I've been using the F 70-210 f/4-5.6 and FA 80-320 f/4.5-5.6 for some time with good results, I'd say the F 70-210 was marginally sharper at 200mm but lacks the reach of the FA 80-320, of course. I've tried numerous versions of the Sigma 70-300 DL and APO and was never really convinced by the performance beyond 200mm.
Recently a work colleague of mine asked me to recommend a good reasonably priced zoom lens in the xx-300mm range after he bought a K10D on the strength of some of the images I had produced. I recommended the Tamron 70- 300 f/4-5.6 LD Di after hearing many favourable comments on the performance. After seeing some of the results he got I bought one myself, excellent performance, great price, very reasonable build quality. Image quality was better than F 70-210 & FA 80-320 at 200mm & 300mm. All the above lenses have rotating front elements making the use of a polariser a little fiddly, the only other negative is the Tamron has a 62mm filter size (not a common Pentax size). On a positive note the closest focusing distance is good, max. repro 1:2. I tried the DA 50-200, first impressions were good, but I grew tired with softness at the edge of the images, both at the short and long end. Maybe I got a bad sample. I can send some sample images shot with the Tamron if requested of-list. Regards, John On Thu, 1 May 2008 23:42:36 +0200, Ralf R. Radermacher wrote > Hello all, > > I'm looking for an AF version of my SMC-M 4.5/80-200 mm. Yes, I know > there's no direct AF equivalent of this lens. I'd want something with > the same image quality (I'm actually very fond of this lens). A few > mm more at the far end wouldn't hurt either. > > What about the ubiquitous F and FA xx-200 or xx-300 mm lenses? Any other > suggestions? 3rd party lenses? > > Ralf > > -- > Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany > private homepage: http://www.fotoralf.de > manual cameras and photo galleries - updated Jan. 10, 2005 > Contarex - Kiev 60 - Horizon 202 - P6 mount lenses > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above > and follow the directions. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- > > The information transmitted is intended only for the person to whom > it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged > material. If you have received an email in error please notify > Carmel College on [EMAIL PROTECTED] then delete all copies of it > from your systems. > > Although Carmel College scans incoming and outgoing emails and email > attachments for viruses we cannot guarantee a communication to be > free of all viruses nor accept any responsibility for viruses. > > Although Carmel College monitors incoming and outgoing emails for > inappropriate content, the college cannot be held responsible for > the views or expressions of the author. The views expressed may not > necessarily be those of Carmel College and Carmel College cannot be held > responsible for any loss or injury resulting from the contents of a message. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- John Whittingham Technician ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. If you have received an email in error please notify Carmel College on [EMAIL PROTECTED] then delete all copies of it from your systems. Although Carmel College scans incoming and outgoing emails and email attachments for viruses we cannot guarantee a communication to be free of all viruses nor accept any responsibility for viruses. Although Carmel College monitors incoming and outgoing emails for inappropriate content, the college cannot be held responsible for the views or expressions of the author. The views expressed may not necessarily be those of Carmel College and Carmel College cannot be held responsible for any loss or injury resulting from the contents of a message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
