No it isn't pointless beacuse the older models Pentax DSLR can't use the SDM but will use the Drive Spigot to auto focus. The newer Pentax's like the DA*55 and the DA17-70 are KAF3 and don't have a drive spigot anymore but KAF2 still has.

If the camera sees it's an SDM lens it will use that of course and not the drive spigot, you would get troubles I believe if the camera tries to use both. It also doesn't make sense that the camera doesn't use the SDM but the drive spigot if the lens has both.

If you have a K10D you can use the firmware version 1.02, that one isn't SDM capable so it will use the drive spigot but you will lose SDM support of course.

edit:Typos

Simply keep your camera straight or if it's the sensor you need to send it in to Pentax to correct it, nothing to do against it I think.

You've a good tripod so with that and a tool to see if it's level you should be fine.

Yep, maybe turn around times will aprove.
Mostly it was 3 to 4 weeks for a camera to come back don't know about flashguns.
Tel was one of the unlucky ones where something went wrong, I'm sure there are more cases but this the first one I heared taking so long.

At the time I had narrowed it down to the Nikon D80 or the Pentax K10D.
Both are good cameras in my eyes but price, lens choice, weather sealing, SR inside and to ability to use older lenses and the build quality won me over.

No a proper wrist strap not a simply loop around your wrist.
It looks a bit like this.

Yes since the camera gets the info that the lens can do SDM so it won't use the camera driven focus but is trying to use the SDM to focus, if the TC doens't have the contacts the signal doesn't come trhough of course.

I don't believe there is away around it, for camera driven AF the camera also wants the lens information so covering up contacts wouldn't work I think.

Wow you got me lost Amin

It seems to me you have a monopod, a tripod, one ball head and a QR plate for that ball head.
What you need to do is switch the ball head to whatever you're using (tri/mono,-pod) and simply keep the QR attach to your camera.
In your case an extra QR would have been nice for the DA*300mm, which has his own support.

You can of course order an extrahead with the same QR plate so that you don't have to switch a thing anymore.

Very strange indeed, SDM should simply work though the Tamron and the Kenko are the same in design.
You do have a TC with the SDM/powerzoom connections right?

That looks very pretty!
Too bad of the massive dark cloud on the top, did you got any rain?

Which one if I may ask?

It seems to me you've the problem that the strap goes over the camera and not underneath it so your hand will never be on the grip if you let go of the camera. I might be wrong though but I want to be proven wrong now, it would be a nice solution to some of my problems.