Tried one in SRS last Friday, it's very light and responsive. The last bridge camera I had was a Fuji 602 and the X70 is definitely an advance on that. I have no experience of the Panny FZ series, my suggestion is that you nip round to LCE in Southampton and compare the offerings. My local LCE in Gloucester is a tiny shop and it has stocks of both, so I'm sure they will in Southampton.

I've done very little at low light with the Tammy wide open as I don't do any concert type work or had it long enough to do much indoor work, but I suspect that it would be perfect for that.

I've trawled through my collection and the only low light shot taken wide open was of our old cat Jasmine below. Taken at ISO 1600, 1/30th sec at f2.8. The lens has no problems focussing in low light as it has excellent contrast thereby allowing the AF to lock easily and quickly.

I have a K10D that I don't use any more. Fully serviced, updated and calibrated by Pentax UK in November. I'm open to reasonable offers around £240-£260, but not to being mugged!

I shall put it up with photos on the Classified section later today.

Unless you can afford (well over) a grand for the new body and wait until probably July/Aug for the first deliveries, then do a deal on a K20D. I know more about the new one than most, and I doubt if I will spring for one, even though it will be worth it compared to other makes. The K20D is a fantastic tool and much better than I expected above the K10D, it really is much better than it's perceived status of a K10D mk2.

My photography would have to be much more serious for me to spend more than £600 on a new body. I blew £200 over my single item limit when I bought the DA*60-250, but I'd been waiting for that lens for 3 years!

I now have to sell my 6 week old Tamron 70-200 f2.8 link which I bought because I really had given up on the 60-250 appearing in time (or ever! :roll for this years telephoto shooting season (wildlife and air shows) . I will probably have to sell my backup body (K10D) as well as several other items I don't use much these days, to help redress the photo cash balance!

Looking at a distant object, mine does zoom smoothly out to the max image. The focal length data on the camera steps from 220mm to 250, so I checked the image at the point of change and there is still a slight difference between it and the final 250mm image size.

At close object distances (2m) there is virtually no noticeable change.

Comparative shots

DA 55-300 @ 210mm




DA*60-250 @ 250mm




DA 55-300 @ 260mm




DA 55-300 @ 300mm




From the above, it would seem that the 250 setting is about right. Not conclusive of course, but reasonable. Only an accurate angular measurement would be specific.

The TC has been bought.

Just found out that it works really well with my new DA*60-250, although it wouldn't lock with earlier versions of the DA*16-50 or 50-135!

Maybe I should have kept it!

It's a very close call IQ wise, I find no discernable difference at any aperture, even f4.0, which impressed me, plus I never use f2.8 at these longer focal lengths due to such low DOF. The clincher for me was size/weight, sealing, SDM, quick-shift, similar colour/rendering to other Pentax glass and the small detachable tripod foot. I know these are very personal issues and to some f2.8 is very important, i.e. theatre and portrait use etc., plus a non extending zoom.

I would give both lenses very similar marks out of 10, for me it's 8.5/10 for the Tamron and 9/10 for the Pentax, for others it would be reversed.

Another very important issue for many these days is cost, The Tamron is around £250 less than the Pentax using SRS prices, £649 v. £899 (£799 was for his first delivery only, probably all sold by now). I wouldn't be surprised to see that price gap to widen again during the summer.

In fact, if the 60-250 hadn't been equal to the Tamron wide open at f4.0, I wouldn't have bought it, even at £799, £899 would make it even less likely.

I've done an exhaustive test between the 55-300, 60-250 and Tamron and posted (in multiple posts) on DePressing Review. It's too much content to repost it all here, I suggest that you take a look at my original post as well a the 7 follow up posts, so here is the link to the comparative test #1. link

You lot are terrible, very pithy!

Decided to sell my 6 week old 70-200 f2.8 Di and the superb Tamron 1.4x AF TC. I've decided to stick with all Pentax glass for various reasons (I won't bore you!)

Sample images and test shots available on my Flickr site: link


70-200 Di - £525 with free UK shipping - as new, all original boxes etc.
1.4x AF TC - £100 with free UK shipping - mint/as new (original box, paperwork etc).

Paypal, or less 5% with cleared funds (cheque, cash, transfer etc.)