The SMC Pentax-F 70-210mm is a superior lens to this if you can find one. I have no experience of this particular lens but I do have the 70-210 which benefits from at least one ED element and the SMC coating.

The lens you are enquiring about lacks the SMC coating and I personally would not consider it.

www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk has details, but no stock. Lens spec can be found at http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/lenses/zooms/long/FAJ75-300f4.5-5.8.html .

To get really great photo's of any fast moving sports you'll need a lens that is both fast and long. Those two requirements = expensive and heavy.

That said, you can have some fun with cheaper lenses. Others here have presented some pretty good sports images.

Have a look for SMC Pentax-FA 80-320mm, Sigma 70-300 APO Macro, Sigma 135-400mm APO lenses. Then again, there are long primes to consider too . . . .

It's one of the earliest aperture ring-less lenses produced by Pentax and pre-dates the DA lenses having a similar design.

I'd recommend the SMC P-FA 80-320mm lens before this one.

I owned a SMC P-FAJ 75-300mm briefly. I didn't like it. In my experience, the image quality was not good.

Check out the lens specs here.

Interesting stuff. I didn't know that, I don't use the Pentax software. Thanks for the info.

These settings actually have no effect on the RAW image, only the embedded JPG file which is what is shown on the cameras LCD screen.

If you shoot anly RAW, you can set them to whatever you like, the RAW image is exactly the same because the RAW data is 'captured' prior to any in-camera processing.

That's exactly how I solved the problem of fitting the Pentax-A Bellows on to my *istD without having to remove the body mounting part of the bellows first. When assembled the bellows unit fouls part of the body, the flash, I think.

The K10D has no similar issue because it's large enough that the bellows can be fitted and removed without first dismantling the bellows. Put a battery grip on it and you have to use the extension tube again because the bellows fouls the grip.

I haven't seen a Sunbeam Alpine looking that good for years. Excellent shots, well done.

Hold your breath, there'll be one available soon
Really, if you can't be bothered, should we?

The 484RC2 is good for up to 4Kg load, the 488RC2 goes to 8Kg. I'd still prefer the usability of the 488RC2 for your setup.

I use the 488RC2 (midi) ball head with my 055PROB. I also use a 190D tripod with 484RC2 (Mini) ball head.

Of the two ball heads, I much prefer the 488RC2. It's larger and heavier than the 484RC2 head which means it can stabilise a greater weight of camera & lens combo. It also has a separate lock for the panning motion, something which the 484RC2 lacks.

Regards,