[Rusky40]

im shooting a few track-days at the mo im looking for a budget long zoom fast lens dont care if its an older one used at the mo im flicking between my quantaray 70/300 and my tamron 18/200 with ok results please share thoughts and ideas

[paulh]

"budget" and "fast" are a difficult combination - the Pentax DA/DAL 55-300 is widely regarded as one of the best of the long zooms. If you don't need the 300mm focal length, the Sigma or Tamron 70-200/2.8 are great lenses (but not that cheap).

[Chewmark]

Go for the Pentax 55-300. Great lens, superb quality.

[Rusky40]

dumb Q is there much difference between th pentax lens your suggesting and the quantaray 70/300 iv gotalready

[HockeyDad]

Track days as in outdoor auto racing? While I would agree with the general consensus that a 70-200/2.8 would serve you well, you did specify budget. While an excellent value in the $600-700 used range, I don't consider that "budget". The 55-300/4-5.8 can work, especially outdoors, because it's f/4 up to around 200mm and the IQ can be very good. However, it isn't blazing fast in the autofocus department like the Sigma 70-200 with HSM. That means you'll have to pick your shooting positions carefully. You can get some excellent shots by panning and the generally consistent speed of the cars at any given point in the track allows for a lot of practice shots. I would recommend against shooting cars coming at you with the 55-300 unless it's around a slow corner or something but you never know, on a bright day where you could leverage larger DOF with narrower apertures... it could work... even try manual focus if you find it hunting a lot.

A different thought... if you can get somewhat close to the track, what about the new DA 50mm? I don't own one but it gets great reviews and if it's anything like my FA50mm, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot some racing with it.

[Kid_UK]

HockeyDad, how would you compare the IQ of the Pentax twin kit (18-55 and 55-300) versus the Tamron 18-250?

I've got the 18-55 and 55-300 kit on my k-x and I'm looking for a bit more convenience t the moment, so really close to switching them both for a used Tamron 18-250 I've got my eye on.

[Rusky40]

budget low

[Rusky40]

iv got the tamron 18-200 its a great lens

[Kid_UK]

Rusky40, I may have a 55-300 for sale soon if I decide to go with the Tamron single lens option... I'm certainly not a regular poster on this forum, but I'd still prefer to offer it here before putting it on ebay.

[Rusky40]

wot sort of money would you be looking for kid uk

[Rusky40]

could any of you guys tell wot the advantage and or difference between the pentax 55-300 and the 70-300 i already have

[Kid_UK]

I'll PM you about the lens.

I can't give you first hand comparison between the lenses, but there are some reviews here:
Quantaray 70-300mm F4-5.6 LD Macro 1:2 Lens Reviews - Quantaray Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database
SMC Pentax-DA L 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED Reviews - DA L Zoom Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

[Rusky40]

cheers

[SpecialK]

could any of you guys tell wot the advantage and or difference between the pentax 55-300 and the 70-300 i already have

The Pentax is noticeably better IQ than the Sigma or Tamron 70-300. The Tamron 70-200 f2.8 is noticeably better than those three, but with less range, over 2X the price and almost 3X the weight. You can crop a bit to approximate 300mm, but the faster speed is still an advantage.

[HockeyDad]

HockeyDad, how would you compare the IQ of the Pentax twin kit (18-55 and 55-300) versus the Tamron 18-250?

Plenty of reviews and threads on the Pentax/Tamron 18-250 but to answer your question, in my hands I consider IQ to be better than the 18-55 and not quite as good as the 55-300. My 18-55 has not been on my K-r once since purchasing the 18-250 but the 55-300 stayed in the bag and now swaps bag space for the Sigma 70-200 depending on where I'm headed. For convenience, the old 18-250 cannot be beat (until the new DA 18-270 is released). Honestly, the 18-250 and FA50 account for almost all of my "everyday" or "travel" shooting.