Dear Fellow Pentax-ians:
The PIPE here...and after an RC Scale model aviation meet photo shoot on July 8th in CT, that my K100D and I (with the 50-200 DA lens to get action shots with), with me in attendance, as a photographer HAVING to stand a good 30 feet or so behind the "flight line" (horizontal line on the near edge of the model field's runway-the RC model pilots stand along that line to fly their models) getting good FRAME FILLING shots IS going to take a 300mm lens to "bring the models CLOSER" to my K100D and myself.
This lens DOES seem to be a good candidate for purchase after the event season is over (car maintenance, other costs prevent me from getting it "right away") and I DO have a few questions about its usability for flying aircraft shots, both for model aircraft (where the reviewed 300mm lens, intended also for Pentax FILM SLRs, will have a maximum focal length of 450mm with a digital like the K100D, and would be great) and for full sized aircraft (my 50-200 DA zoom should work well for that also, no doubt)...these questions are based on the review I read here at
https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/showproduct.php?product=139&cat=31 ....
1. Does this lens have a plastic bayonet mount? If so, is it a type of plastic that should be STRONG and dimensionally "stable", perhaps a fiberglass "filled" type of plastic, and at least "reasonably" wear-resistant?
2. How "soft" is the focus on this telephoto at longer telephoto focal lengths? The K100D IS about the sharpest image digital SLR on the market in the 6 MP range...I'm just hoping that at the K100D's ISO 200 standard equivalent film speed, that with a 1/250 shutter, and a f/9.5 to f/11 apeture, which were my settings for the CT meet, that the 75-300 lens will STILL be able to "snorkel right in there" and get GOOD "frame filling" images.
3. It SEEMS that the 75-300 FA J lens IS an autofocus unit (apologies if this seems like a newbie question)...IF it has it, how well does the autofocus work with the K100D, if anyone here has already tried the combo of the two?
Hope to get some "pre-purchase" answers...it WILL be a "little time" before I can get it...
Yours Sincerely and thanks in advance,
The PIPE....