Originally posted by Jewelltrail
The DI stands for "digitally integrated." From what I hear, most people do not distinguish a difference in pics between the two lenses, though I'm sure someone must. I shot with the non-DI version and was delighted with it. You have the reach of 70-300mm, Auto-focus, excellent sharpness up to 220mm, and not bad thereafter, all for $80. Very hard to duplicate that. I found the PFing, the obvious Achilles heel of this lens, to be controllable with careful framing and shot selection. Also, you will need to deal with hunting in lower light, and sometimes even in better light.
I wouldn't call it a great deal since I've heard people who have gotten the DI version for not much more, and new used to be $130. Seems like the price of lens just keeps increasing. Anyways, thanks for the clarification. Once I receive the lens, I'll take a few sample shots and post it here.