps some focus breathing on the PLM lens if the shots were made under 30' away. The focus breathing puts into perspective the fact that the 300 Tak doesn't do this and is more useful at the shorter range shots on smaller subjects - but it also puts the PLM at a disadvantage when comparing sharpness since the subject is smaller due to the loss of apparent focal length.

I really appreciate seeing these shots. Nice comparisons.

swanlefitte · 03-19-2018, 03:48 PM

They were the same distance on the tripod about 30 feet away. Not the same framing because the tripod head turned some but the fov is very close. The cropping is 100 but sloppy. Eye balled from memory from shot to shot so don't look to much at that. With tidy cat photos read the small print. Even with this crop difference it is what i saw before cropping.
I guess my take away is i love both lenses and my best shots with both are not really transferable to the other lens.

**UncleVanya** · 03-20-2018, 05:18 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by swanlefitte

They were the same distance on the tripod about 30 feet away. Not the same framing because the tripod head turned some but the fov is very close. The cropping is 100 but sloppy. Eye balled from memory from shot to shot so don't look to much at that. With tidy cat photos read the small print. Even with this crop difference it is what i saw before cropping.
I guess my take away is i love both lenses and my best shots with both are not really transferable to the other lens.

It is very informative and helpful to those looking at the older 300mm options.

Sam Dennis · 03-20-2018, 06:31 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by BigMackCam

If you want to save some money (and avoid being tied into a monthly subscription), I'd highly recommend trying the latest version of Darktable for Windows. It's completely free, not all that dissimilar to Lightroom in operation and capabilities, and just an awfully good bit of software all round. The noise reduction and lens correction tools aren't, IMHO, as good as Lightroom, but in most other respects it does a very good job. The full documentation is available online too, and it's very well written and easy to follow.

Thanks. Never heard of it. Downloaded yesterday and played with it a bit. I think it will be great once I figure it out - I see a lot of youtube tutorial viDEOS are available Great tip, thanks again

Ronald Oakes · 03-20-2018, 08:16 AM

Originally posted by swanlefitte

well I dug out my 100% liveview focus tests and quickly cropped them about equal. The tak is clearly better in this comparison<<...........>> Hope this has been enlightening to more than myself.
With that I have nothing to add about old vs new lenses at 300mm.

I greatly appreciate your images and post comparing a somewhat forgotten lens.

---------- Post added 03-20-18 at 08:17 AM ----------

Originally posted by UncleVanya

It is very informative and helpful to those looking at the older 300mm options.

Nicely shows whats possible in good hands with the 300mm Taks !

red5isalive · 03-20-2018, 09:56 AM

I've no idea if you have made your mind already.
I've have had a DA L 55-300mm and it is a great lens for it's price. But I moved out from it and bought myself a Sigma 100-300mm f4 second hand to picture motorsports. Since day 1 I am very pleased with it.
As I don't know your budget, I'm not sure to tell you to look after one of those.

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03-19-2018, 01:29 PM - 1 Like	#31
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,674	Originally posted by Ronald Oakes THANK YOU ! I never even knew darktable existed until now. I just tried it and its relative easy use has me really excited. Thank You Sincerely. You're very welcome! I like Darktable a lot. One of these days, I'll switch to it completely. There are just a few areas where it's still lagging behind Lightroom's develop module a little - but for day-to-day use it's just as good, IMHO, and in some respects better. Enjoy!

03-19-2018, 01:46 PM - 1 Like	#32
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	Just took some pics with my ks-2 and both the tak 300 v4 and 55-300plm. The head to head goes to the 55-300plm but last time it was clearly the tak. I attribute this to my lazy 3 turns of manual focus. I thoght the focus trhow of the tak being huge would need more than 5mm turn. 1 cm made back focus to front focus extreme. but Here are pictures. The 55-300 is only at 55mm and not compact in the photo with it sitting on the side. I include 2 pictures I took with the 55-300 and 1.4 tc that happened during set up. They would not have happened without closefocus and fast af.

03-19-2018, 01:58 PM	#33
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,406	Originally posted by swanlefitte Just took some pics with my ks-2 and both the tak 300 v4 and 55-300plm. The head to head goes to the 55-300plm but last time it was clearly the tak. I attribute this to my lazy 3 turns of manual focus. Looking at the photos I'm not sure which is sharper. But I can see lighting changes and slight differences in image magnification. That's a pretty impressive result for that old lens - or an equally impressive result from that simple lightweight zoom.

