Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX DG HSM or Pentax DA* 60-250mm f/4?

Big G · 05-19-2009, 02:16 PM

Hi all,

I was on safari at the weekend (well... a safari park!) and I had my Pentax-M 80-200mm (superb lens) with me for animal shots. Here is one such example:

It got me thinking about my next lens choice - I was thinking about getting a 50mm prime f/1.4 (currently have a Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7) but I think I might actually get a lot more use out of a good autofocus zoom lens as I will probably do a lot more "distance" shooting and needing telephoto lengths than portraits. Once again, the M lens is letting me down because I have to manual focus, and when I was tracking flying birds it was difficult to get the focus right, or when things were moving towards me at a reasonable speed. I've decided I might need to replace my current telephoto zoom with someone new.

I started doing some digging and there are two obvious choices:

Sigma 100-300mm f4 EX IF DG Lens - Pentax Fit (134945) - Warehouse Express

or:

Pentax DA* 60-250 f4 ED (IF) SDM Lens (21750) - Warehouse Express

Can someone give some opinions on the Sigma lens? Does anyone here have one, or have experience or a review of one to hand? It would give me a great range at a constant f/4, but it's also more expensive than the Pentax lens which is only 50mm shorter in focal length. The DA* is also of course weather sealed which is a big plus here in rainy Scotland.

There is also the DA* 200mm and the DA* 300mm primes. I also think these might not be good for me because it was good to be able to back off from 200mm on my Pentax-M to around 120mm when I had to - obviously couldn't do that with the primes!

Any advice welcome.

Confused · 05-19-2009, 02:46 PM - **1 Like**

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/58446-da-60-25...100-300mm+Lens

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/42802-pentax-3...00mm+f%2F4+HSM

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/40686-sigma-10...00mm+f%2F4+HSM

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/39073-sigma-100-300-f-4-...00mm+f%2F4+HSM

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/36476-sigma-10...00mm+f%2F4+HSM

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/35947-im-think...00mm+f%2F4+HSM

Big G · 05-19-2009, 03:04 PM

Great, that's all the info I need.

Cheers.

pcarfan · 05-19-2009, 04:39 PM

Big G, there is a very useful lens review section in this forum. here is the link for the sigma 100-300 F4, for which I have done a review as well. It is an excellent lens.

PentaxForums.com Third-Party Pentax Lens Review Database - 100-300mm F4 EX DG (AF Lens)

05-19-2009, 02:16 PM	#1
Big G Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 581	*Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX DG HSM or Pentax DA 60-250mm f/4?** Hi all, I was on safari at the weekend (well... a safari park!) and I had my Pentax-M 80-200mm (superb lens) with me for animal shots. Here is one such example: It got me thinking about my next lens choice - I was thinking about getting a 50mm prime f/1.4 (currently have a Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7) but I think I might actually get a lot more use out of a good autofocus zoom lens as I will probably do a lot more "distance" shooting and needing telephoto lengths than portraits. Once again, the M lens is letting me down because I have to manual focus, and when I was tracking flying birds it was difficult to get the focus right, or when things were moving towards me at a reasonable speed. I've decided I might need to replace my current telephoto zoom with someone new. I started doing some digging and there are two obvious choices: Sigma 100-300mm f4 EX IF DG Lens - Pentax Fit (134945) - Warehouse Express or: Pentax DA* 60-250 f4 ED (IF) SDM Lens (21750) - Warehouse Express Can someone give some opinions on the Sigma lens? Does anyone here have one, or have experience or a review of one to hand? It would give me a great range at a constant f/4, but it's also more expensive than the Pentax lens which is only 50mm shorter in focal length. The DA* is also of course weather sealed which is a big plus here in rainy Scotland. There is also the DA* 200mm and the DA* 300mm primes. I also think these might not be good for me because it was good to be able to back off from 200mm on my Pentax-M to around 120mm when I had to - obviously couldn't do that with the primes! Any advice welcome.

05-19-2009, 02:46 PM - 1 Like	#2
Confused Inactive Account Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: London Posts: 1,067	https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/58446-da-60-25...100-300mm+Lens https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/42802-pentax-3...00mm+f%2F4+HSM https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/40686-sigma-10...00mm+f%2F4+HSM https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/39073-sigma-100-300-f-4-...00mm+f%2F4+HSM https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/36476-sigma-10...00mm+f%2F4+HSM https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/35947-im-think...00mm+f%2F4+HSM Last edited by Confused; 05-19-2009 at 02:57 PM.

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05-19-2009, 03:04 PM	#3
Big G Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 581 Original Poster	Great, that's all the info I need. Cheers.

05-19-2009, 04:39 PM	#4
pcarfan Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,978	Big G, there is a very useful lens review section in this forum. here is the link for the sigma 100-300 F4, for which I have done a review as well. It is an excellent lens. PentaxForums.com Third-Party Pentax Lens Review Database - 100-300mm F4 EX DG (AF Lens)