Originally posted by melander Save yourself some $500.
And lose two years of warranty you'd have for wares bought in the E.U. D'you really want to send the lens to the U.S. for servicing?
Besides, when importing the lens to the E.U., you'd have to pay import taxes which are as high as the VAT in your home country. In Denmark that would be 25%.
Comparing U.S. prices to E.U. prices is confusing, since U.S. prices are given
without tax, and E.U. prices are given
with tax.
Between the 70-200 from Tamron with it's kinda outdated screwdrive AF and the pricey Pentax 70-200 there is a third option - the 70-200 from Sigma. In it's last incantation it features optical stabilization - yes, on Pentax bodies!
It's AF is using faster HSM/SDM mechanism, which also gives something similar to Pentax' quick focus shift.
As Sigma seems to do some kind of restructuring of their lens lineup, it's not that easy to come by, but as of now, at least one online seller in Austria sells that lens for 1150 EUR - that's
including VAT.