Originally posted by Gray DSims, you're making work for me, digging up the originals. If anything the photos above show my poor PP skills : but they are 22 MB raw files downscaled twice over to 250 KB 72 ppi jpegs.
I can't upload the original raw files, but here are untouched jpegs of the originals.
Both these are taken handheld at the maximum focal lengths of both lenses, where IQ does tend to degrade, and of small objects (one in shade, the other sunlit) which would otherwise have been even smaller. I posted these here for people to make up their own minds about the Tamron and show that it does work with SDM/HSM, nothing more. Now back to the Pentax converter...
I'd say your skills are good! Additionally, I find it hard to upload images to the threads and have the IQ come out similar to what I see at home.
I do believe the glass in the new Pentax TC is probably better than the Tamron. It's certainly better in my older Pentax rear converter A 1.4x (the general purpose one, not the better one that only fits certain lenses). But the new Pentax TC looks to be better than that. Combine this with the fact that it does virtually everything else right (e.g. Correcting focal length, to minimize user error) and I think it may be a winner.
Believe me, I don't want to spend $600! Not only would I be out the money, I'd feel almost guilty supporting Ricoh's recent inflationary pricing. But I might actually
use this TC. Even if it's overpriced, it might be worth it on a practical level. And they certainly appear to have put enough engineering into it to make it worth $400. But there's clearly no 400/5.6 or similar lens coming any time soon. And few of us want to (or even can) spring for the HD 560/5.6. So with this and a *300 you have a 420/5.6 or 6.3.
I appreciate your re-posting the photos. I think they came out a little better. But they still exhibit the negative characteristics I saw with my copy of the same Tamron TC. Canon makes some top quality TCs, from what I've seen. Likewise with the older dedicated Pentax Rear Converters. Most TCs out there don't reach this higher quality standard. But many Pentaxians are hoping this new one will, and I think it just might.