I totally disagree,wkillham. What has become of originality. When I moved to my area 30 years ago, we had everything from 20 room mansions on many acres to nice little cape cod style homes on the same street. Over time most of the family farms have been turned into housing subdivisions where all the houses look the same, all the occupants make the around the same income. Nobody plays outside, the children have their "media" rooms to play video games. I can understand why you wouldn't want neighbors to construct shacks or burn trash in the yard, but most townships have codes preventing this type of activity. One of my neighbors stated at a township meeting regarding the construction of one of these communities that they are restriction the community to only people of a certain economic status. I can't imagine living someplace where someone I don't even know tells me what kind of plants I can grow or what color I can paint the trim on my home. Take your HOA and stuff it.

Trouble is that some HOAs make up the "rules" as they go along. Some years ago, I got written up because the house numbers on my mailbox did not meet the approved design guidelines. Trouble is there are no guidelines for house numbers. What they meant was that the did not match all the other house numbers put in by the builder when the homes were constructed about 10 years ago. You would have thought that replacing worn out plastic numbers with new brass ones would be considered an improvement, not a violation.

There was a case in Gwinnett County in the Atlanta GA a few years ago which exemplifies what can happen when HOAs run amok. While I don't recall all the details, it went something like this: A homeowner put a pink plastic flamingo in his front yard, for what reason who knows. After a week or so the HOA told him to take it down. He said no. They slapped a fine on him. They kept fining him, IIRC eventually totaling perhaps $15,000 and filed a lien on the house. Eventually the homeowner sold and moved away. I don't know how the purchaser handled the lien. I suppose the HOA felt that to ignore the bird would be starting down a slippery slope.... When my sister and her husband had some serious remodeling done their contractor put a pink flamingo in their front hard, said it was for good luck. He did a lovely job, so perhaps a pink bird is what is needed....

I have the same dilemma on my Nikon d7100 and hope to resolve it this week. I will be renting the Tamron 18-400 and shooting for a day switching back and forth between my Tamron 16-300 and the rental Tamron 18-400. I will specially be looking at macro type situations as that's one area the 16-300 is supposed to be better. I'll also be trying to determine if the additional 100mm is worth buying a new lens. On my crop camera I expect it will make a significant difference but I must see it for myself before I decide.

Just be sure you know why you need (or want--GAS and all) the extra 100mm because if you don't know that then you're probably fine with your 16-300. I want it for African safari and my last trip to Africa convinced me I need more reach but I can't afford the extra weight or to change lenses in the field. Enjoy the hunt.