Now I know why no one buys a pentax (1 Viewer)

I am really frustrated and am thinking of switching from Pentax to Nikon or Canon. I now finally have the budget to buy a decent lens. The pentax 600mm is made oorder and can take (from what I have heard) 6 months plus to get once you have ordered one.

It seems the FA* 300 F2.8 ED IF has been discontinued and I cannot find one anywhere for love or money.

Next I fell in love with the Sigma 300-800 F5.6 - Sorry - not available in Pentax mount. How about a big prime lens - sorry the 500mm and 800mm Sigma primes are not available in pentax mounts either.

The biggest possible lens I can get for my pentax is a 300mm F2.8 and that is it - not more - if you own a pentax - though shalt not shoot above 300mm end of story.

I must say choosing pentax has been fun so far but I think it is the most limiting move I could have ever made.

Further to that the best the new pentax road map has to offer is 300 F4 and no mention of anything beyond that. And even that 300mm f4 was supposed to be out a month ago and that seems to show no signs of actually reaching the market.

Right now I am a very unhappy pentax owner.

Anyone got a D200 or EOS 30D they want to part with? 8-P

I find the Signma 500-500 at Adorama:
http://www.adorama.com/SG50500NPXAF.html
Also the Sigma 135-400:
http://www.adorama.com/SG135400DPXA.html
Also Sigma 170-500:
http://www.adorama.com/SG170500DPXA.html
Also a few Tamron 300s

Are these Sigmas hard to get?

RAH, none of those lenses are in the same league as the kinds of lens Doug is interested in (which I say as someone who has happily owned several Sigma lenses).

That is my main problem.

There are some nice lenses for the Pentax but to call the Canon 300mm F2.8 IS nice would not be fair to the canon lens. I want a world class lens for the Pentax and there is nothing.

I want a lense that would compete with the best Canon has to offer but all those world class Pentax lenses are no longer being made.

Doug Have a look at this 600mm f4 pentax
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-PENTAX-SMC-FA-600mm-F4-ED-IF-Telephoto-Lens_W0QQitemZ190148462054QQihZ009QQcategoryZ30070QQcmdZViewItem
or this http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130155328685&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003
I'm surprised that you can't get a sigma 500mm or 800mm prime as they are listed as having a pentax mount http://www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/lens/telezoom/500_45.htm

Doug, I understand where your coming from but you cant really blame Pentax for its lack of lenses, no manufacturer is going to produce something that has such a small market, Maybe if the Canon empire had not been so big it would be in the same position, Pentax have always been a relatively small company compared to the likes of C&N who are only where they are because of the amount they have been able to spend on R&D and advertising, I once read that Canons annual budget for advertising was bigger than Pentax's gross profit. Its like asking Sloppy Joe's burger bar to compete with McDonalds, they may both produce identical food but you cant really complain that Sloppy Joe doesn't have a branch in every town
It sounds like you need to opt for Canon kit if you cant wait for the 600mm, have you considered buying used? for an idea of what to go for you could take a look here; http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/

You have had bad luck in timing,Doug.I've used Pentax gear since 1975 and they have always manufactured worldclass long telelenses.When they decided to switch their lenslineup to the digital dslr:s,they dicontinued the old ones,prematuraly in hinesight.
If you have patience,the new lenses will probably be as good,if not better,as the old FA and F-lenses.I'm using the old F-300/4,5 as my favourite and it's slightly better,especially the colourrendering and CA:s,than both Nikon and Canons similar.(I have friends that uses them and we have compared)