Originally posted by riseform Thanks Chris, I agree it's a nice pairing. Lucking out with some cooperative birds also helps.
K1 DA 560 Curve-billed thrasher (Arizona again)
Great shot this one too.
I seriously considered getting a K1mkII for the DA560, but ended up trading my Pentax DA560, 1.4TC and K3II in for a Canon 400DOII, 1.4TC and 7DII. I've only had my new kit for a few days, but it would have been an interesting comparison between the DA560 and the Canon 400 f4 with 1.4TC, both being 560mm at f5.6.
It was a tough decision, because the 7DII can not be regarded as anywhere near the IQ level of the K1mkII. So although the 7DII is certainly not the poor IQ body it is sometimes made out to be, getting a 400DOII is aomewhat of a leap of faith regarding Canon's intentions for a successor, which somehow get's me into dejavú
But what made the decision, is that I almost exclusively cycle and hike lately with my birding kit, and the DA560 was getting too heavy and large for me to carry along comfortably. I wanted 30cm off, and 1 kg off (the 400DOII is 23cm and 2,1 kg), so it was down to Nikon's featherweight 500PF or the majestic Canon 400DOII. It was tough passing on a Nikon D500, but I wanted to get as close as possible to the combination of focal range and f-stop as I could of the DA560. 500mm would have soon forced me to put on the 1.4TC all of the time, and would have trapped me at f8. It may not seem much: 60mm, but the base focal length I really want is 600mm, and 560 is a lot closer to that than 500mm. F5.6 still allows you to shoot freely in moderate light, and from using the DA560 with the 1.4TC, I know how dim f8 can become in anything but full daylight.
Seeing your images makes me feel I would have gotten the best out of the DA560 with a K1mkII, they have a quality that images with the K3 somehow just did not have. It also shows how much difference a high quality body makes, just as the 400DOII on the Canon 1DXmkII looks absolutely stunning even with Canon's 2.0TC on.
I got a 600,- bundle discount on the 7DII, so a very modest body purchase, and my intenetion is to upgrade in a year or so to either what will be the best Canon DSLR at that moment (save the 1DXII though!), or get into Canon mirrorless R.
All I can say at this stage, is that auto focus with the Canon combo (including 1.4TC) is literally lightning fast, simply instant, and not a trace of zip-zip-zip that plagued the DA560+K3II combo in anything but high contrast, bright daylight. I missed a lot of fleeting opportunities due to my DA560+K3 combo taking time to wake up, start focussing, decide on what, the zip-zip-zip, and the bird was either long gone, or if the K3 did fire off some shots, they would simply not be pin-sharp, or even poorly focussed. Only good results where when I had spacious time to carefully focus, which is fine for slow moving or static subjects....
It's a treat to have the AF that I wished for as a basis for getting the shot when it matters. I understand that regarding reliability, the K1mkII with the DA560 is a step up, perhaps good enough already?
Anyway, enjoy this fantastic combo, I will mine!
Chris