I agree with your conclusions about the Tokina v. DA 55-300. I think if Pentax could negotiate with Tokina for that design and re-work it into a DA 80-400 WR with some optical tweaks for around £600, it would be a very attractive lens.

I think that the best "current" xx-400mm zoom for Pentax is the Sigma 120-400 HSM and it's sibling, the 150-500. They both have pretty decent and fast AF and have full time manual override (like quickshift), and have the advantage of being "affordable".

Unfortunately both are larger and heavier than the Tokina, so are less camera bag friendly, they really are in the "big zoom" league which warrant their own cases. The 120-400 is probably a borderline lens, it does fit okay into a couple of my larger bags with no problem.

As you know, I use (and frequently crop to as much as 2x) my DA*60-250 which is a very fine and unique lens to Pentax as no-one else has anything like it. The nearest is the Canon 70-200 f4.0, but it doesn't have quite the reach at either end, in fact on a Canon sensor it's nearer to a 75-210mm on a Pentax sensor.

As far as a 400mm f4.0 zoom, the only one I know of is the Nikon 200-400 f4.0 which by all accounts is awesome, but it's massive, 124mm x 358mm (without hood!) and is a sprightly 3.275 kg! The price is also a mere £4700!

Fast long glass is a big challenge for enthusiasts unless they are very well heeled and can afford to splash out those large lumps just for "fun"! It's why Sigma do so well!

Klaus frequently comments about poor lens quality control. He complains about ALL the makers, not just Pentax.

His tests are as good as you will get and they are based upon real world examples, not specifically selected examples.

My own personal experiences reflect his as I've often had to go through several (i.e. many) samples to find a properly centered and accurately calibrated example, as a "picky" individual, I find it personally worthwhile to spend the time doing so.

I will also say that I've had perfect examples first time round. It's just that it's more of an exception than the rule that you get a perfect copy. Some designs do seem more prone to variability than others.

I had one with my *istD, I sold it on after getting my FA*300 f4.5.

It was a very handy lens, much better than the then current Sigma 135-400 zoom and very much smaller.

I have plenty of shots I took with it on my old pbase site. Here link and many of them here link

A zoom to 400mm is a very practical reach and I've often toyed with the idea of getting the Sigma 120-400 HSM, but the UK is out of stock of Pentax mount at the moment (I suspect that the next batch will have OS included as well). I would love something that has the IQ of my DA* 60-250 f4.0 that went to 400mm, but I suspect that it will never happen. Nikon have a first class 200-400mm f4.0 but like all Nikon top glass is horrendously expensive (and massive), circa £4,700, 3.2kg and 124mm dia x 358mm long, without hood!

The Praktica IV was my first DSLR, I think I was 15 when I got it, so that's 50 years ago. - Yikes!




Happy days!

I'll sell you my SMC-A 50mm f1.7 for £200!

If you like primes, there's plenty of manual focus SMC-A lenses still out there for reasonable money, it just depends how much you value AF on a prime lens. I don't find it too much of an issue as I use zooms most of the time, or my FA50 macro which is better than any other Pentax 50mm lens at any equal aperture. I just have the A 50 as a nostalgia item to remind me of my middle years!

However, for big fast telephotos (fast) AF is very important, but then, Pentax don't have any of those either, it would also be rather pointless until they have a body AF system that can utilise it!

Well deserved. Congratulations!

The noise profile from the K10D is quite different from the K20D & K-7 sensors. I have some shots from all three, obviously not the same shot, but at least it would level the playing field somewhat!

I will look through my catalogue and find some appropriate shots and post them on a server for downloading. Unfortunately I can't do this for a few days as I'm confined to bed with a very bad chest infection at the moment and SWMBO won't let me into my office to access my main archive drives!

We would need to have a standard Raw file (ideally several) for it to be meaningful in any way.

Aspens are a very reliable seller.

What lens does the lens hood fit?

I would say that it's significant rather than huge under normal lighting situations, but much better in low light.

With the additional ability of being able to calibrate individual lens AF accuracy (as in the K20D as well), that alone is sufficient reason to look to upgrade. The improvement in handling and speed of operation is also very significant.

Go and try one out.