[marquis1955]

I am looking hard at an A*600 anyone have any experience with one of those with a K3 ? Wondering about CA problems but would love to hear some feedback as I am thinking about pulling the trigger and do you think 1800.00 is a fair price for A*600 ??

[luftfluss]

Last month I took an afternoon walk in the woods behind my house for the last time until late autumn, as the boulder-strewn terrain, copious amounts of poison ivy and thick, thorny undergrowth make for unpleasant summer strolls. I had gone no more than a hundred yards when I encountered a beautiful, sleepy black bear. He and I looked at each other for a moment, and both of us reached the same conclusion: there is no threat here. I sat down and watched him stretch and turn around on his rocky mattress and return to snoozing. I took some snaps, and went back home.

K-5 II + A400/5.6







A couple hours later - near evening by now - I returned to the same spot, and the bear was still sweetly sleepily there. He looked at me but didn't move. This time I approached from a different angle, and closer. I sat down on a rock and took a few snaps, and considered for a bit. What if the bear were ill or injured? But after maybe five minutes he arose and stretched, and nosed around for food. I stood up and slowly backed away a few steps. After briefly considering his surroundings, Mr. Bear turned around and ambled away, toward the river.

[rkappleby]

no sharpness or NR applied

The lack of noise is very impressive for iso 6400 Sylvain, great photo.

anyone have any experience with one of those with a K3

Sorry I can't help but I'm certain there are some here who can

[Weevil]

The lack of noise is very impressive for iso 6400 Sylvain, great photo.

Thanks !
Yeah... impressive indeed...
for sure if you look closely, you'll see the noise...


now there is another one, pushing the ISO to the limits with 12800, 1/800s f5.6, still no sharpness nor NR
added in PP


Renard roux / Red Fox [Vulpes vulpes] by Sylvain Cote, sur Flickr

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Last edited by Weevil; 05-19-2016 at 10:16 PM.

[rvannatta]

I am looking hard at an A*600 anyone have any experience with one of those with a K3 ? Wondering about CA problems but would love to hear some feedback as I am thinking about pulling the trigger and do you think 1800.00 is a fair price for A*600 ??

I owned one for a while a few years ago, but sold it when I got the FA600. I had no complaint's optically. rather enjoyed the lens but no reason to keep it after I got the auto focus one for a king's
ransom.

[rvannatta]

here is a Western scrub jay that visited our back porch taken by Martha

K-3 with f*300 4.5 @7.1 / 1/500 sec. ISO 6400 with DA 1.4x for effective 420mm not cropped


2nd photo at unknown focal length taken in 1890 of a cedar tree. that tree would make a lot of shingles.

[Canada_Rockies]

I am looking hard at an A*600 anyone have any experience with one of those with a K3 ? Wondering about CA problems but would love to hear some feedback as I am thinking about pulling the trigger and do you think 1800.00 is a fair price for A*600 ??

I am using a much lesser lens: M 400`5.6 - on my K-3. I find that wide open there is lots of purple and green and red. At f/8 it is considerably reduced, and at f/11 it is under control. I would expect an A* to be even better. The K-3 at f/11 is still in usable ISO range.

Here is an uncropped photo I took recently at Police Outpost Provincial Park, Alberta, on a very cloudy day with drizzle from time to time and a brief period of sunlight. This is the M 400 at f/11 taken at about 30° up on tripod with the K-3. No PP to speak of. I did play with the exposure settings a bit to get as much detail as I could out of the black feathers. I would expect your A* lens would be much superior to this.

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Last edited by Canada_Rockies; 05-19-2016 at 10:32 PM. Reason: Added recent sample photo

[jthommo]

Fly me to the moon... K3, DA*300/4, HD1.4

[RockvilleBob]

Thanks !
Yeah... impressive indeed...
for sure if you look closely, you'll see the noise...


now there is another one, pushing the ISO to the limits with 12800, 1/800s f5.6, still no sharpness nor NR
added in PP


Renard roux / Red Fox [Vulpes vulpes] by Sylvain Cote, sur Flickr

Thanks for posting these great shots Sylvain. What's your feeling about the K1 for wildlife photography? Is the loss of "reach" manageable with cropping? How do you find the autofocus and tracking of the K1.

[WPRESTO]

I am looking hard at an A*600 anyone have any experience with one of those with a K3 ? Wondering about CA problems but would love to hear some feedback as I am thinking about pulling the trigger and do you think 1800.00 is a fair price for A*600 ??

