Hi Kin,
I appreciate your response (you take nice pics by the way).
I am not going to consider the pentax this summer as i have a tough project near revelstoke, b.c. that will require the canon 1000mm (leased lens) and 1.4x teleconverter, i am going to use the 5D for that setup, and the XTI with the 100-400mm and wireless transmitters for that one. This one is not for birds but for cougars (I need the extra distance for safety).
SMC though, does make a focusing ring for a hefty price which does the fucusing with non AF lenses for the pentax. It's like an extra lens which sits between the mirror and non AF lens, and yes you are correct, that all pentax bodies do the AF. The rep's at SMC also say they can make a ring to attach the sigma 300-800 canon mount to the k20d body. I would have to make sure the lens is fast enough for AF though especially at the 800 mm end. (for e.g., the 100-400 mm was slow but ok at AF with the 1.4x teleconverter , but would not AF with the 2x.
I guess my beef is that a lot of the jobs that i do are kind of expensive and i always demand at least 65% up front before i do any projects, period. Last year was the perfect example of why my lens costs get so high. Last summer i had a project nw of toronto at mono cliffs provincial park photographing some venezuala wing tagged tv's and the fourth known full 100% albino turkey vulture.
It took a few days to find out which limestone cave floor they were using for nesting, and when i finally figured out which one, getting down to the cave took hours, and then because it was so narrow and because of the light and entrance, i had to get a lens made in germany which was 6mm wide angle and sat 1/4" away from the 5D mirror. Then the unit had to placed in waterproof material inside an artifical rock which looked like limestone so as not to spook the tv's. The rock also contained a 48 hour battery pack, and wireless transmitter where i picked up the data as i sat on top of the cliff with my laptop. There were logistical problems too with the laptop deleting pics on the camera as i only had an 8gb card. That project took a couple of weeks.
Unfortunately the albino tv at Mono Cliffs only lasted a few weeks and would not hunt with the others. The others were hunting at 11:30 AM and then again at 3:30 to 4:30 PM. The albino though was probably in considerable pain in the heat from its lack of pigmentation and only hunted for food closer to sunrise and sunset, i am assuming it perished from starvation.
The rest of my projects were easier, ospreys from 30 feet, eagles at victoria, and cancerous goose at Orangeville reservoir. Right now i am out in Victoria again, photographing a strange phenomenon which has started showing up in the last 7 years. The biologists are unsure why but in the lower mainland, Vancouver Island, Washington and Oregon, the birds out here have started developing unusually longer beaks with no noticeable deformity (other than the length). This phenomenon is showing up in hawks, many of the songbirds, woodpeckers, crows, jays, etc. Each year more and more of these birds are showing up like this so it's pretty weird.
Anyway, thanks once again.
