Given the weather in the UK at the moment and the "summer" we had in 2012, I think Full weather sealing on both bodies and lenses should be compulsory by law, otherwise we would never take photos.....

I can only comment on the lenses that I have, but I can say the following:-

Sigma 100-300 F4.5-6.7. Old lens, slow and full of CA on digital.

Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 Macro. Cheap and budget soft, unless you work with it. After a while it does not talk to the camera properly. Does have a useful Macro ability though. CA is not bad.

Sigma 170-500mm. Can be an excellent lens, then again, it can be a pain! Needs a lot of work to get to know it and work with it. Bokeh too fussy. At the end of the day if you work hard you can get great results with it. But on the other hand, it is not as good as the next lens.

Pentax DA55-300mm. A good lens, decent quality and sharpness. You don't have to work as hard as the Siggy's, but I would not say it is the ultimate.

The Ultimate:-

Pentax DA*300mm F4
Seriously, it is a case of you get what you pay for. This lens is sharp from wide open, has stunning bokeh, and the colours are excellent. If you can afford it, then seriously this is the only lens that you will need.

As for the extra reach of the Sigmas you mentioned at 500mm? Well I would say that a cropped shot from the DA*300 will have more detail than the siggys at 500mm. It is that good.

One final thing that will (maybe) help. Pentax have the 1.4x converter that is about to hit the shops. So, I would say, if you want the ultimate on a Pentax body, get the 300mm, and save up for the converter. Then you will have superb gear for long shots, no questions asked.
But if you cannot afford it, then the 55-300mm is a good alternative. But remember, you get what you pay for.

Hope this helps.

Don't forget Bobby too.....

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Bobby by IHD Photography, on Flickr]link

It maybe too much too soon. 54MP? Noise? Dynamic range?
Many years ago it was said that a decent roll of film and a good lens would produce an image that gave around 50MP of detail if it was a digital sensor. Now the technology has advanced so much, a 16MP sensor problably is around what you would get in detail, unless you really wanted to create a poster the size of a building....

Still, if Sony actually pull it off and it does what I say, then WOW!

However, just think of the file sizes!

Not saying anything, but yes......

Oh, I have put this on Flickr.....

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Fab Feb 2014 Day 9 - Padley Gorge by IHD Photography, on Flickr]link

Guess who?

Great day, nice to faces to names. Really enjoyed it. Padley Gorge was a tad muddy, but this is what us togs do......
Shame I missed you all at Castleton, I hope Stanedge was not too windy. I was enjoying a great lunch in the Castle pub in the heart of the village.

Looking forward to our next meet in the peaks.
Anyone up for an early morning on Curbar in April?

Last time I was at Grindleford, there is no parking charges. That was less than 4 months ago.
The Cafe is excellent, big butties with what you want on them (eggs, bacon sausages) and big mugs of Coffee and Tea.

Will I be there? More than likely.....

Agreed David.

I have heard reports (in the USA mainly) that the K-01 has a cult following which is having an affect of secondhand prices. People are realising that this pocket(biggish pocket)rocket is a superb piece of kit, hence why the prices are going upwards for secondhand models.
Nothing is better with the mighty small manual primes than this body. Oh and it superb with the tiny DA limiteds too..

I have been thinking, I hope that Pentax don't abandon the mirrorless K-mount body completely, in fact the K-01 only needs a very small amount of changes to make it perfect. Maybe a K-01 mk2 with the K3 none AA filter sensor in it.
So, the little changes that I would do (keep the body looks as it is)

1. Move the green button a bit closer to where your thumb can easily access it.
2. Change the colour of the focus peaking to something more bold. Red maybe. the white at times is a little awkward to see.
3. Option to have a plug-in EVF. There are times when you wear glasses and you have to take your glasses off when manual focus. This would negate that.
4. a faster CDAF system. Most of the time you accept it, but it can be SLOW. Not that we care, we know its limitations.
5. Some migtht want this, but I have the K-5 for this. faster fps and bigger buffer for RAW. But to be honest, the style of the camera and what you use it for, it does not matter.

Told you they were minor.