V-A-V the Pentax 600mm. $1800 is a fairly typical price for the manual focus f5.6, it would be a steal for the f4 and consequently very suspicious, likely a severely worn lens or one with major issues. The f5.6 is good, but is reported to have considerable CA (no personal experience, but I have been attentive to posts & comments on this lens). The 600 f4 is a dream lens, outstanding in almost every respect provided you are a location shooter. It is not carry-about, it is not hand-holdable. Among the heaviest, if not THE heaviest lenses made by Pentax (main competitors: the old 1000mm f8 and the extremely rare 1200mm).

IMHO: The best way to reach 600mm in K mount is a 150~450mm + the new 1.4TC. A bit slower, AF in good light with the TC, and AF without the TC, with coverage from 150 to 630mm. BUT, more $$$ (the 150~450 is presently going for about $2400). Even without the TC, I think the 150~450 is a much more desirable lens.

[marquis1955]

V-A-V the Pentax 600mm. $1800 is a fairly typical price for the manual focus f5.6, it would be a steal for the f4 and consequently very suspicious, likely a severely worn lens or one with major issues. The f5.6 is good, but is reported to have considerable CA (no personal experience, but I have been attentive to posts & comments on this lens). The 600 f4 is a dream lens, outstanding in almost every respect provided you are a location shooter. It is not carry-about, it is not hand-holdable. Among the heaviest, if not THE heaviest lenses made by Pentax (main competitors: the old 1000mm f8 and the extremely rare 1200mm).

IMHO: The best way to reach 600mm in K mount is a 150~450mm + the new 1.4TC. A bit slower, AF in good light with the TC, and AF without the TC, with coverage from 150 to 630mm. BUT, more $$$ (the 150~450 is presently going for about $2400). Even without the TC, I think the 150~450 is a much more desirable lens.

I appreciate the feedback, I also have been eyeballing the 150-450 very closely, a lot of money when I already have the Sigma 150-500 and the DA*300 w/HD 1.4 TC Yada yada yada maybe Sigma will come out with a Pentax mount on the 150-600 Sports lens ??? Sigma ??

---------- Post added 05-20-16 at 06:22 AM ----------

I am using a much lesser lens: M 400`5.6 - on my K-3. I find that wide open there is lots of purple and green and red. At f/8 it is considerably reduced, and at f/11 it is under control. I would expect an A* to be even better. The K-3 at f/11 is still in usable ISO range.

Here is an uncropped photo I took recently at Police Outpost Provincial Park, Alberta, on a very cloudy day with drizzle from time to time and a brief period of sunlight. This is the M 400 at f/11 taken at about 30° up on tripod with the K-3. No PP to speak of. I did play with the exposure settings a bit to get as much detail as I could out of the black feathers. I would expect your A* lens would be much superior to this.

I appreciate the feedback but I am worried about the CA & purple fringing it has been reported as troublesome.

[FreeSpirit9]

Here is an uncropped photo I took recently at Police Outpost Provincial Park, Alberta, on a very cloudy day with drizzle from time to time and a brief period of sunlight. This is the M 400 at f/11 taken at about 30° up on tripod with the K-3. No PP to speak of. I did play with the exposure settings a bit to get as much detail as I could out of the black feathers. I would expect your A* lens would be much superior to this.

Lovely photo Albert.

[Rupert]

Thanks for posting these great shots Sylvain. What's your feeling about the K1 for wildlife photography? Is the loss of "reach" manageable with cropping? How do you find the autofocus and tracking of the K1.

Weren't those great fox shots! Until Weevil comes along to answer you, let me say that though my Bigma 50-500 is FF, almost all I shoot with it is in the Crop Mode. It is just wonderful! When that cropping frame in the viewfinder lights up in bright red at focus, you can see exactly what you will get. The files are plenty large enough for most purposes and being smaller, so easy to process. It is like having my K5IIs on super steroids!

A few from the afternoon yesterday. All in Crop Mode with the Bigma and all handheld @ 1/100. Don't overlook the new SR...it is fantastic too!

Big Whitewing...Little Spanish Dove


When the big dove landed it startled the little dove and she flipped up her wings.I've been trying to get an underwing shot of a Spanish Dove for ages....yesterday I got lucky!


She settled back down quickly....




This older Whitewing came along shortly....


So did this Jay....looks like he had a rough day??


These are all Crop Mode shots....I love the Crop Mode on the K1, perfect for my kind of shooting...and the FF is there for other uses like landscapes and portraits. This is the perfect camera!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129469263@N03/albums/72157668217340465

Best Regards!

[Ducatigaz]

Here are 4 shots of a Spotted Flycatcher taken with my K-5/FA*600mm f4 ED [IF]

[Rupert]

Here are 3 shots of a Spotted Flycatcher taken with my K-5/FA*600mm f4 ED [IF]

All I can think of is......Spectacular!

Regards!