03-19-2018, 02:05 PM	#34
BigMackCam Digitiser of Film Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: North East of England Posts: 20,674	Originally posted by swanlefitte Just took some pics with my ks-2 and both the tak 300 v4 and 55-300plm. The head to head goes to the 55-300plm but last time it was clearly the tak. Originally posted by UncleVanya Looking at the photos I'm not sure which is sharper. But I can see lighting changes and slight differences in image magnification. That's a pretty impressive result for that old lens - or an equally impressive result from that simple lightweight zoom. I'd have to agree, the old Tak is making a good fist of it considering its age. Importantly, the detail is there even if the sharpness isn't so "crisp". A little judicious sharpening in post should bring that out very nicely. Looks like a keeper

03-19-2018, 02:22 PM - 2 Likes	#35
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	I did not do anything to those 2 photos. The light was changing but the exposure is pretty consistent. There was a slight breeze. As i said in the post, the tak is sharper. I only took 3 photos each and my tak pics were 1 seriously front focuses. 3 the back "fence" was in focus. Its like a 270 degree focus throw so i thought my about 1 degree turn would be better tan my eye sight. With the focus throw so long and at f8 and about 25'/8 metres away i was surprised by how far critical focus moved. My last test showed the tak making text readable at half the size. ---------- Post added 03-19-18 at 02:29 PM ---------- By the way the crow is in tree past the fence and the anole was a pace to the right of the flower.

03-19-2018, 02:44 PM	#36
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,406	Gotcha - I was looking online on Flickr - one picture with the flower has a dark shadow on the diagonal and the other does not. But I understand your point.

03-19-2018, 03:04 PM - 2 Likes	#37
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	well I dug out my 100% liveview focus tests and quickly cropped them about equal. The tak is clearly better in this comparison. Here is real world 300plm with 1.4x vs the tak. Hope this has been enlightening to more than myself. ---------- Post added 03-19-18 at 03:13 PM ---------- one last one. this was the tak with the 1.4x tc AW yeah it worked hand held and lots of post sharpening. With that I have nothing to add about old vs new lenses at 300mm.

03-19-2018, 03:30 PM	#38
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,406	Again I notice a serious difference in magnification assuming the tidy cat shots were made from the exact same location. How far away was the tidy cat shot made from? I would expect perhaps some focus breathing on the PLM lens if the shots were made under 30' away. The focus breathing puts into perspective the fact that the 300 Tak doesn't do this and is more useful at the shorter range shots on smaller subjects - but it also puts the PLM at a disadvantage when comparing sharpness since the subject is smaller due to the loss of apparent focal length. I really appreciate seeing these shots. Nice comparisons.

03-19-2018, 03:48 PM	#39
swanlefitte Pentaxian Join Date: May 2015 Location: Minneapolis Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,068	They were the same distance on the tripod about 30 feet away. Not the same framing because the tripod head turned some but the fov is very close. The cropping is 100 but sloppy. Eye balled from memory from shot to shot so don't look to much at that. With tidy cat photos read the small print. Even with this crop difference it is what i saw before cropping. I guess my take away is i love both lenses and my best shots with both are not really transferable to the other lens.

03-20-2018, 05:18 AM - 1 Like	#40
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,406	Originally posted by swanlefitte They were the same distance on the tripod about 30 feet away. Not the same framing because the tripod head turned some but the fov is very close. The cropping is 100 but sloppy. Eye balled from memory from shot to shot so don't look to much at that. With tidy cat photos read the small print. Even with this crop difference it is what i saw before cropping. I guess my take away is i love both lenses and my best shots with both are not really transferable to the other lens. It is very informative and helpful to those looking at the older 300mm options.

03-20-2018, 06:31 AM - 1 Like	#41
Sam Dennis Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 124 Original Poster	Originally posted by BigMackCam If you want to save some money (and avoid being tied into a monthly subscription), I'd highly recommend trying the latest version of Darktable for Windows. It's completely free, not all that dissimilar to Lightroom in operation and capabilities, and just an awfully good bit of software all round. The noise reduction and lens correction tools aren't, IMHO, as good as Lightroom, but in most other respects it does a very good job. The full documentation is available online too, and it's very well written and easy to follow. Thanks. Never heard of it. Downloaded yesterday and played with it a bit. I think it will be great once I figure it out - I see a lot of youtube tutorial viDEOS are available Great tip, thanks again

03-20-2018, 08:16 AM	#42
Ronald Oakes Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,583	Originally posted by swanlefitte well I dug out my 100% liveview focus tests and quickly cropped them about equal. The tak is clearly better in this comparison<<...........>> Hope this has been enlightening to more than myself. With that I have nothing to add about old vs new lenses at 300mm. I greatly appreciate your images and post comparing a somewhat forgotten lens. ---------- Post added 03-20-18 at 08:17 AM ---------- Originally posted by UncleVanya It is very informative and helpful to those looking at the older 300mm options. Nicely shows whats possible in good hands with the 300mm Taks !

03-20-2018, 09:56 AM	#43
red5isalive Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Barcelona Posts: 659	I've no idea if you have made your mind already. I've have had a DA L 55-300mm and it is a great lens for it's price. But I moved out from it and bought myself a Sigma 100-300mm f4 second hand to picture motorsports. Since day 1 I am very pleased with it. As I don't know your budget, I'm not sure to tell you to look after one of those.