It would appear I have entertained Alfisti. I obviously know nothing about lenses. Thank you Venturi and audiobomber for your helpful and kind responses. Yes, I am very new to interchangeable lenses.
I guess I should have said I would like to zoom in farther or get closer (without having to move) than what I was getting with the 18-250MM. I also have a Lumix DMZ-FZ7 that has a 12X optical zoom. I like the Lumix for point and shoot kind of things except when I zoomed it was usually blurry. Camera shake.
Or me shake or both.
It just seems like I was actually able to get closer with that zoom than I was with the 18-250MM. I purchased the Pentax K200D in hopes of getting rid of the blur and also to get more "involved" with shooting. So far I love the camera, just need to find a lens I love too.
I have a lot to learn and joined the forums to gain from everyone's experience. With that being said, the Tamron is less expensive than the Pentax lens. Is there that big of a difference in the lenses to warrant the difference in price. Especially for a newbie.. then again I don't want to waste money on lenses I'm not going to be happy with. I'm used to dealing with 12X zoom lingo etc... What would the Tamron 70-300 or the Pentax DA 55-300mm equate to as far a as "times" zoom?
Thanks again!