Thanks to Alistair and his examples with the DA 55-300 WR using PhotoLab for processing, and my own statistical analysis of what sort of photos I actually take most of, and Ross for selling off gear that's surplus to requirements, I've acquired a DA 55-300 WR, and had a chance to have a bit of a play.
My experience is that even with noted deficiencies compared to the newer PLM model, the lens seems to be a significant improvement over similar Sigma lenses. Quite apart from optics, the quick shift and slightly greater zoom range really make a difference.
Given Alistair's helpful experiments, I mostly stuck to f/9 except for when I actually wanted greater DOF, and used TAV mode. I imported, keyworded, and added geolocation data in Lightroom, then processed in PhotoLab.
Photos are uploaded to Google Photos, and Google's compression may result in a little loss of quality compared to originals
This was the first time I've tried geotagging via track log in Lightroom, and it's great. The only thing I've noticed is that my K-70 does tend to lose time a bit compared to my phone. If I sync the time on the camera and the phone, then start a track log, and go out and shoot, then import the track log into Lightroom, I can auto-tag all the images I've taken with location, and it's remarkably accurate.
The stats continue to hold up, that though I definitely do shoot at longer focal lengths, they're relatively small proportion of overall images, so it's not worth making a big investment in 200mm+
Here are a few examples, all taken within 40 minutes walk from home. (Not a vineyard in sight.
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Didn't quite nail the focus on the bird for this one, but the flax is sharp enough.
Slight mystery here, as to my eyes, the fungi looked a lot browner.
This and the next image are why 55-300 is a lot more convenient than 70-300, especially in an environment that is windy and dusty.
There aren't supposed to be tree ferns growing on the Wither Hills, but I found one which was a pleasant surprise. It was up a steep gully (same as shown in previous pic), so full 300mm at work here.
DA 55-300 is no macro lens, and normally I'd use the D-FA 100/2.8 for this sort of subject, but I thought I'd give it a try for fun. I'm actually quite impressed how much detail it resolved.