[norwegianoutdoors]

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Hey guys!

So I often see eagles and stuff that I want to photograph.

I am not full of cash.

How long focal length to I need to get for bird photos? I have a Tamron 70-300 which is a brilliant budget lens. But 300 is too short.

Give me your suggestions: which lens for bird photography for Pentax K1 for less than $500 (used)?

[pepperberry farm]

keep saving - you'll be wanting at least an F* or FA* 300 with a good FF 1.4x teleconverter...

[norwegianoutdoors]

keep saving - you'll be wanting at least an F* or FA* 300 with a good FF 1.4x teleconverter...

Yeah if I had a bigger budget I would go for the 150-450. But It's a lot of money to use on a lens if I don't get so into bird photography.... i dont know.... what about the old 400 mm pentax lens?

---------- Post added 07-17-19 at 02:55 AM ----------

Or this one

[MetalUndivided]

If you want to hear any accurate recommendations, voice how much money you're willing to spend on a lens.
Oh, nevermind, you wrote less than $500. In that case I think the Sigma 50-500 could be worth looking into, it can be had for about this much and it's an AF lens.

[norwegianoutdoors]

If you want to hear any accurate recommendations, voice how much money you're willing to spend on a lens.

thought I did in the OP... $500

[Zooland]

That link is for a takumar which won’t fit. Old 400mm is a good choice if you can handle manual focus, otherwise try k1 crop mode.

[Sandy Hancock]

Buy an old Q series body (and a K-Q adaptor) and a high quality (i.e. sharp in the centre wide open) film era manual focus 135mm f/3.5 lens. There are many of the latter at quite affordable prices.

Depending on the generation of Q, you'll get something roughly equivalent to 600-750mm f/3.5 for exposure, but with much more depth of field.

But if you want autofocus on your K-1 and modern optics, suck it up and save for a DFA150-450....

[redpit]

My recommendation is to go for the Bigma 50-500 unless you know/are not sure you might want something better afterwards. In that case go directly for the DFA 150-450 and save some money on the process. Otherwise the Bigma is a very decent lens (especially the OS version of it if you can find a good used copy of it).

[aslyfox]

recommendations:

1 look at the reviews under " lenses "

2 check out the -

BIF thread

BIF Photography - PentaxForums.com


the 300 plus thread

300mm plus Lens Club: discuss your long lenses - PentaxForums.com

the wildlife thread

Wildlife - PentaxForums.com

the 150 - 450 thread

Post your HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6 ED DC AW pictures! - PentaxForums.com

[ you get the idea ]

and send out some private messages to photographers whose photos you like and ask for help

and hope you find a good copy of what you decide you want

good luck

[Sandy Hancock]

recommendations:
....
good luck

On the other hand, this thread is an efficient alternative.

[aslyfox]

On the other hand, this thread is an efficient alternative.

true enough

efficient can be good

but think of the fun of looking at all those great photos

and the friends one might make by sending a pm saying:

" saw your photo, it was great, can you help me out "

[Kozlok]

Even a K-70 will give you a bump in effective FL with a good number of Megapixels still to crop. 300 is pretty long on APS-C

[Lowell Goudge]

Hey guys!

So I often see eagles and stuff that I want to photograph.

I am not full of cash.

How long focal length to I need to get for bird photos? I have a Tamron 70-300 which is a brilliant budget lens. But 300 is too short.

Give me your suggestions: which lens for bird photography for Pentax K1 for less than $500 (used)?

going beyond 300 mm moves the price point significantly, you could be looking at a minimum of about $2K new for any fast sub 300mm plus a good TC or a good 450-500mm maximum focal length zoom

going for fast 400-500 (or longer) primes, you are looking at probably $0.50 -$1.00 per mm

if you are looking to meet your price target, the best i got so far, was a manual focus 200-500/5.6 tamron SP zoom, but you will need to spend about the same amount on a tripod

the other potential approach to get out to 500mm is a pentax SMC-F 1.7 x AF adaptor and any food, manual focus 300F4 lens. i would opt for the A300/4 so you can use all the exposure modes of the camera. i personally use a K300/4 with this adaptor, and aside from a little lateral CA find it works quite well as a combo you can hand hold

[rogerstg]

Hey guys!

So I often see eagles and stuff that I want to photograph.

. . .But 300 is too short.

Give me your suggestions: which lens for bird photography for Pentax K1 for less than $500 (used)?

Are you sure 300mm is too short? Eagles at 300mm

Also, do you already have a solid tripod? You'll need it to take full advantage of longer focal lengths. Be sure to factor that into your budget.

[catfishjohn]

Check out the old Pentax 500 mm K mount. It will be all manual but is a good lens which can be found cheap. Manual is usually fine long range telephoto but you will need to fine tune your skill. Check the forum.