First impressions are favorable. The build is up to Pentax standards. The focus is buttery smooth, like my best-focusing lens, a Kiron 105/2.8 1:1 macro. The focusing ring travels 180 degrees.
The multicoating is a beautiful blue and the glass is immaculate. The body has no mars or scratches. Someone appears to have bought this and promptly put it in a drawer. The tripod ring is compact, inconspicuous, with an arrow labeled FREE and LOCK. The bult-in hood extends about one inch. The lens is about 7.7 inches long (196mm). The DOF scale is marked at f/11 and f/22 only. The aperture click-stops at all half-stops from f/4.5 to f/22. The bold white aperture numbers are easy to read in my XR-P's aperture window; I don't know about my KX's; the lens was shipped to a coworker's home, so I'm writing from work. :) The lens can focus as close as 2.5 m--not as short as the Pentax 300/4.5s or 300/2.8s but better than the earlier Pentax 300/4s. At its closest focus, I can fill the viewfinder with 10.5 inches of a ruler, or 267mm (1:7.4). Christian Skofteland just received his Sigma APO Macro 300/4 AF. We live about 15 miles apart but have never met. We'll be getting together in a park soon to compare 300s and other goodies. [EMAIL PROTECTED] (who wishes he could go out and play with his new toy) -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
