The Lenses you have should be fine.

Have you considered the K-r? There are several points in its favor over the K-x.

As others have said kit lens is a great lens, but has no quick shift function. I quickly replaced my 18-55 DA-L with a 16-45 DA because of lack of QS (and one was going cheap) but this is just preference. You could also consider the 18-55 DA or WR version that does have Quick Shift if the lack of it will bother you.

Still learning to drive this lens but initial thoughts are positive.

HSM, I am falling into the 'its better than SDM' camp. seems faster and quieter to me.

Optical Stabilisation. Very effective.

Manual focus, gearing on the focus ring seems to be just the right balance of speed vs control and accuracy.

Image Quality, I think it is stunning.

500mm hand held at f8 and 1/125th of a second



Blue Tit by toy car uk, on Flickr

Hello from another Pentax user in South Wales, I am from Liverpool England originally.

a strap is included, but walking round with it over my neck its only good for brief moments. I would like something with a bit more padding that will fit and is up to taking the wait of a 2Kg of lens.

£1,00000 and its yours, its a one of a kind don't you know.

Its arrived, couple of test shots in the the office very impressed so far.

Any one recommend a decent neck strap to attach to the lens?

Thanks all for your input,

I have concluded that the 50-500 has a slight edge over 150-500 in several areas with the 150-500 having a significant advantage in one area alone, price.

For me, those slight advantages along with the confidence in buying from SRS only just out weigh the money saved with the 150-500 (it can still be found for under £600).

If the 50-500 was not available at the discount price, I think the 150-500 would have taken it hands down.

@Blythman, I have just looked at your Flickr album some cracking photos on it, even inspired me to add a link to my account.

I should have explained better what I meant by manual control. I was looking for a comparison between the two lenses for the speed and fine adjustment for the focus ring.

What you say about the amount of glass being used re APS-C vs FF, if only they had put it as simple as that on the site I found it!

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

OK after much searching I have been able to answer some of my questions.

Focusing, opinions look to be that they both take around the same time to lock on to a subject at infinity from minimum focus distance.

They both perform well with regards to accuracy, with the 50-500 having a slight edge over the 150-500.

HSM, common opinion seems to be it is as good if not better than SDM.

I have not found a definitive answer it the IQ better on the 50-500 than the 150-500 on a Pentax camera though there seems to be some discussion around IQ on a aps-c vs a full frame sensor. I didn't follow why, but it seems on a aps-c sensor the image is just as good but on a full frame the 50-500 is better. Can any one with a better understanding of sensor to lens combinations of an explanation as to why this would be the case or debunk it? (can't find the site again to post a link)

I have not found any detail regards to manual control of focus.

Does any one have real world experience of both the 150-500 and 50-500 on a Pentax mount, ideally for birding use?

If so, how do they compare with each other re-focusing? Is the gearing different giving one the edge over the other (speed vs manual control vs accuracy).

My only experience to date of off body focussing is with SDM on a DA* 35-135, is Sigma's solution a comparable experiance?

Is the image quality on the 50-500 better or not? I have read mixed opinions about this on a Pentax mount, if it is better is it so much so to justify the extra cost to a keen amature?

Thanks