[kypfer]

For the birds in the yard, most are cardinals, doves and blue jays. We also have plenty squirrels, and they are about 15-20 feet away. I don’t know if 300 is enough or should I try to go with more? I’ve never shot with a long lens before, but down here in southeast Louisiana I could find plenty wildlife to shoot around the swamps or parks.

For 15-20ft the 300mm will be fine. Once you get out and about you'll soon figure out what you can and can't reach with it, then you'll be able to review your options.


Do spend some time working through the handbook. The KP is a seriously comprehensive camera and it takes a while to get familiar with all of the capabilities


Enjoy

[rogerstg]

the grip for the KP is an essential accessory for working with long lenses

I use a Sigma 50-500 regularly, handheld, without a battery grip. I'm a small guy. You just need to learn how to properly hold a camera. Holding a system up by the body with a heavy lens also risks bending the mount. Battery grips are nice for many things, especially if you take a lot of portrait shots. But needing it to "balance" a camera with a long lens is a specious argument: it mainly just adds weight.

[Digitalis]

You just need to learn how to properly hold a camera. Holding a system up by the body with a heavy lens also risks bending the mount.

The battery grip moves the center of balance backwards which puts less strain on one's wrist and forearms when using a zoom lens, particularly one that extends towards the long end. And I agree, handling the camera by the body only when it is the lowest weight component in the system is just asking for a bent camera/lens mount. The battery grip also affords you the opportunity to use the higher capacity D-LI90 batteries used in the K5IIs,K3 and 645Z. This improved capacity is useful to have as the standard battery doesn't last that long particularly when live view/video recording is used.

[ChristianRock]

For softball, 300mm is easily enough or more than enough. I've shot plenty of kids baseball with my SMC-A 70-210mm, and also with the Tamron 70-300mm but never really had to use 300mm much. Remember 300mm in APS-C is 450mm equivalent, so it's quite a lot of reach when you think of it.

As for wildlife, it really depends on what you mean. Tiny birds or that King Heron by the pond ? Depending on what your expectations are, 300mm can be a good start and the 55-300mm PLM is a lens you're likely to always carry with you because of the small size and the sharpness, but later you might want something longer. I'd say starting with the PLM lens is a good idea and it's not like you'll be regret buying it - this lens will be your softball lens, period. Nothing else focuses as fast, even lenses costing much more, and the results will be good.

[normhead]

I own the DA*200, DA*60-250, Tamron 300 2.8, F 70-210
The DA*55-300 PLM gets most of the use, on both my K-1 and my K-3.

sigma appears to be getting out of the pentax market, so a lot of their stuff is now on sale.

as @digitalis notes, the kp battery grip will accept the larger battery that the k-1 uses, which I find handy. but the threaded mounting hole is offset to the left (viewed from the back of the camera), so it doesn't work on a gimbal mount unless you've got lots of clearance between the vertical arm of the mount and the camera. no problem using a lens with a mounting foot, though.

anything beyond 300mm is too hard to use on birds, in my opinion, because you have such a limited angle of view with longer lenses that it's hard to keep track of 'em even if all they do is jump from one branch to an adjacent one. also, you don't always have as much light on the bird as you'd like, and longer lenses let less light through even w/wide-open aperture.

[normhead]

sigma appears to be getting out of the pentax market, so a lot of their stuff is now on sale.

anything beyond 300mm is too hard to use on birds, in my opinion, because you have such a limited angle of view with longer lenses that it's hard to keep track of 'em even if all they do is jump from one branch to an adjacent one. also, you don't always have as much light on the bird as you'd like, and longer lenses let less light through even w/wide-open aperture.

The Tamron 300 2.8 with the 1.4 works awesome. I don't carry it around much anymore though.

With the DA 55-300 PLM, you have to remember it's there, whereas the 300 2.8 in a shoulder bag is always tugging on your shoulder, you know it's there.

[gump]

Sounds as if you made up your mind about the 55-300 PLM. I had to deal with that when I was seduced into this hobby. I went with a 300 instead of a 200 as the experts said that zooms tend to be weak at the ends so in my beginner's ignorance I figured that a 300 would be good at least to 250mm. The PLM proved I made a lucky guess. i will be surprised if the 55-300 does not do the job.

[normhead]

Sounds as if you made up your mind about the 55-300 PLM. I had to deal with that when I was seduced into this hobby. I went with a 300 instead of a 200 as the experts said that zooms tend to be weak at the ends so in my beginner's ignorance I figured that a 300 would be good at least to 250mm. The PLM proved I made a lucky guess. i will be surprised if the 55-300 does not do the job.

My sigma 70-300 was excellent up to 180 or 190mm, not to 200, By 300 it was just too soft for distant objects. The big deal with the DA 55-300 PLM is that ours is sharp at distance. It's also great at letting you shoot through branches and picking out the bird. The lighter weight and lack of need for a tripod, means you can do things you just can't do with heavier lenses.

[hps3]

Well, I just placed the order for the 55-300 PLM through Adorama. The KP and 55-300 will ship out Monday and hopefully be here by midweek. If the weather is good, I’ll take it out. I’m looking forward to getting back into photography.

[rod_grant]

good decision, hps3.
you will not regret it
have fun and post some proof!!!!

[hps3]

Will do! I just ordered the E-Book and have been going through it.

good decision, hps3.
you will not regret it
have fun and post some proof!!!!

[Ronald Oakes]

Well, I just placed the order for the 55-300 PLM through Adorama. The KP and 55-300 will ship out Monday and hopefully be here by midweek. If the weather is good, I’ll take it out. I’m looking forward to getting back into photography.

Excellent choice on both the KP and the 55-300 Plm….! A VERY good start for sure if I may say so...

And one other thing: take a look at the Irix 15mm - there was someone trying to sell the "Blackstone" version on this website recently for $300; now that I look for it, I can't find the ad, though. It's a manual-focus-only lens, but at that focal length, the depth of field is so big that super-precise focusing is not an issue. I've got the 11mm version, and it's a truly terrific lens.

I note as well on the "deal finder" function of this website, that the Sigma is on sale for $179.

[mikesbike]

The 15 and 20-40 combined with the PLM produce some good images!

I certainly agree with this! The lenses are light of weight and very compact also, and thus easy to handle. If not the DA 20-40mm Limited, the also compact DA 18-135mm makes a good match for the KP and reduces the need to change lenses. In either case, the DA 70mm LTD is truly a wonderful lens to have along.