Originally posted by sweet bay I have a Pentax K-10 with 18-55 kit lens. What lens would you recommend for getting decent bird shots?
That is a very opened ended question. The answer has a lot to do with how much you want to spend and how serious you are going to be into birding. As others have said 300mm is the minimum you really want to start out with for birding. The closer you can get between 400mm and 600mm the better.
Like Lowell I've used the Sigma 70-200EX with Sigma 2xTC with good results. From there I picked up a Tokina 400mm f/5.6 that was even better and most recently I've started to use a DA*300mm with a 1.5xTC. There are some xxx-400 and xxx-500 mm lens around as well (Like the Sigma 50-500mm).
On the more expensive side you have the Sigma 300mm f/2.8, Sigma 500mm f/4.5 or the Pentax FA* 600mm f/4. Those range from $3k to $10k so I am going to assume they are out of the questions.
Anyway I think your basic options (for buying new) would be:
- One of the xx-300mm lenses (Tam/Sig 70-300 or Pentax 55-300)
- One of the 70-200 f/2.8 with 2xTC
- DA*300mm with upcoming Pentax 1.4xTC
- One of the Sigma xx-400mm xx-500mm lenses (like the 50-500 or 150-500)
If you want to go used and/or manual focus there are a ton of options. If you have a price range let us know and maybe we can help you choose the best for the $$ you want to spend.
John