Decent lens in the 300mm range for Pentax istDL?

[Golf4food]

We currently have a Sigma 18-125mm lens for our Pentax istDL and love it for an everyday lens, but we'd love to get a bit more range for things like our trips to the zoo where we are limited in how close we can get to our subjects.

We aren't looking to break the bank, but will spend if necessary. I plan on researching other forums and sites, but thought I'd ask the good folks here, too.

Any recommendations?

 

[eugeniuss]

check out pentaxforums... they have several reviews on lenses, as well as a decent message board...

http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/index.php

 

[Groucho]

If you're patient, Pentax is, according to their 2007 roadmap, releasing both a 300mm prime DFA lens and a 70-300mm zoom DA lens (the "D" meaning "digital", so it will be smaller/lighter than a lens designed for the film cameras.)

I believe there are some Sigma/Tamrac 300mm zoom lenses out there, there's even a Pentax 75-300mm zoom but at $130, I suspect it's probably not worthy of carrying their name.

A quick glance at Adorama shows a $220 Sigma 70-300mm and a $164 Tamrac 70-300mm, and a [ulr=http://www.adorama.com/TM75300PXAF.html]$125 Tamrac 75-300mm[/url]. There's also a $209 bundle of the Tamrac 70-300mm and a 29-80mm. Once you get past that price point, it's a fairly big jump up to the better lenses. Hopefully the upcoming lenses will fit somewhere in between and give superior quality for a good price. I'll definitely be curious how the 300mm prime stacks up...

 

[Golf4food]

If you're patient, Pentax is, according to their 2007 roadmap, releasing both a 300mm prime DFA lens and a 70-300mm zoom DA lens (the "D" meaning "digital", so it will be smaller/lighter than a lens designed for the film cameras.)

I believe there are some Sigma/Tamrac 300mm zoom lenses out there, there's even a Pentax 75-300mm zoom but at $130, I suspect it's probably not worthy of carrying their name.

A quick glance at Adorama shows a $220 Sigma 70-300mm and a $164 Tamrac 70-300mm, and a [ulr=http://www.adorama.com/TM75300PXAF.html]$125 Tamrac 75-300mm[/url]. There's also a $209 bundle of the Tamrac 70-300mm and a 29-80mm. Once you get past that price point, it's a fairly big jump up to the better lenses. Hopefully the upcoming lenses will fit somewhere in between and give superior quality for a good price. I'll definitely be curious how the 300mm prime stacks up...

Thanks for the list - I'll start with those and see where the road leads me. I wouldn't mind spending up to $500 or a little more if the lens was worth it, but I certainly wouldn't complain if a good one could be found cheaper.

 

[Groucho]

You may want to also check eBay or any local used camera equipment places. The older lenses are often superb, though generally a little larger than the new designed-for-digital stuff. The only downside is that with the rapidly-growing popularity of Pentax DSLRs and their excellent backwards compatibility, the price of used Pentax-mount lenses has been going up very quickly!

Still, there's a good chance that you could find something good. I recently bought (from a local photo consignment shop) a Vivitar 400mm screw-mount and an adapter - total spend, about $125 or so. It's not a great lens by any means, but it's not too bad, especially for the price. Spend a little more and you can probably find a quality 300mm, but be prepared for the price to jump if you need autofocus (for zoo photos, you probably don't, really.)