i thought it was only one of the K-D models that comes with the shake reduction?

(i probably didn't read it that well...)

lol! always too late!

out of interest - how much did the lens sell for? the only lenses in pentax fit i see longer than the 80-320 for sale are always fully manual - haven't seen an autofocus one around

Ok i've decided my next investment needs to be a long zoom.

i've got a 50mm primes and a 28-80 zoom to cover the short end, and i want a long zoom.

I've got a sigma 100-300 which works nicely for my motorsport work, but at 300mm it's only f6.3 min so it's a little slower than i like.

Is the pentax 75-300mm any good? or would i need to get the 80-320?

anyone got any other suggestions? or indeed something appropriate for sale?

It's to go on an IST D

i think ten times that is a stack for a manual focus lens....


Personally i wouldn't want a lens that long as a manual as i'd be using it for sports

OK quick *summing up* questions...

Pentax 1.7x AF convertor auto focuses itself within a range set by manuall adjusting the lens that's fitted to it?

SMC 80-320 works with the above convertor on an IST D, allowing the camera to control aperture and the camera/convertor to focus?

How much light does the convertor lose? couple of stops?

and while we're talking about the sigma lenses...

what does APO, DG, EX and super mean?

ta!

Dex

anyone know the aperture ranges on the 80-320 pentax lens? and why do i never ever see any pentax lenses (except the 50s) on ebay? (and i already own a 50 SMC-A)

Ok i currently have a pair of sigma zooms (bought as a twin pack when the IST D body was bought new a couple of years back)

28-80 55mm Filter Macro f3.5-5.6
100-300 55mm Filter UC f4.5-6.7

Now i see online a few lenses, also sigma

28-300mm F3.5-6.3 Aspherical (67mm) £99
70-300mm F4.0-5.6 Macro DG (58mm) £98
70-300mm F4.0-5.6 APO Macro DG (58mm) £158
70-300mm F4-5.6 APO Macro Super II (58mm) £139

I use the camera for a range - from portrait and scenic up to sports action.

I'm looking for a lens at the longer end of things, and ideally a fast lens - obviously the f6.7 at the long end of my zoom is pretty slow, and getting down to f5.6 would make a noticeable difference - but is a £100 sigma lens going to be way soft/slow to focus? Or is the price just very good because of the more modern f4 and f2.8 long lenses available?


I can't afford the 500mm f2.8 that i would love, so sticking with the real world would a £100 lens be a good buy or would it make the already soft IST D just produce pictures with no definition?



(if anyone has a tried and tested alternative then i'd love to hear, i'm open to suggestions of other brands but i know sigma is generally a fairly safe bet)

cheers!

slightly OT - anyone know where i can get a battery grip for an IST D?