Originally posted by Douglas_of_Sweden Good summary! But then again, the lady says that it is out of her budget. So there is no lens that live up to all of this.
I have to agree with you (and the post you quoted, as well).
In the exact same boat right now, I keep coming back to the 55-300 despite the copy I used at my local place couldn't focus right :ugh:
Having owned the FA 80-320 a decently long time (2 years?), I agree with someone who posted on the last page: It is really unusable over 260-280mm. Whatever the weight figure in the lens database, it was light when mounted on my camera. Any old-ish lens is going to weigh considerably more. The M* and A* 300s may not...but there goes the "cheap" part of the budget. And they're manual focus anyway. Old, cheap, heavy...new, expensive, light.
Unfortunately, there is no lens that meets all the requirements...or I'd have one by now. I'd even skip on the AF if it would make it lighter. I care less about weight than the OP, but...I don't want older lenses because of PF and needing to be stopped down. f/8 + K10D don't go together most of the year.
A compromise is going to have to be made in one criterion or another...or stick with what ya got.