They are very good John. Were they all on a tripod I imagine they would have to be.
Dave

What do you mean you can see the OS system through the viewfinder? I have that lens and didn't realise there was something in the viewfinder telling me if it is working.
Dave

Mine are K30+Sigma 150-500, mostly. Some also with DA*300mm. Nearly all birds.
Dave
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcweather/

For an ideal of scale this Goldfinch is taken at 50 feet away and outside its circle of fear as it ignored me while I fiddled around with the focusing. It was windy and I noticed the camera shaking slightly largely caused by the strap blowing. SO, tripod, Q+ 300mm DA* fully open, 1/160th sec, so not completely ideal. Also ISO 400 which is pretty good considering zero noise reduction set pre or post. Taken in raw with my standard adjustments.
First is actual size at 50 feet, second is 50% crop (height)







The idea was then to take same with Sigma 150-500 and crop to same size image but unfortunately the light went!

As you are new Alan, if you don't have any luck here it is always worth giving SRS a look in their used section as they usually have a number of used Pentax DSLR's which they have taken in PX.
Dave

Awe inspiring pics. I think I would be moved to tears if I saw that.
Dave

Great to visualise these shots so well. They really work.

Yes, I think you are right Graham. From what I remember reading I don't think the two above mentioned lenses are stellar at 300mm and she is currently happy with the performance of the 18-300 at 300mm.

I have a Flickr friend in the US who has asked me for advice. They currently have a K-x and:-
2 x 18-55mm
Tamron 18-200
Sigma 70-300
Sigma 28-300

I have suggested that replacing the lot with an 18-270mm or 18-250mm of any marque will leave them no worse off and perhaps slightly better off in terms of range and IQ. This is also based on the possibility of replacing the K-x with a K-30 where the 300mm range could effectively be regained from cropping with the higher resolution K-30.
Does this seem reasonable?
Dave

Sorry for delay - I just did it straight away after reading that it was important, being so easy to do. So I can't compare before and after but it is certainly very good with the DA* 300mm.