This presumably means that as a cost saving exercise the hoods are not included with the lenses. I would call this a retrograde step as even with SMC coating I think these complex lenses need a lens hood always.

You can't tell unless you compare like with like, but the new lens is reputed to have a resolution that is more suitable for the 14.2MP sensor of the K20D. It has one less element, which is interesting, so there has clearly been a redesign.

Both lenses should be sharp, certainly when stopped down.

Congratulations on the new arrival - have fun!

We were in an aviary at one point and the birds were everywhere and anywhere whilst we were amongst them. In these circumstances I found that manual focusing and old-fashioned anticipation and timing were the way to go. AF was way too slow and I suspect would have been with any camera. It wasn't specifically the lens that made me switch to MF.

Well, new to us anyway. Today was a very pleasant trip around the South Lakes and we were testing our new lenses out.

Sue had the SMC Pentax-DA 18-250mm out for the first time. She bought this to avoid the need to constantly change lenses. She always had the wrong lens on the camera. We were very impressed with its qualities. It is sharp and has good resokution as well. The texture of stone was reproduced very nicely indeed. It was less good at telephoto shots in poor light because of the restrictions of the f6.3 aperture, but within its limitations it's an excellent lens.

She also had the SMC Pentax D-FA 100mm f2.8 Macro and that was brilliant. Much more compact than her FA lens and really nice overall quality. A reduction in weight was one of the goals for Sue and these two lenses will fulfill most of her requirements.

I was trying the SMC Pentax-DA 55-300mm and was also impressed with this. Focusing on moving subjects at the longer end was difficult with AF so I reverted to manual focusing for some of the time. Closer shots were great and really close crops worked especially well. Excellent colour and sharpness and very pleasing bokeh.

All in all we were pleased with the day and with the results. Sue has posted her first picture on EPZ which is one of a very fascinated monkey peering into the 55-300mm lens. If you want to check it out her ID is sueriley

http://www.ephotozine.com/u25748/gallery/1002733

Correct. It's indistiguishable from new so I don't want it to go for peanuts!

I think the SRS price is £370.00 so I based it on a reduction from that.

sRGB. It is universal and convenient and results in nice punchy prints.

The shutters were made by Seiko and I do think they can be repaired. An overhaul could in any event consist of resetting the timimg and relubricating some parts. Not the shutter curtains themselves!

If anyone wants to take a look, I have put such a lens on eBay as a BIN item.

It is virtually unused, as new, complete with all original accessories in its original box.

The 50mm f1.4 design is a very old design - going back maybe 30 years or more, and designed for film cameras.

The first radical redesign for "standard" lenses for decades was the 43mm f1.9 and when tested this out-performed all the others of any marque. A complete rethink paid dividends. This was also designed for film.

Good as they are on digital, and remarkably good especially compared to zooms, another rethink may well produce another significant leap. Add SDM and weather sealing, or maybe full frame compatibility, we could indeed end up with an expensive lens. Especially if it's another Limited, crafted in metal.