[Lowell Goudge]

That is very cute - a good pic showing a very moving side of nature at work.

The grebes are a favourite during the summer,

Both jacamar and I frequent this park due to the variety of wildlife that is present

[bertwert]

Wonderful image!I love the framing and ratio you chose to crop.

Thanks! When I saw them up on the hilltop, I instantly thought of cropping to a more panoramic view

[swip]

The grebes are a favourite during the summer,

Both jacamar and I frequent this park due to the variety of wildlife that is present

No new born for the year yet I presume.

In past years, I have been to the area to check them out but due to COVID, probably not for another year.

[jacamar]

No new born for the year yet I presume.

In past years, I have been to the area to check them out but due to COVID, probably not for another year.

The Red-necked Grebes are just getting started with building the nest - there will only be a few nests as the habitat is limited. Also with COVID there are a lot more people using the park, so more disturbance - but I'm still able to distance OK when I go there.
For some of these birds it would be nice to post a soundclip as well - the grebes are very noisy and the Long-tailed Duck flocks during the winter have a call that carries nicely over the water.

[blankmampf]

I would certainly argue that more MPx tends to be a better way to go than a tc. However the main arguement for upgrading to eg a K5 or K30, besides 16Mpx vs 10MPx, is... Live View. With magnification. An essential tool IMO to have with MF lenses. It also needs to be noted that many, or even most, vitage MF lenses don't have the resolution for a high MPx camera. What you do gain is more latitude (because more pixels/info) when processing the images. The bigger the resize, the more the image can sharpen up!
The novoflex 400mm (is it the 3 element T-noflexar you have) is one of the better/best vintage 400's imo (and see Stevemarks test pics here on mflenses). I have posted quite a bit here in the past with this lens. I mainly used my mirrorless on it (samsung NX20) the reason being that it otherwise needs three hands to operate lens, lens aperture, camera. The mirrorless evf maintains its brightness and has one button magnification so i am able to leave the lens on f8 - its definitely better iq on f8. It is a fun lens to see if you can get good using the trigger focus, but I have to say my best results tended to be using one with the macro rail add on, which provides an alternative "fine focus" mechanism. Have you seen the info and links here:

Novoflex Noflexar modular PIGRIFF system 240mm, 280mm, 300mm, 400mm, 600mm, 64cm Lens Reviews - Miscellaneous Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database


I have been using the 1.7x pentax tc with my tamron 300mm f2.8's. Results, I have to say, are mixed. It sounds good, the tc adding Af capability, but focus at 510mm f4.7 is so ticklish that missing it, for what ever reasons, is only too easy.

First of all, thank you very much for compiling such an encompassing message

It's true, I've been eyeing some of the later Pentax cameras for that very reason. I'll probably upgrade to a K-3 ii one day - I would love to test astrotracer, and would like a successor in the same category as my K10D - but for now I'll be sticking with my current camera. It wouldn't feel right to discard it after such a short time, and I like trying to go as far as I can with the limited hardware and lenses I have.

Good news: Today two adapters arrived, one Novoflex-PK and one M42-PK, so I could try out my Novoflex and Pentacon 300mm F/4 for the first time
The flash bump of the camera body hits the bellow adapter though, so portrait format only.
Sadly I "only" have the two-lens 400mm version. I consider myself fortunate enough as is after finding a set with PIGRIFF-B and two whole 400mm and 600mm lenses + tubes + apertures + hoods for 100€. But I'll look out for a T-Noflexar lens set.

After handling the 600mm monster, the 400mm or even the giant 300mm Pentacon felt positively easy to manage I can skip the gym in the future it seems. I had few successful shots of birds on nearby roofs, and a very nice one with the Pentacon as well will upload soon.

EDIT: Here are two sample shots.
Pentacon 300mm at F/5.6
Noflexar 600mm at F/11

[swip]

I used the 1.7x AF converter for years on my K300/4 generally the results were good, with some caveats.

I used the 1.7x AF TC on my A* 300mm/f2.8 lens for quite a few years before I got the Sigma 500 as a replacement.
It worked well for me for many years and I had to take the combo out of the box again when I sent my Sigma for repair a couple of years back.

So, besides having to bring the focus in the proper range for the TC AF to work and the weight of the lens, I have no complaint.

Pictures that came out are very sharp. Camera SR worked well. It worked just like the Sigma in my opinion.

[Lowell Goudge]

I used the 1.7x AF TC on my A* 300mm/f2.8 lens for quite a few years before I got the Sigma 500 as a replacement.
It worked well for me for many years and I had to take the combo out of the box again when I sent my Sigma for repair a couple of years back.

