Simonarron's shots of the Heron illustrate how handy a
zoom lens is even if it's only 100-300mm

He also seems to make good use of it with motorsport

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Amazing photos .... The 100-300mm performs very well at f/4.
These demonstrate how useful a zoom lens is. With a fixed
lens you wouldn't have got the Moorhen in the frame. I suppose
you could have asked the Heron to wait until you changed lenses

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I've not seen any tests that have actually measured the actual
focal length, but would be surprised if Sigma were selling a lens
that was so far out of Spec.

The DA*300mm will only be close to 300mm at INF due to it being
an IF lens. I compared mine with my A*300mm once at 6M and it
was 10-15% less than the A lens. The A*300mm was once measured in
an AP test and found to be 315mm at INF. In practical terms it
meant that at 6M you would need to move in closer by 500mm
to fill the frame the same as the A*300mm does at 6M.

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Mostly old stuff in the gallery and I prefer to take lighter gear out nowadays mostly the 55-300mm + Jessops 1.7TC which never comes off the lens. This year I intend to go back to the Tokina 80-400mm and do away with the TC.

The TC lets you get in closer when the odd butterfly pops up.....




55-300mm + Jessops 1.7TC on K-5.. 400ISO.. Original JPG

Zoom out a bit and you get a nice 3D Effect....




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A fixed 300mm is very restrictive with regard to framing.
The zoom is more flexible and reaches further.

The only time I would use a DA*300mm is when the light is bad.
The greater contrast certainly helps.

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Well done Stan You can always sell it for £200
£69+ was the going rate for the MF version a year or so ago.

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Excellent lens Stan. Either the Sigma or the Tokina 24mm.
(Not the same lens) Hardly any difference results wise and
better than the Pentax equivalents, some of which are
mediocre.

Vignettes quite heavily at f/2.8, but OK f/4 onwards.

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Fantastic piece of work and such nice colours.
Interesting to hear about it's history

I've never had any problems with an Eye-Fi Card on a K-5.
If I'm around the house I always use it. It even reaches
into the garden.

Great for test shots and focus calibration etc. because you can look
at the results straight away and compare the shots and decide if
you need to re-shoot any.

Without doubt the best photographic gizmo I own

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It's also the symbol for pounds weight and was used a lot in engineering prior to going metric. The Americans call it the pound sign.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pound+sign

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