Yea i don't think it's any stronger than the 1.5 macro that's on my sigma 28 - 80. I could always get one of those add on rings for the sigma that X 2 the magnification. But as narrow the dof is in macro I'd tend toward a longer, dedicated macro. I see on the net there are 3 or 4 types of macro, rings bellows and reversing the lense? On the ones that have the macro button like on my sigma, what is that called? That's not considered a dedicated macro I think. I'm looking forward to the Tamron with birds and other wild life. I aught to be able to get some decent moon shots too I hope. The one i took with my 28 - 80 looked like a button.

Speaking of macro, I got my slides back 2 days ago of my shots in the field last week. It was the first roll where I did all in aperture pryority, (yea I know compared to yall I'm a wimp, hey all manual will be a while yet). Anyway 3 of the pics were great, (great to me). I printed them out full page. A fly agaric mushroom under an oak in my yard, a butter cup in the field, and a bannana pepper in my back yard. The 1.5 isn't allot macro wize, but it does pretty good on the size of these subjects. Only thing is it was still very early in the morning, and i'd of had more dof if i'd have waited for more light to play with.

I got the Tamron 75-300 AF zoom with macro for Pentax, off ebay, new. The, "bid to purchase", difference was less than 10$ so dunno why it was listed for twice as much on the Tamron site, but I snatched it up. Glad that's done, cause I need an Ebay break for my eyes.

Oh it's not a zoom. sorry.

Would a 70 - 300 mm Tamron AF telemacro be light enough to not need a tripod? I don't know much about zooms over 80. Though I had a 300 mm telephoto decades ago on my first camera. Would a manual lense be better? My 28 - 80 sigma has a very short focal ring. The pentax 50 1.7 on the other hand has plenty, so maybe that's not an AF thing.

Do the longer macro zooms have buttons like on my sigma 28 - 80 macro?
Sorry about playing 20 questions. Just when I finally decide what camera I want, I wander into another area I'm unfamiliar with.

Hey Can you tell me anything about Hanimex zooms?

I guess I'd need a decent aperture on it because some of the birds will be in deep shadow. Would a 200 zoom be sufficient for normal yard distances?

Oops, wasn't logged in, sorry that's me up there. Funny it normally it makes me log in first. My bad.

Thanks for the info Kim C.
I was concerned that the K2 had all those diagrams in the view finder, but there's enough in what you said that gives me other reasons. I like the idea of not needing a battery, (maybe it's a post apocyliptic image of me taking snow pictures during a nuclear ice age lol). Anyway i didn't know the K2 was battery dependant, and thanks for the head up on the dial info.

There are 2 all black KX's on ebay right now. The one you showed me is a recent offer, but has more wear than i want. The other seems pretty nice but the photo's are slightly out of focus, which could obscure it's actual condition a bit. And I really want one of the silver and black ones. I had an option the other day and should have bid allot more. I just need to be patient. But I think now it's a KX or nothing.

Thanks much for the help, and the offer. That's real nice of you, but I can afford it, i'm just picky. The guy that was selling the KX i lost on gave me some tips afterward. One was to find one cosmetically that i want, and send it in to be re furbished inside. I think he's a friend of yours. He was very cool.

KX's are scarce on ebay lately. So i was thinkin of getting a K2. But in the pdf manuals, the K2 appears to have allot of stuff on the viewfinder, (an inner circle with lines, and an outer circle with strait lines at each corner).

Are these diagrams shown in the maual actually in the viewfinder? Because in the KX manual they show none. And I don't think i would want all that in my view.

Other than the Exposure factor of the K2, (which i probably would never use), and the aperture apearing in the KX's viewfinder, their fairly similar, and both have things i want. Most K2's I see are cheaper than the one or 2 KX I have seen. I thought the K2 was the most advanced of the K line?

Thanks much Kimbo for the links. the MZ5n looked nice, and hadn't seen one at that price, but the bidding had closed. Same problem with the KX I bid on yesterday, as I'm such a night owl i was outbid by 2 dollars, cause i didn't get up in time, (sokay i had only bid 9 more than the one before .
Not much else of either on reg ebay right now so i think i'll do some used long lense shopping there. For starters i want someting for shooting local birds, and was thinking about a 200 - 300 telephoto. Or do i want a zoom? I had a telephoto many years ago with my first camera, (which was a sears honeywell, now i think it might have originally been a pentax with the other 2's stamp on it), but don't know today what's better for birds and wildlife. Telephoto's better but a stuck range right? Zoom lets lets you move between the 2 settings but isn't as good? Some times the camera's come with 2 or 3 lenses, some long. Though the KX I had bid on didn't come with any.

David