Originally posted by jatrax There are two Pentax-A 400mm f/5.6 listed on fleabay. Both at under $500.
At this point I'm considering to make another trip to the US just to be able to make use of your used market
---------- Post added 07-01-20 at 02:37 AM ----------
Originally posted by Austro-Diesel If money is tight and 300 mm are enough: The performance of the Sigma 70-300 DG OS works surprisingly well and you will surely find one for about 100 to 150 €. The built-in optical stabilizer works very satisfactorily.
Some pictures here:
DigitalFotoNetz.de :: Thema anzeigen - Sigma 70-300/4-5,6 DG OS
Sure, there are better lenses, but not for these few bucks. Don't take an APO oder other Sigma or Tamron variants, only the "70-300 DG OS" is recommendable.
Huh, that's much better than I expected... so I was right in avoiding all those 70-300 variable aperture zooms... but there was one that is actually worth it. Thanks for the suggestion!
Originally posted by C_Jones I would recommend Pentax HD DA 55-300mm f/4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE Lens, but from my experience, I was never satisfied with my telephoto needs until I got my Sigma 150-500 DG OS for Pentax. That was before the Pentax 150-450 was being made, or else I would have gotten that Pentax model. Having a super telephoto lens remedies the need for distance seeking. Of course, as you may not be in the position to make that step now, I can see your point, but for me it was either do it or not do it, and I will never regret it.
If you did decide to get something like the 55-300 that I mentioned, it would give you mid telephoto range, and that is the scope of performance that you would have to rely on until you decided to make the step to super telephoto. There is also the option of a teleconverter, but I myself have never used one, and really do not plan on it. A shortcut to that 55-300 is below, and a shortcut to a Pentax converter is below that. Good luck with your decision and happy shooting!
amazon.com : Pentax HD DA 55-300mm f/4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE Lens : Camera & Photo?tag=pentaxforums-20& Pentax 1.4x HD PENTAX-DA AF Rear Converter AW for K-Mount 37962 Yeah, the PLM was one of the options because it would double as hiking lens with the 28-105 for a more or less "do everything" light kit with more than decent IQ. I just have been hesitant to pull the trigger because I'm coming off of buying the 77
.
Originally posted by marcusBMG There are some slightly left field possibilities.
Of manual focus 400mm possibilities,a lens like the
tokina made 400mm f6.3, which comes in various guises like soligor, vivitar as well as Tokina RMC, is really quite decently sharp stopped down to f8+. But I am something of a fan of the
tamron 400mm f6.9 - a lens of this type doesn't deserve to perform this well (and the "nestar" is really rather cool). However perhaps the best price/performance of the MF era is the
sigma apo 400mm f5.6, second version - a game changer on introduction with its compact design and sophisticated optics. But the game with that lens is to find one that is only minimally affected by hazing/spotting of a cemented group in the middle of the lens. The sigma apo 500mm f7.2 of the same era/series doesn't suffer from hazing usually, and IMO is the best price/performance 500mm option available.
If you would like to try something completely different, then browse around (seach listings in Germany) for a
novoflex 400mm f5.6, specifically the later 3 element t-noflexar objective. For landscape and static shooting, find one fitted with bellows rack and pinion focus as well as the trigger stock.
Optically superior and photographically more interesting, but necessarily rather more pricy, would be a tamron adaptall 300mm f2.8 - the most readily available and best price 300-28. A plum to own and gratifying to use.
So I had checked the Novoflex pistol grips, but I wasn't sure they'd work without a lot of hassle (same reason I don't own a Tair 3 yet
). Do I need to set a cable release and that's it or is there any other stuff that has to be done? I've seen a couple of non-t Noflexars for a decently low price but the T-noflexar goes for substantially more and apparently is only in other mounts these days... I'll have to be on the lookout. I haven't seen available (either on Kleinanzeigen or regular Ebay) any of the APO 400/5.6 or 500/7.2 in K mount (or even on M42, I've also checked some of the older Pentacons/Meyers/Enna-Münchens since they have a ton of blades and a pretty good rendering, but super teles of that vintage are slightly riskier buys and most are the Pentacon-six variants that are monstrously large), same goes for the Tamron 400/6.9.
Originally posted by Just1MoreDave I've had a Tokina SD 400mm f5.6 for maybe 14 years. The SD is manual focus with an A position on the aperture ring. The lens is internal focus so its length doesn't change - about 230mm. It's about a kilogram. Filter size is 72mm, six aperture blades. Minimum focus distance is 4m. It has a tripod mount and a slide out hood. Image quality is OK I think. Flare isn't ever a problem. It has some purple fringing but that is mostly wide open and not too bad. I shoot it between f8 and f11. Contrast and colors don't look great compared to shots I've seen from the Pentax-A 400. Sharpness is OK, again it looks behind the Pentax. It is pretty consistent across the frame on APS-C, no real vignetting. Long telephoto is demanding anyway because focus has to be right, atmosphere has to be right, you don't have a lot of exposure latitude. Generally I take the easy shots like the moon and avoid small birds. I like the size, weight, handling and features of the lens. I paid $175 which is somewhat irrelevant today but I feel like it was a decent value. The focal length is useful.
A few months ago I bought the Tokina AT-X SD 400mm f5.6, which is similar but with autofocus. The optical formula is different because it focuses closer, and there are two more aperture blades. The reviews suggest the AT-X is sharper. It is a bit sharper but on the order of comparing 100% crops of carefully taken test shots, not OMG look at that it's amazing. I guess the AF is useful. I haven't looked at fringing differences. The lenses are similar in features and the same size. I paid $250 on the marketplace. That seems good for 400mm and AF.
I was never willing to sort out which Sigma is awesome and which one decays to unusable junk. The Tokinas don't do that.
I was about to get one of those 400/5.6 (I think the RMC II-branded version, not the SD) but it got away. I've been quite happy with the bunch of Tokinas I've used and seen so I was sure I'd get a reasonable performer, but oh well.