After bitching a lot about the 560 mm lens, let us thank Pentax for being the only manufacturer offering something more or less affordable at this focal length. This lens stands up to the 4/600 = 10 k$++ league. The lens is rather long, but hopefully quite well corrected and saving some weight over the 600's. The Sigma may be lighter, but 3 kg is a good weight, anything less will feel too light for that size. Last but not least, 7000 U$ is not the final price and the dollar, like many other currencies, is not doing that well these days. It is not a bargain, but the lens is probably not completely out of range. 4500-5000 Swiss Franks is realistic = 6000 U$ at the moment.
And the K5II will be the missing 1.5x converter after the announcement of a fullframe Pentax.
Think positive.
Last edited by zapp; 09-11-2012 at 06:29 AM.