Hello from Turks and Caicos Islands

Gringo · 11-25-2009, 12:08 PM

Hello,
We moved from the USA to the Turks and Caicos Islands over four years ago. I take a lot of photos here, and had been using a number of point and shoot digitals. Two years ago I started a photo/blog thing that has gotten pretty popular. Even won a couple awards with it!

Anyhow, I have long wanted the ability to take long range photos. We see water spouts over the ocean, interesting boats, that kind of thing. So two weeks ago we bought one of the new K x Pentax's, with the 18-55 and 55-300 lenses.

We are still green at this, but right away, we need MORE telephoto. We took some photos of a flock of flamingos feeding in a salina yesterday, and I really wish I had been able to get closer. But you can't splash up and be sneaky with those birds.

Any ideas on a cost effective way to get more zoom? does anyone make a teleconverter that will work with the auto focus lenses?

**Ash** · 11-25-2009, 12:27 PM

Welcome Gringo.
Wow, an interesting part of the world you live in.
Do share with us some of the sights of your country.

More reach than 300mm is where Pentax hasn't quite come along as yet. TCs on the 55-300 lens are quite atrocious in AF reliability given its f/5.8 maximum at 300mm so this won't help. But other lens manufacturers have zooms beyond 300mm for Pentax, such as Sigma zooms and others with prime 400mm and 500mm lenses. You may even be fortunate to find a 1000mm lens around - but they are quite rare.

In any case, keep looking and you may be lucky to find one for your purposes.
Look forward to your contributions on the forum.

Gringo · 11-25-2009, 02:27 PM

Thanks.

Yeah, I was trying to find some teleconverters online, and I keep finding reviews by unhappy people. Quite frankly, if I had known I would have this much trouble getting decent telephoto glass for it, I probably would have bought Canon instead.

However, now I am the proud new owner of a Pentax K x. My first Pentax.

I have been seeing ads for 500-1000 mm mirror lenses.
(such as this one: Amazon.com: Opteka 500-1000mm High Definition Mirror Telephoto Lens for Pentax K200D, K20D, K100D, K10D, & *ist Digital SLR Camera's: Camera & Photo )

But a hunnert and twenty bucks? doesn't seem like it would do much for that kind of money. Are mirror lenses any good? I never used one.

Oh, if someone wants to see a lot of photos of these little islands, those are at

2 Gringos in the Caribbean

I think the older posts are better myself. But its ongoing.

flyer · 11-26-2009, 05:47 AM

Welcome, Gringo.

There are some very good sunsets in your gallery. Keep on "clicking".

Peter Zack · 11-26-2009, 07:07 AM

Welcome to the forums. Long lenese can be an issue in any brand. They are very costly for the better glass. My recommendation is get the Sigma 50-500mm lens. For around $1000, nothing else is as good IMO.

TC's no matter what brand will degrade the image quality and slow the AF in almost all cases. There is a couple of exceptions though. If you can find the Tamron 1.4 TC or the Pentax 1.7, they are both very good. But your lens is too slow for these. They will work in bright daylight but not really well. This would be true with similar lenses/tc's in other brands. The lens used should be faster than f4 in most cases.

11-25-2009, 12:08 PM	#1
Gringo New Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Turks and Caicos Islands Posts: 19	Hello from Turks and Caicos Islands Hello, We moved from the USA to the Turks and Caicos Islands over four years ago. I take a lot of photos here, and had been using a number of point and shoot digitals. Two years ago I started a photo/blog thing that has gotten pretty popular. Even won a couple awards with it! Anyhow, I have long wanted the ability to take long range photos. We see water spouts over the ocean, interesting boats, that kind of thing. So two weeks ago we bought one of the new K x Pentax's, with the 18-55 and 55-300 lenses. We are still green at this, but right away, we need MORE telephoto. We took some photos of a flock of flamingos feeding in a salina yesterday, and I really wish I had been able to get closer. But you can't splash up and be sneaky with those birds. Any ideas on a cost effective way to get more zoom? does anyone make a teleconverter that will work with the auto focus lenses?

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11-25-2009, 12:27 PM	#2
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Welcome Gringo. Wow, an interesting part of the world you live in. Do share with us some of the sights of your country. More reach than 300mm is where Pentax hasn't quite come along as yet. TCs on the 55-300 lens are quite atrocious in AF reliability given its f/5.8 maximum at 300mm so this won't help. But other lens manufacturers have zooms beyond 300mm for Pentax, such as Sigma zooms and others with prime 400mm and 500mm lenses. You may even be fortunate to find a 1000mm lens around - but they are quite rare. In any case, keep looking and you may be lucky to find one for your purposes. Look forward to your contributions on the forum.

11-25-2009, 02:27 PM	#3
Gringo New Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Turks and Caicos Islands Posts: 19 Original Poster	Thanks. Yeah, I was trying to find some teleconverters online, and I keep finding reviews by unhappy people. Quite frankly, if I had known I would have this much trouble getting decent telephoto glass for it, I probably would have bought Canon instead. However, now I am the proud new owner of a Pentax K x. My first Pentax. I have been seeing ads for 500-1000 mm mirror lenses. (such as this one: Amazon.com: Opteka 500-1000mm High Definition Mirror Telephoto Lens for Pentax K200D, K20D, K100D, K10D, & *ist Digital SLR Camera's: Camera & Photo ) But a hunnert and twenty bucks? doesn't seem like it would do much for that kind of money. Are mirror lenses any good? I never used one. Oh, if someone wants to see a lot of photos of these little islands, those are at 2 Gringos in the Caribbean I think the older posts are better myself. But its ongoing.

11-26-2009, 05:47 AM	#4
flyer Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ste-Anne des Plaines, Qc., Canada Posts: 2,013	Welcome, Gringo. There are some very good sunsets in your gallery. Keep on "clicking".

11-26-2009, 07:07 AM	#5
Peter Zack Pentaxian Moderator Emeritus Join Date: May 2007 Location: Edmonton Alberta, Canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 10,643	Welcome to the forums. Long lenese can be an issue in any brand. They are very costly for the better glass. My recommendation is get the Sigma 50-500mm lens. For around $1000, nothing else is as good IMO. TC's no matter what brand will degrade the image quality and slow the AF in almost all cases. There is a couple of exceptions though. If you can find the Tamron 1.4 TC or the Pentax 1.7, they are both very good. But your lens is too slow for these. They will work in bright daylight but not really well. This would be true with similar lenses/tc's in other brands. The lens used should be faster than f4 in most cases.