I LOVE the marketplace here. .
I had been thinking on the DA* 300 for some time. I don't have many primes (one actually the DA 35LTD) and it's a stellar lens. I also have the DA* 60-250 so do I really need the 300 ?
Well
need is a dirty word in this hobby and income tax refund came in so .... thanks to @Lukinosity awesome seller - ships quickly , great communication, A+ for sure (but I think he is leaving Pentax)
click on image twice for larger view
Here she is (camera phone photo's) . I don't find the weight / size an issue. No bigger than the DA* 60-250 and certainly smaller than the Bigma (which may be going up for sale) .......
I got it late last night so no usage (it was killing me haha) . Today at lunch I took off to the wetlands for about an hour and fired off 188 shots .
(film would have bankrupt me ...)
Now as to the title I am working the cost down to number of keepers. I won't tell ya what I paid for the lens, however there are 8 shots below that I am very happy with , given that info and the title ....
The eye is a bit soft but that is operator error ...
#1
Extremely pleased with this shot
#2
Extremely pleased with this shot (and it's also a fairly heavy crop)
#3
Extremely pleased with this shot
#4
Pretty happy with this shot - found it commical enough to keep - wating on the roof of the birdhouse for his turn
#5
The next three I am pretty happy with as well. I more or less just wanted to show what species I managed to get today. I did not get any good ones of the Pellican , coots and a muskrat dived under before I could snap one.
#6
#7
#8
I find the lens can produce a prefect picture. If focus is already close it is very resposnive. I will need to get use to a 300 prime. I did notice some difficulty when the FL was short (maybe 10 meters) it had a hard time getting to infinity. If I manually turn it to infinity it focuses quickly. Will just need some practice as I was also switching from AF.S and AF.C , spot and metered focus.
I expect to get the 'cost vs keepers' price of this lens down from the $112.50 to pennies or less.