Which lens to rucksack ?

Hallo

I’d like to buy a long zoom, 70…100 – 300 mm, for my *ist camera.
It will be mainly used on trips in mountains and in forest.
It should be rather cheap, light and small. Rucksack is always too heavy.
In future I would want to connect him to *ist DS (this is most important).
Maximum magnification of print: 8x.

What are Your opinions about lens: (price in my country)
1. Pentax SMC P-FA 80-320/4.5-5.6 (1499PLN; occasionally 1099 PLN)
2. Pentax SMC P-FA J 75-300/4.5-5.8 AL (price not found)
3. Pentax SMC P-FA 100-300/4.7-5.8 (1099 PLN; occasionally 649 PLN)
4. Sigma 100-300/4,5-6,7 (849 PLN)
5. Sigma 70-300/4-5.6 MACRO SUPER II (770 PLN)
6. Sigma 70-300/4-5.6 APO MACRO SUPER II (899 PLN)
7. Tamron AF 75-300/4-5.6 (620 PLN)
8. Tamron AF 70-300/4-5.6 LD Macro (770 PLN)

Which from them they have high rati quality to price ? (price in my country)
Which is best optically and which mechanically ?
What would you choose from this list at such conditions ?

Thank you for all Your opinions.

Mirek

Hi Mirek,
I would be tempted to stay with Pentax lenses. There have been some compatibility issues with the Sigma lenses. I am not familiar with the Tamron ones, perhaps someone else has used them.

As the the Pentax ones, the 75-300J is more compact and lighter than the others which might influence you for "backpacking". The 80-320 has the slightly larger range of the other 2 and seems to have a better feel to it. I am not very impressed with the 100-300 which always seems a bit "lightweight" and flimsy to me. Both have a reputation for being reasonable performaers at the wider end but suffer quite badly above 200mm.

Regards
Kim

I agree with KimC, stick with Pentax lenses.

Choose the one that best fits your needs in terms of specification, and enjoy your trip!

I have the 75-300j and I'm very happy with it. Bought it new for around 95 pounds from park cameras recently. It's very light and compact and works well on my *istds and mesuper.