Yes George the FA77 was also on my mind and it will come, it's just now too close to the DFA 100mm (my favourite). It would be an awesome portrait lens but it's just too long of a focal length for the stage I believe.
I already have a Ltd George, don't worry it was the first thing I got

Thank you for your wise words John.
I love primes so I'm leaning to 55 myself to begin with but the miss of a good zoom doesn't help me.
Like said, I simply need to find out how usefull the DOF is at f/1.4, if it useable I will get the DA*55 if not I will go for the DA*50-135.

Nathan, f/1.4 is 2 stops faster then f/2.8 so that means iso 400 instead of 1600, that's a major difference in sharpnes even if the 55 is less sharp wide open compared to the 50-135. Of course like you said, I need to be able to shoot with half the amount of DOF.

I don't have any experience with such lenses so I don't know to be honest how usefull f/1.4 is, any comments on that would be welcome

A monopod isn't very practical in my view in a busy club. I might however set the monopod on my hips, I've done that a few times and it helps enough but still might not be the most practical thing.

I've only compared shots on the web, not the best thing to do but the DA55 looks quite a bit sharper then the FA50.
Here is a good comparison link

Are they once again planning to up the price, when if I may ask?

That's the circle of confusion for you
The noise stays the same but the smaller noise which is lost with the smaller photo is more visible with the larger photo.
You're inded right that Amin's photos do have alot of noise, certainly compared to yours.

Thank you John for tipping the balance the other side, I didn't really consider cropping the image but you're quite right.

I've always liked primes that's why I want to give the DA*55 the chance, if I liked zooms I would have gone for the 50-135 without thinking.
Just need to check my wallet this weekend and I'll order the DA*55 by the looks of it.

Amin did you crop your photos if so and Mike has not that can make a difference, also the photographer and the postprocessing can do a lot.

Mike that's the K10D, it has lower noise then the K20D and if you compare pixel against pixels they are sharper, the K20D has more pixels so overall sharpness is better.

The first shot of the Robin is splendid, I love the coulours of it.

edit: typo

Simply to defend denoise here.
[IMG]http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk244/Anvh/IMGP8611edited.jpg[/IMG]
I don't believe you can call it soft so check your settings Amin, I think you've not have set it to the optimal.

Oh yes Noise ninja is seriously faster but it doesn't work with CS4 64bit besides the special pro version so no go for me

Totally forgot to comment on your shots, they are wonderfull, so which TC is better the pentax or the tamron?

The DA*16-50 would do a great job.
If you want to do some tighter head shoulders shots it's better to get some distance, if you come too close it can disturb the porportions of the head and she would look funny then if you aren't carefull. The DA*50-135 would be the preferred lens for such shots in my opinion.

That was also my idea Alan and Roger, I'm just a bit worried about the f/2.8 and I've also the DFA100 that would do the job just as good.

Every time I've made up my mind which lens, there comes a situation that I long for the other lens but there isn't money for both now.

Before anyone say fifty nifty + DA*50-135, yes that's also an option but using zooms and primes together just doesn't work for me. The difference between f/1.4 and f/2.8 once the zoom is on the camera is just not enough to switch lens constantly. I would also then only switch the 50 when needing the reach but since I've the DFA100 I don't see the use then of the DA*50-135.

This is a problem already discuss earlier here I believe but still there wasn't a real solution.

The problem is I want to do a multiday hike so I need a big backpack 65 or 75 liter where everything fits in clothes, sleepingbag, tent, etc.
Now I also want to take with me the camera and here is where the problem comes. Taking two bags for the camera and the other gear isn't practical and there aren't camera bags so far as I know that are big enough to carry the other gear.

I'm wondering if there are some hikers here with a solution to this problem.

My idea so far is to get a bag like this link and simply carry the camera and lenses in the side pockets. The only problem is that the lenses are free to move then and I'm afraid of damaging them.
I also looked at this one link it says it has pockets but I don't know what kind, if they are side pockets I can use the compression straps to pull it all closer together so that the lenses don't have room to move.

What do you think or do you have more ideas or suggestions?

Thank you for reading.