[Cambo]

Is it that hard to handheld a 300mm and get sharp images? On another post people were talking about the DA*300mm as a street lens and I can not imagine carrying the tripod and lens and trying to go unnoticed for street candid shots.

as long as your shutter speed is up there, you'll be allright. Probably 200 + on a K10 or 20D in good light.

Vancouver is grey and dark a lot of the year, so it's not so easy around here unless you like shooting at iso 800+ (I don't).

Cheers,
Cameron

[Cambo]

I had to wade in in waist-deep FREEZING water in Lynn Creek to get this shot:



F* 300 (with tripod collar) & Pentax SMC 'Cloudy' filter on an *ist D (shot in RAW) with a Metz 40 MZIII flash.

The sharpness and detail in the feet is astounding, as is the colour rendition and contrast. Post-processed in Photoshop CS1, the great Benjamin Kanarek's magic sharpening algorhythm judiciously applied (I hope).

Cheers,
Cameron

[cooldude14es]

Yeah you are right, here in Spain we have a different weather...

Wow, awesome shot is all I can say!

I want a 300mm but can not decide between DA*, FA* or F*. DA* are avalaible everywhere but a bit out of my reach at the moment, so I am searching for a good copy of a F* or FA* (F* if I could choose) but they are hard to find on ebay and prices are going high too fast.

Thanks for the picture!

[fwcetus]

Inspired by Cameron's ~excellent~ great blue heron shot (but ~not~ by the "waist-deep FREEZING water" - <g>),
I decided to share a 100% crop of a gb heron taken with a ~hand-held~ F* 300/4.5 on a K20D to also show what
this lens is capable of, even hand-held. Except for cropping, there was NO post-processing performed on this image
(although I do have saturation=+1, sharpness=+1, and contrast=+1 set up in the K20D).

[fwcetus]

Since my previous post in this thread was of a center crop (and I've included a thumbnail of it below to show that),
I also grabbed a close-to-edge 100% crop of another gb heron (and its thumbnail) to share here (although I guess
it's a bit overexposed - sorry). Like before, please remember that there was no post-processing done on the crop.
And, like before, the lens was a hand-held F* 300/4.5 and the body was a K20D. (I ~almost never~ have used the
tripod mount on an F* 300/4.5.)

Thumbnail of previous image -


Here's the near-edge crop -


Thumbnail of the above crop -

[Dan]

Very nice heron shots, all around! I think we can all agree that this is a terrific lens.

I used to shoot Nikon (and still have a fair bit of Nikon gear). This lens is one of the things that keeps me from switching back to Nikon. The Nikon "equivalent" is much larger, not as sharp, and lacks the contrast of the Pentax lens--although it is a tad faster. The F*300 is one of those classic lenses that does a lot of things right.

Dan

[cooldude14es]

LBA...

LBA...

LBA...



Thanks for all your pictures...

[ivoire]

f*300 at f4.5, 1/350th iso100 handheld, k20d, all settings normal, original and 100% crop, no pp, 100% crop with pp. my favorite and most used lens

[fwcetus]

f*300 at f4.5, 1/350th iso100 handheld, k20d, all settings normal, original and 100% crop, no pp, 100% crop with pp. my favorite and most used lens

Good capture with a good lens (and I also see this guy or one of his friends in your avatar - <g>). What's the owl species?

[konraDarnok]

I bought one of these lenses. But it hasn't arrived yet -- so I'm jonesing. Great pictures everyone.

I think there should be F(A)*300mm f/4.5 "club" thread.

[cooldude14es]

I bought one of these lenses. But it hasn't arrived yet -- so I'm jonesing. Great pictures everyone.

I think there should be F(A)*300mm f/4.5 "club" thread.

I totally agree with you.

[Cambo]

Very nice heron shots, all around! I think we can all agree that this is a terrific lens.

I used to shoot Nikon (and still have a fair bit of Nikon gear). This lens is one of the things that keeps me from switching back to Nikon. The Nikon "equivalent" is much larger, not as sharp, and lacks the contrast of the Pentax lens--although it is a tad faster. The F*300 is one of those classic lenses that does a lot of things right.

Dan

there were a lot of them converted to both Nikon and Canon mounts back in the day because it outperformed their equivalents by a significant margins. The ONLY reason I would ever sell mine would be to get a weather sealed DA*, also a magnificent lens.

And I call club member #2 - ornerary vice-president in charge of Vice!

Cheers,
Cameron

[Cambo]

f*300 at f4.5, 1/350th iso100 handheld, k20d, all settings normal, original and 100% crop, no pp, 100% crop with pp. my favorite and most used lens

Here's why I LOVE the F*300:



Posted several times, I know, but what a lens...

Check my gallery for some new uploads - just trying to prove I'm not a ******/troll/lurker...

You could also go to my Facebook page - look up Cameron Hood.

Cheers,
Cameron

[ivoire]

Great pic! Beautiful color rendition, bokeh and detail... whats not to love. from what i've seen, the DA* 300 offers the same fine rendering.

[fwcetus]

Here's why I LOVE the F*300:

Superb (both the photo and the lens) !!!