*shyly raises hand*

It makes sense for me. As I live in China I have to pay ca. $150 for every lens I bring in that the customs spot (I got burned twice on M42s like this ). However my father is coming for a visit from next week so he's bringing the lot over (and a Tamron 500 and and and ..... I've been very active on EBay the past month)

I know I can also sell on the SF7 and other lenses here, I'll keep the AFA & FA50 (maybe let my Tak 50/1.4 go) and still 'nearly' break even. Sorry Mike.

ISO - you can use this Japanese company to buy the item and send it to you, cost around US$10 to 15 for the service :

http://www.tenso.com/en/shopping/index.html

and sometimes it comes up on the Japanese Amazon (US$375) :

http://www.amazon.co.jp/HOYA-F-AFアダプタ1-7X-AFアダプター1-7X/dp/B002HJUMF0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1284234835&sr=1-1-spell

None in stock now but they usually have them once every couple of weeks.

I've just won mine on EBay so will have it by the weekend !

Nestos - you have an absolute bargain.

I have the Tamron 90 and think it's a wonderful lens - however I believe the DFA 100 is, if anything, a touch sharper. The main difference is the limiters - I believe the Pentax doesn't have one whereas both the Sigma and Tamron do - but you can work around that.

A no-brainer at that price since neither the Sigma nor Tamron are WR so you've lost nothing in comparison.

Enjoy !

Yes, the focusing ring is rather small and not quite in the right place for me, but it does retain the ability to AF and then just manually tune it, without having to flip a switch or pull a ring, to get it spot on if needed.

That's a nice shot, not tack sharp, but very nice - but the 55-300 is going to be sharper, no question.

All I can say mate is that having had all 3 (and the Tak 300mm) the 80-320 is the only one I got rid of. I have some nice shots from it, as the budgie shot above shows it's not incapable, but overall it is nowhere near as good as the other two where it matters ..... in the field.

As I've already said re. Tamron, the PF is rarely an issue and easily corrected in PP. I found a nice one on-line with a dealer going for just GBP69 and there are plenty to be had up to 100. If he has the cash it's a no brainer, 55-300's quality is way above it's price range, however the Tamron makes a nice alternative - especially with it's 1:2 macro, it's a very versatile lense.

User Ratings from a well-known site :

Pentax FA 80-320 : 6.93 (14 users)
Tamron 70-300 : 7.68 (21 users)
Pentax DA 55-300 : 8.92 (37 users)
Sigma 70-300 : 6.30 (11 users) - the APO version is 7.85 (13 users)

Excellent shots.

Wonder what that red button does just in front of the gearstick ? Pushes. *walks away whistling*

Ha - so it was you that put down the 236 pounds bid ?!

I have seen fantastic shots, on another forum, taken at airshows with the 55-300 & a K7, the sharpness of those shots was one of the main reasons I went out and bought the lens.

Someone did a comparison with the 55-300 and all different teleconvertors. Clear winner was the Pentax 1.7x - but then all the others were 2x so maybe a Kenko 1.5x or Tamron 1.4x might be better !