Pentax K-3II: I've bought my first DSLR camera, a Pentax K-3II. I'm interested in taking pictures of hawks, eagles, and various waterfowl native to central Texas. I would really like...

blb511

I've bought my first DSLR camera, a Pentax K-3II. I'm interested in taking pictures of hawks, eagles, and various waterfowl native to central Texas. I would really like to hear some advice to a newbie on a lower priced but good lens to buy, and camera settings to freeze a birds wings in flight. I have looked on line and photographers describe their lenses in the thousand of dollars (not going to happen in my life), and so much conflicting information. Thanks, blb511

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Welcome to UHH.
To capture wildlife you will need a long lens, 300mm at an absolute minimum but 400mm, 500mm or more would be best, and that gets in to money.
To freeze the wing motion a shutter speed of 1/1000 for faster will be needed.

blb511

Thanks :-)

Brasspounder001 Loc: Erewhon

I agree with Mac. You'll need a fairly long lens, and shoot in RAW (or Pentax equivalent) so that you can crop out a decent image later, you'll need lots of pixels! There are some pretty good Takumar lenses available for a good price but you'll need an adapter for the older M42 thread mount Taks. Some of those old lenses are superb.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

blb511 wrote:

I've bought my first DSLR camera, a Pentax K-3II. I'm interested in taking pictures of hawks, eagles, and various waterfowl native to central Texas. I would really like to hear some advice to a newbie on a lower priced but good lens to buy, and camera settings to freeze a birds wings in flight. I have looked on line and photographers describe their lenses in the thousand of dollars (not going to happen in my life), and so much conflicting information. Thanks, blb511

Your absolute BEST bet for that body is the Pentax 150-450mm lens, longest reach you will get for that camera these days. 300mm will get you close, but just not close enough for what you are wanting to shoot. Maybe Tamron or Sigma will eventually make their 150-600mm lenses in Pentax mount, but that's not likely to happen soon.

IBM

blb511 wrote:

I've bought my first DSLR camera, a Pentax K-3II. I'm interested in taking pictures of hawks, eagles, and various waterfowl native to central Texas. I would really like to hear some advice to a newbie on a lower priced but good lens to buy, and camera settings to freeze a birds wings in flight. I have looked on line and photographers describe their lenses in the thousand of dollars (not going to happen in my life), and so much conflicting information. Thanks, blb511

Did you get that pentax before you stopped on this site , I have not read any info on that camera that pertains to wild life , as a lot of
Others do especially the nikons and canons , and you can get a excellent one of those that are refurbished for $300 to $700 a nikon
D3200 to a D7100 , and a refurbished canon for the same , the smart ones on this site that want to save some cash all chose refurbished
As most are like new , with the lower price , I have yet never heard one complaining about any refurb, camera as of yet , pentax k311 I'll
Check it out ,

blb511

I bought the Pentax K-3II new and then discovered this forum. I have learned a little about refurbished and bought a great used telephoto lens for a third the cost of a new one. I appreciate your post. Here's a link to a website about how great the Pentax K-3II is for wildlife photography. https://fstoppers.com/originals/pentax-k-3-ii-scores-big-points-nature-photographers-camera-wishlist-80326
Thanks for your advice.

IBM

blb511 wrote:

I bought the Pentax K-3II new and then discovered this forum. I have learned a little about refurbished and bought a great used telephoto lens for a third the cost of a new one. I appreciate your post. Here's a link to a website about how great the Pentax K-3II is for wildlife photography. https://fstoppers.com/originals/pentax-k-3-ii-scores-big-points-nature-photographers-camera-wishlist-80326
Thanks for your advice.

Yes it looks like a good one , I googled it and got a page full of test on it , and there all positive, way to go ,I have a couple pentax a 645 and a SLR program plus , in my closet

IBM

blb511 wrote:

I bought the Pentax K-3II new and then discovered this forum. I have learned a little about refurbished and bought a great used telephoto lens for a third the cost of a new one. I appreciate your post. Here's a link to a website about how great the Pentax K-3II is for wildlife photography. https://fstoppers.com/originals/pentax-k-3-ii-scores-big-points-nature-photographers-camera-wishlist-80326
Thanks for your advice.

That page you placed , it was the first one I came across ,

RPSteiner

MT Shooter wrote:

Your absolute BEST bet for that body is the Pentax 150-450mm lens, longest reach you will get for that camera these days. 300mm will get you close, but just not close enough for what you are wanting to shoot. Maybe Tamron or Sigma will eventually make their 150-600mm lenses in Pentax mount, but that's not likely to happen soon.

I would love to have a Pentax 150-450mm lens, but that will set you back around $2400 last time I checked. I have a Pentax 55-300mm and agree that a a little more reach would be nice. That lens is in the $300-$400 range. I've taken a lot of wildlife shots with that lens that I'm pretty happy with. I have a K-5 with 16 MP, your K-3II has 24 MP, so you have many more pixels to work with in crop. If you do go for the 55-300mm lens, I recommend getting the WR (weather sealed) version. It's only a few $$ more and I think it's worth every penny if your going to be be spending a lot of time outdoors going after wildlife.

BTW if any UHHers out there know of a good price on the 150-450mm, please let us know!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

blb511 wrote:

I've bought my first DSLR camera, a Pentax K-3II. I'm interested in taking pictures of hawks, eagles, and various waterfowl native to central Texas. I would really like to hear some advice to a newbie on a lower priced but good lens to buy, and camera settings to freeze a birds wings in flight. I have looked on line and photographers describe their lenses in the thousand of dollars (not going to happen in my life), and so much conflicting information. Thanks, blb511

Look on ebay.

Some comparison sites -
http://lensvslens.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/lenses
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx
http://www.diyphotography.net/this-website-helps-you-choose-your-next-lens-based-on-the-photos-you-like/
https://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
http://lenshero.com/lens-comparison
http://www.lenstip.com/lenses.html
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare
http://www.lenscore.org/

blb511

Thanks for your post. I too can't spend a couple a thousand a on a lens. I've just bought my first camera, an HD 35mm macro limited& more. My wife looks at me like I've gone crazy & I Have :-) I've been looking at the Sigma 150-500mm F/5-6.3 APO DG HSM OS Lens. Sure would appreciate some input on that lens as it will be the last purchase for this year or longer. Thanks BLB511

blb511

The best I've seen was 1,640 for the Pentax 150 450 is at https://www.lensauthority.com/products/pentax-d-150-450mm-f-4-5-5-6-smc-fa-dc-aw-lens?gclid=Cj0KEQjwzd3GBRDks7SYuNHi3JEBEiQAIm6EI9fjaAP6hXBdCUD0VqXN0da-MnfZWbM_yE37mfvgR88aAigz8P8HAQ blb511

lsaguy Loc: Udall, KS, USA

If you have thrift stores near you, start looking at their camera equipment. Chances are they have lenses for both the threaded Praktika mount and the modern K mount in the Pentax Takumar and SMC. On top of that there's a slew of Vivitar, Sears, Tamron, and other lens makers. For the Praktika thread you buy an adapter for under $20, The K mount of course, go right on. With either you just have to shoot in manual focus. 70-200mm seem to be everywhere. You can buy lenses for a song, usually for less than $30 and often with a camera attached. No, it's not the long lens you need for animal photography, but you'll be able to get experience cheap and make better decisions when you do plunk down the big bucks for the lens that really want. Well, just a thought.

Rick

Mundj Loc: Richmond TX

I have a K3 and a 50-300mm lens. It has served me well if I keep the shutter speed at 1/500 sec when hand holding. You might want to consider renting a lens in order to try it before you cough up the purchase price.