I liked the lens when testing it out at SRS yesterday but I had some problems. PF is pronounced wide open but it does disappear by stopping down to F2. Focusing was not accurate enough on my K10 and most shots were OoF. It is too similar to the FA50f1.4 and I don't know wether it is worth the price if I'd be using it stopped down and can get the same shot with my 50-135.

The DA*60-250 is a very big lens. It is fast at focusing and bright. Unfortunately it has a major design flaw. The tripod mount interfered with the opperation of the zoom ring. I was not the only one to note this and it was generally agreed that it would be removed by anyone thinking of buying it.

I was unable to gauge the quality as all the samples were pre-production and missaligned. They were soft and produced some awful halos because they were put together to demonstrate the size, shape and operation; not optical quality.

Personally I didn't like the lens, it just felt too big (as did the Sigma 70-200f2.8 I tried). It was too similar to my existing 50-135 in terms of coverage and from 135 to 250 it didn't feel like anything special. Especially as it extends when zooming and becomes even bigger!

The DA*300 felt rather special and is the only thing that really grabbed me.

The problem with the K10D is that it is hardly sensitive to IR so that even with an IR pass filter it only acts as a really hard ND filter.

Have a look at some IR images from a K100 or a *ist camera and they are radically different. They look like film IR shots rather than colour with a hint of IR.

Looks like dust to me, not damage.

The sensor is coated with tough optical glass and a 'Teflon' type layer. It isn't that easy to damage.

My bad, it was my 18-55 that I was thinking about which has an odd rectangular mask, as does the 10-17 fisheye.

Just had a look at both * zooms and the image circle is circular and there is no mask.

I'd love a square crop camera as this would allow a lot more creative cropping without needing to turn the camera. Byebye the comfort/convenience need for a vertical grip/controls.

You would need an adapter as it is a screw mount lens.

There is a big problem with a square format sensor, especially with the DA*16-50 and 50-135. These lenses project a mostly rectangular image 'circle' designed for APS-C. Just mount one on an ond film SLR and you will see what I mean.

Unfortunately the 2408 is not included in that lottery as they have the lower end 24x which has that spot. The 2408 is clearly marketed and has a Samsung panel and an unknown backlight. The Apple is absolutely stunning though!

Apple cinema displays use cheaper backlights than Dell and the colour fidelity is nowhere near as good.

Wide viewing angles are not really important as you sit in front of the thing. Colour fidelity is more important. However, the higher quality Samsung panels with good colour fidelity just happen to have wide viewing angles as well.

The Dell 2408FWP has the same panel as the more expensive Samsung 24" high end monitor, but has a better back light and costs less.