I have one of these and I agree, it is superb! £60 is a good price, and if it's Mike-P, you can be sure of the quality of the lens.

Price update and Monday bump!

DA 55-300 now at £200 incl. RMSD.

M 50 1.7 at £30 incl. RMSD.

Well, it felt like a week before I got the time to try my new camera out. Walked from Marble Arch all the way to White City. Passed by Hyde Park, then Holland Park. Here are a few photos from today, "post processed" using the built-in filter effects and nothing more, just batch resized using IrfanView for web viewing.

Hyde Park Parade of Trees (DA 55-300)



Pentax SMC DA 55-300 Test Shot



Hyde Park Test Shot (Kit Lens)



Row of Birds (Kit Lens)



No Nice Sunset Today @ Holland Park (Kit Lens)



Cafe @ The Science Museum (Kit Lens)



Fly By (DA 55-300)



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Impressions so far?

* Well, I feel like the K5 will last longer than the GX-10 I had before.
* It feels so nice to handle, but I MISS MY GRIP. I found out today that I took approx. over 60% of my shots in portrait. The camera is smaller so an official grip is an investment I will be getting in the future.
* I love the post processing or "filter" effects! It's saving me a lot of trouble doing it in Photoshop... BUT! It totally DESTROYS whatever detail you have in your photos. Looks like I'm sticking to Photoshop.
* The shutter sound! Not silent, but it sure does sound like Pentax put a silencer in there to muffle out the sound.
* I can finally use TAv mode in confidence.

Thank you for looking at the photos!

Ditto. Remember, these photographers actually have the time to do this. Probably doing it for a living. Snootchies hits the nail on the head, it's all about market share. And Jackie Chan. He shoots with Canon. If Bruce Lee were alive, we'd have more market share with Pentax. LOL

I have a "friend" who found this particular lens "useful" especially if stopped down a bit (just like any other lens). I personally would go for this over the kit lens in some situations, that extra reach can be pretty useful.

Also, at £45 (open to offers) this is a bargain.

First time I'm going to disagree hard with somebody. This is nowhere near stupid. Unless of course this was shown to a dog (or a colourblind person).

All my opinion of course.

Welcome, and the K10D is a superb camera!

Your budget?

Welcome Malcolm! Here are some tips:

1. Make a list of stuff that you want to photograph.
2. Make a list of photographs that you would like to "recreate".
3. Schedule these "projects" into your calendar.
4. Post them here!

I hope that was helpful.

HDR? I'd go for wide angle!

At the moment I'm thinking of selling quite a few lenses and getting myself a 70-200 2.8, always wanted one as that's the range I usually go for.