Thanks for that Hefty, since wer'e both Bucks based a back to back is not beyond the realms of possibility and would be of great interest to many on the forum no doubt. Worth thinking about at least :

(Incidentally the rest of the gear is a *ist DL2 plus a load of lenses, bodies, film, tubes................)

Regards
Martin

Thanks John, I take your point on the Woodpecker so I had a look through some of my other shots and found this Robin which I think is a better example. To be fair to the Woodpecker it was shot through my kitchen double glazing

Well here we are. These are the first non staged snap them as they pass shots from my 55-300.







So Guys what's the verdict (polite replys only)

Personally I'm quite happy

I just got mine from SRS at £229. Don't hesitate it's all its cracked up to be. I will post some results as soon as I get time to process them.

Martin the madmapper

I'm a bit long in the tooth with dodgy eyesight but I use all my older lenses on my DL2. The focus indicator works well enough for me. I agree though if your looking to buy, then go for the fastest pentax brand 50mm with the A setting as they are by far the easiest to use. I have found the auto focus a bit of a pain on telephoto subjects so use manual quite a lot (even with the 55-300) give it a try.

As the "Dad" in question I have to agree with Mongoose the 55-300 is everything you want in a relatively low cost long zoom. In normal use you wont see any of the very slight imperfections. If youre that fussy buy a DA* its the only way you will ever improve the results significantly. Hoping to post some examples soon. looking forward to the critique.