High ISO is much better in bright sun than low light. Also the noise gets worse as you crop more which is why it us birders that moan about it the most!

Probably just a nice sunset but a possibility tonight after dark.

The Pentax Papillo 8.5x21 are remarkable. Excellent optically, as light as a feather and focus to a foot and can be got cheap. Handy in the garden however for serious birding the field of a view is a bit on the narrow side but I often take them out strapped to my belt when I don't want the weight of my "pro" birding ones. Of course fantastic for butterflies and insects with such a close focusing ability. Real fun to have.
Dave

It always seems to come back to the same issues - slower AF than competition and poorer tracking of bodies. Most of the comments below the review refer to this. It amazes me that Ricoh, over a long period now, seem to ignore this elephant in the room.

Thanks for this. As a wildlife photographer I am going through the same questions as most others. Every lens generally seems to perform within its budget range. I have found the Sigma 150-500 excellent wide open at 500mm but no better (perhaps slightly worse) than the 300mm DA* + 1.4x TC. My friend has that SIgma on his Canon and it is even better although another friend's is not so good. Are we seeing batch difference in lens manufacturers or difference in techniques? In my opinion these days absolute image quality isn't the deal breaker in the mid price range. With better sensors, the removal of the anti-alias filters and decent software the IQ is often there. I get back yet again to the speed of locking on and subject tracking with Pentax DSLR's. I can get it with DA*300 +1.4TC or DA* alone but having just got back from Bempton shooting relatively easy Gannets I can assure you that my friends' Canons and probably other's Nikons were getting the harder ones with more success although the ones I got are fine IQ wise, or at least to my expectations.
So what I want to know and I'm sure others do is what is the speed of focus and tracking ability of the 150-450 compared to a DA* 300 and DA*300+1.4TC which is more or less the focal length and price range competitor in Pentax range.
In the meantime I am going to hire a Nikon lens and fit to my recently acquired D5300 body and borrow my friends' Canons and find out for myself if this tracking thing is real or a myth!
Dave

Superb details in these Banded Demoiselles.

How does the actual static focusing speed compare with the SIgma?

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It would pretty much be the last piece in the puzzle for many of us. It is also something Ricoh must be aware of so with their generally more progressive approach I think it will come and the sooner the better.

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Fabulous. I can fully understand your embarrassment at not wanting to publish the K-5 one I have taken some shots of the same thing with my Q and my K3 then looked and thought - is the K3 one really better?!
Dave