Hi Boris: Like you, I had the F 70-210, but I sold it when my wife gave me the FA* 80-200 2.8 as a birthday present some years ago. Afterwards I thought it had been a mistake to sell the lens, as I wanted a lighter alternative telezoom when I don't want to carry the heavy 2.8 lens, so I bought an FA 80-320 (which I sold a few days ago, too). The FA 80-320 is a good, contrasty and flare resistant lens, although it is soft wide open beyond 250 mm. The only thing I did'nt like about it is that it "trombones" out too much for my taste. It also somewhat slow to autofocus, because it has a long throw between the minimum focusing distance and infinity. I have also heard good things about the Sigma 70-300 (APO and non-APO versions) and the Tamron 70-300. They are affordable and seem to have good image quality. Both of them have close focusing capabilities, and reach 1:2 magnification without additional close focusing lenses. If I were looking for a lens in the 70-75 to 300 mm. class, I'd probably buy the Tamron, as my past experience with Tamron lenses has been better than with Sigma units.
Carlos -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
