Just ordered it, will let you know how I get on once I've taken it out for a proverbial spin.

Thanks to all for comments.

Nice shots!

Good to hear the lens performs well at f/2.8. I've been pleasantly surprised by the 300 APO wide open, but I've heard a few reservations expressed about sharpness at maximum zoom and aperture on lenses such as the Bigma and 120-400 - I'd expect some compromise to image quality given the focal lengths and ranges of those larger lenses, but wasn't sure if it translated to the 70-200.

I'll give the seller a ring, tempted to go for it.

I did scratch my head at that!

I vaguely recall having a lens with a clutch mechanism that simply disengaged the focus ring form the focus elements, you still had to turn AF of and on at the body, assume this is what is meant here. Can't recall the lens but as I no longer have it I suspect it wasn't a particularly great example! My 300 f/4 is a Sigma APO of a similar vintage to the 70-200 in question, it's got a clutch but the camera recognises when the clutch is engaged to disengage the AF, so not sure quite how to interpret the comment.

Ta John.

I think that is the one - interesting in that there are quite recent positive reviews, with expectations around AF etc set in relation to more recent lenses and cameras.

Sounds like it might be worth a punt - sadly I'm unlikely to be able to try before buying as it's quite a way away, but I've sent a few questions off to the seller just to clarify. I'm expecting it to be heavy though!

I've seen a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 come up for sale at a good price, which has piqued my interest as my 300 f/4 is proving a little too long for some nature shots and the 55-300 a little too slow. As an aside I've not really managed to get my 55-300 all that sharp on my K3, despite numerous attempts with the focus adjustment.

I've missed a few of the equivalent Tamrons that have come up for sales on this forum, and no way on earth will I get the D-FA* past the wife! The sigma is the cheapest of the lot, mainly as it's quite a dated version i'm looking at - pre-HSM and no OS - which is making it quite attractive given we're coming up to Christmas!

Has anyone any experiences with this lens? I know that Sigma substantially redesigned the more recent HSM versions of this lens, so most reviews are not that useful for establishing sharpness across the focal lengths and speed of focus of the older lens design. My admittedly limited experiences with some of the sigma EX ranges is that they usually have decent centre sharpness but a number of them lens range don't perform that well at maximum zoom or aperture, particularly at edge, but some across the entire frame which would be a bit of a dealbreaker for a wildlife lens.

Also, my Sigma 300 APO is a bit of a weighty beast, assume this lens would be of a similar bulk?

I'd like to go and try the lens but the seller is too far away, so I thought I'd cadge some opinions whilst weighing it up. All opinions gratefully received, positive or negative!

Received it earlier in the week, safely boxed up and exactly as described - thanks Brian!

Payment sent, many thanks Brian - can't wait to try the wi-fi live view, be nice to frame a low-level shot without unseemly/ungainly contortions!

Flash arrived safe and sound, well packed and in really good condition- many thanks Derren, looking forward to giving it a try!

I'm just a curious bystander until the K1 drops in price - presumably when the K0.5 (or whatever the FF replacement is going to be called) is released, which is not going to be for a good while yet.

I do, however have a bit of a treasure trove of FF lenses from my film camera days, and keen to know how people are finding such lenses - IQ, speed, anything of interest - when used on the K1. These film-era lenses are currently sat on a shelf as the focal lengths aren't as useful for APS-C, and I'm casually interested in which might be worth resurrecting should I buy a FF body.

I recall the issue of perpendicularity of light onto sensor coming into play when I first got a DSLR, at least in terms of pixel-peeping discussions, but most of my current lens set are designed with digital in mind so I'm not sure if I ever really noticed this as a problem. Was this actually a 'thing' or just some theoretical issue (or, dare I say it, something cooked up by lens manufacturers looking to get sales for digital-specific lenses) that never really came to pass?

I've got an old Sigma 28-70 EX f/2.8 that I can't wait to use again, hopefully someone on here has tried this or its 24-70 cousin, I'd be interested in how it stacks up- especially against the Pentax 24-70, if anyone is lucky enough to own a copy of both such lenses!

Ta Bill, no idea why it's not on UK site, but perhaps should have figured the Japanese site would be more up to date!