michael_reichmann2

Steve,

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Thanks for the clarifications. Just a few more if you don't mind.

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You wrote, "the 600 can accommodate vertical shots by loosening the

body and rotating to vertical." I assume that this is because the

600mm uses the outer bayonette. I've never seen how this works. Is it

a breach lock with a collar? A bit of an explanation of how this

mount works would be really useful.

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I'm planning on using the 600mm with a Wimberly mount, which I use in

35mm with super-teles when shooting wildlife. Any experience doing

this?

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You also say "Landscapes are limited with the 600". Can you

elaborate? I do a lot of landscape work with a 300mm Tele-Xenar and

2X on my Rollei 6008. Why should it be a problem with the Pentax

600mm?

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"...keeping the shutter speed either slower than 1/2 sec or faster

than 1/60." I assume that this is due to shutter bounce. If so, I'm

well aware of this even using the 300mm IF with too light a tripod.

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I'm aware that there is some spherical aberation with this lens. "At

f/6.7 to f/45 the fringing is not a problem." But, sometimes f/4 will

be needed, especially with wildlife. How bad is the fringing? I know

that quantifying something subjective like this is tough, but would

you say it's 1-dreadful, 2-nasty, 3-poor, 4- annoying, 5-slightly

visable?

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Finally, how would you rate the lens when a solid tripod is used

along with proper technique and mid-aperture? Are contrast and

sharpness on a par with other top long lenses?

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Thanks for your feedback. Since Pentax Canada doesn't have one of

these for me to see and certainly no dealer has one, it's very tough

to decide beforehand if this lens is going to be a net contributor to

my work or an expensive dog that'll end up on E-bay next year.

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Regards,

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Michael

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www.luminous-landscape.com