Wanted: Prime telephoto 300+ lens

Im off on holiday next weekend, and im finally pushing myself to make my mind up on what lens i want. as stated in the topic, im after a prime lens that is 300mm or more, but im also open to zoom lenses, although i already have a 55-300 da.

ideally i would like it to have a tripod collar, for ease of use. im on a budget of around 50 pounds, so really, this is a case of chuck your unused/unwanted lenses at me.


Many thanks!

Owen.

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17 years old with 3 years pentax use!

"If In Doubt; Flat Out!"

For size, weight and image quality, I would stick to your 55-300. £50 will not stretch to a decent 300 prime.

I think it's actually nearer a case of £500 will not stretch to a decent 300 prime.

I have an old M42 300mm prime that I'd sell for £40 but it won't match the 55-300. If your desperate for something longer 500mm mirror lenses can be had for £50, but cropping the 55-300 will give you better results unless you're very good at manual focusing.

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Mike
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Pentax:K7, K100D, DA18-55, DA10-17, DA55-300, DA50-200, F100-300, F50, DA35 AL, 4* M50, 2* M135, Helicoid extension, Tak 300 f4 (& 6 film bodies)
3rd Party: Bigmos (Sigma 150-500mm OS HSM),2* 28mm, 100mm macro, 28-200 zoom, 35-80 zoom, 80-200 zoom, 80-210 zoom, 300mm M42, 600 mirror, 1000-4000 scope, 50mm M42, enlarger lenses, micro 4/3 camera with tiltable PK mount, Zenit E...
Far to many tele-converters, adapters, project parts & extension tubes etc.

.[size=11:].Flickr• WPF• Panoramio

I have a Pentax K fit, XR Rikenon 300mm f4.5 APO sitting in a cupboard. It is plenty sharp, in great nick, has a built-in tripod collar and a rather nice case. It's very solid, heavy and a bit of a pain to hand-hold. It's also very rare - only one or two a year are advertised anywhere and the last few I've seen had asking prices of more than twice Owen's budget - which is very cheap for the amount of metal and glass you get.

I'm confident that it would be brilliant on a film camera - and if I ever decide to start using the Ricoh KR10 that's in another cupboard at home, then I'll definitely be giving it a whirl again. An obvious downside to the XR Rikenon is that, especially at wider aperture openings, it generates a fair amount of purple/blue fringing on high contrast edges (using a K200D) - something that's common to lots of film era long lenses if used on a DSLR. There is a thread - here with a few photos.

I reckon Owen's best bet might be to keep and use the Pentax 55-300mm DA zoom. From what I've heard, it's probably a little better than the FA 100-300mm f4.7-5.8 that I have - and I'd probably buy one if I used 300mm a bit more and I wasn't so mean. If he does manage to source a cheapie oldie 300mm prime, it might well end up in a cupboard rather than being used, just like mine.

Andrew

So there I was, reading through the post thinking oh that's nice, he's going to let him have the lens for £50.

How wrong I was

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Nothing to see here, move along please ....

Hello Owen, I'm presuming you haven't sourced what you are looking for yet, so let me run this by you for consideration. I have a vivitar 200mm f3.5 prime, which as it is an older full frame lens, can be used on both 35mm film cameras and pentax digital. On the latter with a crop value of 1.5 you will get an effective focal length of 300mm. It comes with a dedicated vivitar 2x teleconverter giving a focal length of 400mm on film or 600mm on digital, making it a very flexible option. It also features a built in rectractable hood and the all important tripod mount. It's a tx/m42 mount so you will need an m42 to pk adapter as well. It is in very good condition, clean optics, no fungus, snappy aperture and smooth focus ring, although the ribbed focus ring has a few usage marks on it. Your budget will buy it including postage costs.
A picture of one like it can be found here:- link

Photos taken with a lens such as this can be found here:-link

Other than this I have a pristine SMC Pentax A* 300mm which I have owned from new and has seen very little use, which I will be putting on ebay soon, but I do want considerably-ably more than your budget.

Best wishes and good look with your search.

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C.O.L.B.A.S victim
(Compulsive Obsessive Lens Buying Addiction Syndrome)

What you need are lenses, more lenses, bigger lenses, better lenses, faster lenses, and when you have these, your pictures will be perfect!

I still have the Rikenon 300mm lens. I still have the K200D - BUT - as of today, I also have a shiny new K30.

This evening, I've been lying on my back in the living room at home, taking pot-shots of illuminated lighting fittings with the K30 and XR Rikenon 300mm. It's about as contrasty a subject as I could find indoors.

Guess what? Little or no blue/purple fringing - even wide open!!! I obviously need to take some more test shots outdoors with the lens, in the kind of conditions that previously generated the fringing with the K200D - but I just might have a result here. This is an APO lens after all, so it just could have been the K200D sensor that was responsible.

Andrew

If you are going to sell it at least give those on this forum a chance at it!

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My Flickr link

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" (John Lennon)

K-5 IIs, K-7 (100,000 clicks)
My Lenses (or what's left after the arrival of the 300*)
Pentax DA*16-50 - DA35 f2.4 - A 50mm f1.7 - FA50 f1.4 - DA*300 f4
Sigma 24mm f2.8 - 70-200 f2.8 - 180mm Macro 1:2 f2.8 (ancient but spectacular)
Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.4 Macro

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If you are going to sell it at least give those on this forum a chance at it![/quote]

Couldn't agree more!

If your still looking for a long tele photo , there is a Soligor 400mm currently going for £29.99 on the Oxfam UK website.
SOME REVIEWS
http://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/soligor-400mm-f6-3.html