I haven't tried the built in NR on silky, but I find NoiseNinja is superb. Neatimage used to have the advantage of a free version, but from the sound of it they have now crippled that to an unusable extent so NoiseNinja is my pick.

Also NN is available for both Windows and Linux.

I feel we should report this to the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Cameras)

Neat perspective but if you miss that's one seriously expensive shot.

I've never used the Sigma 70-300, but I've always had the impression that it was on par with the FA 80-320.

The DA 55-300 makes the 80-320 look like a beer bottle.

It's well worth a look.

As John pointed out, Ultra Wides are hard to handle. I've only just started to use wide angle in a way I like, before now I've always been disapointed with wide shots.

Telephotos like the 50-200 and 55-300 on the other hand extend your options significantly and are much easier to use to effect. The 50-200 was the second lens on my *istDL2, in your shoes I would get the 55-300 if you have the money and the space, and the 50-200 otherwise.

I just hope he didn't drop it ON anything, I can't imagine those puppies are light

I had the pleasure of using a 50mm FA macro last year and had the impression that the clamp was supposed to stop the focus ring from moving at all, so you could lock a particular macro ratio and not worry about it drifting off

might be worth a punt for £20, but I'll be very impressed if it's any good.

Even if it's optically fine, these old lenses tend to be big, heavy and slow. F8 will make it a pain to focus. You will need a sturdy tripod and you wont want to be lugging it around much.

I wouldn't bet on being able to get one anywhere by July, if you want a K10D now is the time.

It's supposed to be a superb lens, it just doesn't go wide enough to be a contender for most peoples standard walk around. It's not a question of speed or quality in this case, it's simply a question of suitability for purpose.

If 28-75 covers the range you want, then you can't go wrong with the Tamron.


Another lens you might want to consider is the Sigma EX 24-60 F2.8, gives you slightly wider angle for the interior shots without compromising speed.

it's simply a case of whether or not you want your standard zoom to include useful wide angle.

28mm isn't really wide angle on a crop frame DSLR. If you don't use wide angle very often, or you don't mind changing lenses when you want it then a zoom which starts at 28mm is fine. Most people prefer to have a standard walking around lens which starts from ~18mm.

Also, if the Pentax 17-70 isn't better than the Tamron 18-250 inside its range then it will have no chance of commanding its price tag.

The Tamron is very impressive for what it is, but a high quality short range zoom should leave it in the dust.