Very nice set of images, some other really good shots on your website aswell. love the B&W giraffes. Lens look nice and sharp aswell. where did you manage to find the DAL version as everywhere only seems to have th DA lens?

Thanks for the feedback dougf8, you're right they haven't seen any photoshop. All were shot in raw and then converted in pentax utility 4. i've done a slight adjustment to the contrast but not a lot. I did have a go at cloning out the twig in pic 2 with serif photoplus but couldn't get it to blend seamlessly. (definately going to get myself photoshop elements to get better at the post production stuff) They've had no sharpening as i can't get my head round the sharpening tools in serif either!?

First real chance to get out with my Kx. All taken with Da-L 50-200

[IMG]http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff385/dhumpy/Ducks%2012311/IMGP0867.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff385/dhumpy/Ducks%2012311/IMGP0866.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff385/dhumpy/Ducks%2012311/IMGP0865.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff385/dhumpy/Ducks%2012311/IMGP0862.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff385/dhumpy/Ducks%2012311/IMGP0861.jpg[/IMG]

Any advice very welcome

thanks for the help, there was alot on ebay with u 'uwinka' on the hoods lol ordered from play.com in the end.

Is there hoods available for the DA-L lenses. SRS only do one for DA lens, will these fit?

Thanks for all the comments. I think i'm gonna go down the route frogfish mentions with a 2nd hand DAL or Tamron 70-300 to see me through till i can afford the sigma, or sell an organ and stretch to a DA*300 and teleconverter ooh that would be nice!!

Right then folks i know the subject seems slightly odd as the sigma is twice the price of the pentax but as still fairly new to all of this i'm wondering if for someone who's wanting to do more wildlife photography its worth saving a bit longer and spending the extra on the sigma?
I've read on here the pentax stays sharp at the long end and wondering if this is the case would i be better off just cropping in photoshop to makeup for the shorter focal length (I'm not trying to print A1 images or anything!)
i currently only own the dal 18-55 and dal 50-200 (kit lenses with my KX)so with the da 55-300 i could really get shot of my longer kit lens as i'd still have a full range of focal lengths covered. (All makes perfect sense from a budget point of view)
But hopefully people in the know on here can tell me if i'd really reap any advantages having the Sigma? I just dont want to end up in 3-4 months time kickin myself that i should have saved and gone for the sigma...

Right apologies for the essay look forward to hearing your thoughts
Thanks
Dave

Hi All, I've been a pretty frequent visitor here since getting my Kx as its full of great advice so thought i ought to sign up. Would love to meet some fellow photographers near me to maybe go and shoot with.
Just starting to get to grips with shooting in full manual mode so will probably have a few questions for some of the guys on here.