So, besides having to bring the focus in the proper range for the TC AF to work and the weight of the lens, I have no complaint.

Pictures that came out are very sharp. Camera SR worked well. It worked just like the Sigma in my opinion.

it may be that the A300/2.8 is better with respect to CA and fringing than the Tammy 300/2.8. also i do not know which version of the tammy i tested i know there are at least 2 versions of this lens perhaps 3

[DonV]

it may be that the A300/2.8 is better with respect to CA and fringing than the Tammy 300/2.8. also i do not know which version of the tammy i tested i know there are at least 2 versions of this lens perhaps 3

There are 3. Models from older to newer: 107B, 60B, 360B. Gleaning the differences from Tamron literature is a little tough; all three have two LD elements at the front of the lens.
I believe the 360B may have a slightly improved internal focus system, Tamron claimed a special arrangement for the 360B that moved each internal element group independently; this feature was not mentioned in literature for the earlier two lenses.

I don't have an A*300 for comparison to my 30B.

I have used the 60B with the Pentax 1.7x AF converter(theoretically 510mm). I found it close, but not equal to the 50-500mm sigma at 500mm.
The AF focused quite well at both long and short distances(shorter required a manual "ballpark" adjustment as mentioned.)

Tamron furnished a 1.4x matched(?) converter with each 60B, I have it, but have not tried it as yet; of course it will only reach to 420mm not to 500 or 510.

I would just add that the Tamron 300 f2.8 plus the 1.7x AF Pentax converter is a bit more $$ than the Sigma 50-500 AF when comparing used to used; but the result is slightly faster- which helps in focusing.

[Lowell Goudge]

There are 3. Models from older to newer: 107B, 60B, 360B. Gleaning the differences from Tamron literature is a little tough; all three have two LD elements at the front of the lens.
I believe the 360B may have a slightly improved internal focus system, Tamron claimed a special arrangement for the 360B that moved each internal element group independently; this feature was not mentioned in literature for the earlier two lenses.

I believe the 107B has an optical design error, where they didn’t consider the internal filter in the optical path and the lens is sharper without it.

I don't have an A*300 for comparison to my 30B.

I have used the 60B with the Pentax 1.7x AF converter(theoretically 510mm). I found it close, but not equal to the 50-500mm sigma at 500mm.
The AF focused quite well at both long and short distances(shorter required a manual "ballpark" adjustment as mentioned.)

I find that selectively focusing to the range you want when using my K300/4 and the AFA is very quick due to the small mass of the group in the a daptor that is moved

Tamron furnished a 1.4x matched(?) converter with each 60B, I have it, but have not tried it as yet; of course it will only reach to 420mm not to 500 or 510.

my 200-500/5.6 came with a 2 x

I would just add that the Tamron 300 f2.8 plus the 1.7x AF Pentax converter is a bit more $$ than the Sigma 50-500 AF when comparing used to used; but the result is slightly faster- which helps in focusing.

. True but if you have the converter already it may be attractive

[Pentaxians]

Local buffy fish owl (mother and son) successful nesting, about two months ago.

Adult Female:


Juvenile:

[swip]

Local buffy fish owl (mother and son) successful nesting, about two months ago.

Adult Female:


Juvenile:

Great catches. Are they common birds there?

[HoutHans]

Local buffy fish owl (mother and son) successful nesting, about two months ago.

Adult Female:


Juvenile:

These are super nice; the eyes on owls never cease to amaze me. Great capture. Cross-posted from the astro-thread: here's an image of Bode's galaxy and some of its friends taken with the M300/4* lens at f/4.7 (the first half stop closed). I'm amazed by the performance of that old lens.

[Pentikonian]

These are super nice; the eyes on owls never cease to amaze me. Great capture. Cross-posted from the astro-thread: here's an image of Bode's galaxy and some of its friends taken with the M300/4* lens at f/4.7 (the first half stop closed). I'm amazed by the performance of that old lens.

Very nice!

[Pentaxians]

Great catches. Are they common birds there?

These are super nice; the eyes on owls never cease to amaze me. Great capture. Cross-posted from the astro-thread: here's an image of Bode's galaxy and some of its friends taken with the M300/4* lens at f/4.7 (the first half stop closed). I'm amazed by the performance of that old lens.

Thank you. Yes, Buffy fish owl is our resident bird here in Singapore. Can be spotted in a few places around the botanical garden and wetland area.

[Basie]

Lovely shots

We have a Pell's fishing owl in Southern Africa that looks quite similar, but they are extremely rare