08-28-2011, 08:53 PM
I'd get the Pentax DA 55-300. It's an excellent lens for the price and in that range, the best value you can find in Pentax land.
I used to have a Sigma 70-300 APO, but since I bought the 55-300, I've never touched it anymore. The Pentax is really much better. The 55-300 shines by a very strong contrast at all apertures and focal lengths (even at 300mm wide open). It's smaller, lighter and goes down to 55mm which is very useful compared to the 70mm of the Sigma (or Tamron).
The Pentax performance is also quite homogeneous as it is already descent at 300mm wide-open which is not really the case of the Sigma.
All of my wildlife shots in the following gallery were taken with the Pentax DA 55-300: http://capturedbyflo.com/wildlife
I used to have a Sigma 70-300 APO, but since I bought the 55-300, I've never touched it anymore. The Pentax is really much better. The 55-300 shines by a very strong contrast at all apertures and focal lengths (even at 300mm wide open). It's smaller, lighter and goes down to 55mm which is very useful compared to the 70mm of the Sigma (or Tamron).
The Pentax performance is also quite homogeneous as it is already descent at 300mm wide-open which is not really the case of the Sigma.
All of my wildlife shots in the following gallery were taken with the Pentax DA 55-300: http://capturedbyflo.com/wildlife