Pentax K10D

There are three versions of the Sigma 28-200mm listed on Photodo and some of them have user reviews and ratings.

Hope that helps.

The Sigma 70-300 APO is possibly the best cheap longish lens (excluding older MF stuff) - at the long end it needs stopped down a little to get really sharp results but I've been quite impressed with mine, especially given I paid less than £70 for it via Ebay.

I've seen good reviews of one of the Tamron equivalents as well.

Can't comment on the Sigma 28-200 - I had the Pentax one and that was pretty decent (as was the Tamron it was based on) but I don't recall the Sigma getting as good reviews.

If you do sell the Sigma, and perhaps one of your kidneys, then why not get a PENTAX-FA* 300mm f/2.8 - ED rather than the cheap manual lens that George suggested.

HTH,

Steve

*drool*

I wish they chosen to make a new DA* 300 F2.8 Too expensive though...

I really want a DA*400F5.6

Nice that you send me links of the lenses I cannot even think of affording. Perhaps a few suggestion of lenses within my budget please. £500-600.

Hi UPINSMOKE,

I use the Sigma 135-400mm f5.6 bought from SRS whom are currently selling it for £419.00. Here's an example photo taken with mine below:

http://www.youfoto.co.uk/

This is with a Tamron 70-300 mm and im really not that happy with the sharpness-or do i need glasses ???? The deer was only about 25 metres away -saying that -lighting was not great but still. Jr -that is a gr8 example of your lens,i just need to save a feew more £'s and hide it from the Mrs.... ,what game have i got myself into ....

[quote="Kal 10 d"]what game have i got myself into ?[quote]
Answer: A potentially expensive one

I downloaded your photo to check some of the EXIF data and noticed that your camera still has firmware version 1.0. You can download the latest firmware (V 1.3) for the K10D here.

Use fully charged batteries, and follow the simple instructions.

Did you notice the rear of another deer, on the far side of the fence to the right of the tree ?

You haven't said whether you used a tripod.

No tripod but use of fence post come in handy-will the update interfere with what i have not learned yet???? and is it necessary.... And thankyou....And Yes i did note the doe running thru to next field.....

The Tamron 70-300 is pretty good for the money but it does have a couple of weaknesses; namely that it's pretty soft at 300mm and also at fully open apertures - by taking this at the full 300mm and f5.6 you're getting the worst of all worlds. I notice the EXIF data says you used ISO 100 as the sensitivity so here's my recommendation:

When you get to 300mm back it off a little (about 270 should do the trick) and close it down to f8. To compensate for the smaller aperture up the ISO to 200 and you should be able to use the same shutter speed.

I doubt the deer will be there to pose for you again but once you get to know this lens you'll find the above pretty much holds true in all situations. If you want a lens that's sharp wide open at that sort of length you need to be prepared to spend a lot more money...

Ok thank you so much...its all beared in mind, but early birds are calling so i need to hit the..........

Can I assume that the advice applies to the Sigma 70-300 on a K10d

EddieD

Keep an eye out for a sigma 400mm, the AF version if you can get it. There are several members here who have them and it would be well inside your budget.
Or you could go for a Bigma 50-500mm. You would need all that budget with this baby.

I don't actually own the Sigma but I'd be very suprised if it offered a noticeable improvement over the Tamron at its full 300mm or wide open. These are budget lenses so their performance at the extremes will never match their more expensive cousins, you just need to play around with them, find what the limitations are and then work within them. From what I see both lenses are capable of excellent results when not made to work too hard...

I've said this before and I'm going to say it yet again......my advice is look for a used Pentax 80-320, the lens is (IMHO) very underated. Even though I now have the Bigma 50-500 I would not dream of parting with the Pentax, and with the K10D I can often get away with shooting at f8 which as we all know is the (alleged) optimum aperture for best results.