Hi Phil

Hopefully I can speak from having some experience, I have owned the Sigma 50-500, Sigma 150-500 and still own the DA*300 plus 1.4TC.

Here are my thoughts - just opinions of course and based solely on the copies of the lenses I have owned or still own:

Sigma 50-500 - I didn't like this lens. It was soft at almost all focal lengths / apertures and it was very big / heavy. I suspect that I had a bad copy of the lens, or that it got knocked in transit as I had bought it from this forum, from a respected member who had shown excellent (sharp) photos taken with it. Other members may be able to vouch for its excellence, but I can't unfortunately.

Sigma 150-500 - This lens was excellent, very sharp and consistent, good focusing. The only downsides were the limited max aperture and the sheer weight / size, plus it gets a tad soft at the extreme telephoto end of its range.

Pentax DA*300 (with our without 1.4 TC) - This would be my recommendation - it knocks spots off the Sigma lenses. Clearly it does not zoom, but a 1.4 TC adds flexibility. I have used this extensively on my K-3 and my K-5iis, it focuses well, has great bokeh, is very sharp even wide open and is not too big / heavy. I would never swap this for either of the Sigma zooms. The max f4.0 aperture is a massive advantage.

Regards
David

There's gold in here Derek, however I hope you don't mind me making a critical observation? They are all under-exposed and would benefit from the levels bringing up in post processing. I think you have deliberately gone for a dark mood, but it's at the expense of details in the shadows, which is a crying shame as there will be plenty to see in the dark areas given the performance of the K-1's sensor.

Particularly in number 1, I think you could have a wonderful shot on your hands if the levels in general were higher and more so the shadow detail was brought out.

Best regards
David

Both images are great David, I've already commented on the one in the Gallery. There's nothing wrong with the kit lens, the only reason I don't use it regularly is because it doesn't have a wide enough aperture to suit my photographic style and it doesn't go long enough at the telphoto end. I like my Sigma 17-70's ability to go to F2.8 on some occasions and I regularly use it at 70mm.

Regards
David

Very nice Barrie, well shot.

However, I do prefer the Gallery image, probably because it's in colour, maybe also because the one on the Gallery has a bit more space around the subject.

Regards
David

A beautiful set of images, please show us some more! These shots make me want a K-1.

BTW, I'm another Saab owner / Pentax user, my current Saab is a 2007 9-3 Aero, which cost me £1550 a year and a half ago and is my current daily driver. I also have a Honda S2000, which tends to get used at the weekends, weather permitting. The Saab has been absolutely reliable and is a much underrated vehicle, it is a supreme motorway cruiser with the most comfortable seats known to man. No issues getting parts for these, they are readily available.

Best regards
David

Big thanks to Mike-P for his suggestion of contacting Sigma for a repair on my 17-70 lens. Got confirmation it had been couriered back to me within 2 days of them receiving it! Received the lens a few days ago and used it tonight for the first time, I have to say it is like having a brand new lens. The zoom mechanism was broken, but on the repair slip that came back it looks as though they have replaced the AF mechanism too! The outside of the lens is completely brand new, all of this for £95.

Hats off to Sigma UK, what a great service.

Regards
David

I applaud you Haris, what a great and kind offer and thank you for posting this on the Forum. I'm sure this will be of interest to a lot of members, including me. I will be in touch regarding my DA*50-135 when the SDM finally dies, which will be very soon I think.

We are all big enough and grown up enough on here to assess the risk of asking someone to provide a service, whether free or for a small charge and I can't really understand why anyone would be offended by your post or would want to remove it.

Best regards
David

DA*50-135 arrived today safe and sound, well packaged and in great condition.

Thank you for such a great transaction Neil, the lens will be getting lots of use!

Regards
David

An absolutely magnificent set of images.

The last one in particular is superb for me, but all are tremendously good.

Regards
David

A replacement DA*50-135, as my existing one is slowly dying with the dreaded SDM failure, despite it having one of the newer replacement SDM motors that apparently don't fail

Cheers
David