You dont say the price the lens is on sale for, but can i just say that jessops are currently selling this in pentax mount for £89.99. I would look to pay £50 - £60 for a good used copy. I had mine for sale on here, mint, boxed, hood, for £60 and it didnt sell.
i still have this lens, in fact it was the first lens i bought, other than the 18-55 kit lens that came with my camera. Its a very good lens for the money, though as Nigel says, is quite prone to purple fringing. The macro facility is quite useful also, but the switch can sometimes be a bit of a pain.
i very rarely use this lens now, as i got an "as new" pentax 55-300 ed wr for a not much more than the price of the tamron. The pentax is definately the better lens imo, though either would serve you well.
Hope this helps.

Hi. I was just looking at this again last night. Go on then, i will have it. How would you like payment? Paypal as a gift?
simon.

you have a pm.

I should have said I use the "leash" as a sling strap, rather than a neck strap.

I've used a couple which connect to the top lug of the camera and to the tripod mount but didn't like them...I found them uncomfortable.
As a hand strap (its a wrist strap really) I now use a Peak Design "Cuff", which I find great. I also have the "leash" (neck strap) and alternate between the two as required.

Ive got a pentax espio 738 in silver with original case if anyone wants it.

I bought an as new one on here for £50.

Well done Stan, and i would totally agree Hullman,s comment.

Simon

wow, 4 pages....and some great replies. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to my question, there has been some quite lengthy and detailed responses here and i really do appreciate the time and thought you have given to this.

Having read and re-read through the thread a few times it does seem the most popular choices are lightroom or photoshop (full or elements), and that the choices are personal, ie what it will be used for. In my OP i didnt really say what it would be used for, as i wasnt too sure....im still not! Im not even sure i "need" this, more of a " nice to have".

What i will say is that everyone who has posted a reply has given very good reasoning for their choice or preference, and also their recommendation. As i said in my OP, i am a complete novice when it comes to PP so all your advice has helped me make a much more informed decision.
I think Photoshop would be too much for my needs or ability, PS Elements would more suitable.
So i think its a toss up between PSE and lightroom.
Im just going to pass these two options onto my son, and see what one i get.....either one will be more than sufficient, and greatly appreciated. I think i will enjoy learning the processes involved, after all, i only do photography as a hobby and so hopefully will view PP as an extension of that.

Thanks again for all the replies and your time,

Simon.

as per title really.

my dearest wife has said she was going to buy me photoshop or something similar for my birthday (in September), and had asked my son to find out what I would prefer. I shoot mainly jpeg, but did try the free 1 month trial of lightroom in January and quite liked that, using raw.
I think for day to day pics I would still use jpeg, but would use raw when I wanted to do something with them afterwards. I wouldn't fancy having to PP a load of "snaps".

So what would you recommend? I was thinking lightroom (would it be version 6) Bear in mind "ease of use", I really am a novice when it comes to pp, but would like something I could grow into, so to speak.

a new laptop may be on the cards as well, so I may be asking for advice on that later!!

thanks for any advice,

Simon.