[Stratman]

I am a Quad geek then, I have 4 Taks, and want more !!!

[tr13]

Only for geeks? Have you checked the Takumar thread here?

Of course. I have m42 lenses myself and like them. But could reccomend to go m42 way as their most used lenses only for geeks and extremely tigh budget fast lenses lovers. Normal people not need them.

[pcarfan]

I just got the DA55-300, really love it.

Well, the DA55-300 is the king of the relatively inexpensive lenses. Except for the speed it lacks very little compared to telephotos 3-4 times it's price, but it still costs above US$300. These others can be had in ebay for ~$150.

If someone else doesn't, I will start a club thread titled "200mm and more, US$200 and less AF Club". I think many would want to see images taken with such lenses, and the price has to be significantly less than the price of the 55-300. I don't have any images with my 3 day old FA80-320 4.5-5.6, but I think it will surprise many what an AF telephoto lens costing under $100 at times can do...............

[raymeedc]

Of course. I have m42 lenses myself and like them. But could reccomend to go m42 way as their most used lenses only for geeks and extremely tigh budget fast lenses lovers. Normal people not need them.

Poor, unfortunate me, I'm not "normal" like you. I can afford to buy any Pentax lens available, but the "geek" in me steers me toward those incomparably constructed, soulful Takumar gems..... by far, my "most used" lenses.

[raymeedc]

If someone else doesn't, I will start a club thread titled "200mm and more, US$200 and less AF Club". I think many would want to see images taken with such lenses, and the price has to be significantly less than the price of the 55-300. I don't have any images with my 3 day old FA80-320 4.5-5.6, but I think it will surprise many what an AF telephoto lens costing under $100 at times can do...............

In light of this thread, although nobody else has echoed my opinion (too old & outdated to be seriously considered?), I'll repeat what I stated earlier, that the Pentax SMC F 70-210mm f:4-5.6 is a sleeper in this category, very good IQ & selling for around $125.

[Pentaxor]

I've been itching to upgrade my tamron 70-300mm to a 55-300mm, but I'm not sure if it's worth it - so I'm considering keeping it and buying #3.

does this suffice for you? this one was taken with the 55-300 at 300mm with 6MP resolution. sorry for the lousy post-processing job (DNG RAW to JPEG + NR) since I have no time today. but surely this could be improved much better. if this is good enough for you, then you could just imagine how this would look if you enhance this further down.

taken at ISO 3200

photo 1: full view at 300mm
photo 2: 100% crop