Pentax *ist DS and fast Pentax A lenses

External Since: Jun 10, 2006 Posts: 1

I have the opportunity to pick up a used Pentax A 400mm/f2.8 ED-IF to use
with my *ist DS -- I've used my Promaster 70-300mm 4-5.6 exclusively up to
now in wildlife photography, and feel that I need to make a move up to
improve my image quality and composition. Other than the manual focus aspect,
does anyone have any experience with this combination and/or advice they
would like to share?

External Since: Nov 11, 2004 Posts: 191

In article <618b7c905ec0e@uwe>, Kacy_in_LA <u22867@uwe> wrote:
>I have the opportunity to pick up a used Pentax A 400mm/f2.8 ED-IF to use
>with my *ist DS -- I've used my Promaster 70-300mm 4-5.6 exclusively up to
>now in wildlife photography, and feel that I need to make a move up to
>improve my image quality and composition. Other than the manual focus aspect,
>does anyone have any experience with this combination and/or advice they
>would like to share?

Yes - go for it!

I don't have the 400, but I have the A* 300/2.8, which I've used with
both film and digital bodies.

If you can find one, try and get the 1.7x AF adapter - it works very
well with the long glass, and would give you a 680/f4.5 (equivalent
field of view, on a *ist-DS, to a 1000mm lens on a 35mm film body).
Plus you'd regain auto-focus - a definite benefit with the longer
focal lengths, with practically no depth of field.