📷 Pentax HD DA 55-300mm f/4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE Lens: Ultimate Long Zoom Performance for Professional Photographers Review

I had the original 55-300 which has recently run down and looks just as if not better. It's very light and compact for a zoom of this magnitude, but loses half an aperture compared to its predecessor. In practice, I found this irrelevant as I didn't take this lens with me for low light shots anyway. What makes a big difference is its incredibly fast focus speed, the fastest of any Pentax lens I've used by a wide margin.

Just used in the Kruger National Park and the lens worked great. Focus is quick and quiet without stuttering; Images are crisp throughout the zoom range, even up to 300mm in good light. Weather protection came in handy in dusty conditions. The lens extends slightly when in use, but folds down to a handy, compact size for portability and isn't overly heavy. I also have the original 55-300mm screw-drive lens; This new version is better in every way. The only drawback is that the autofocus does…

I bought this lens to use with my Pentax KP and K5iis. Straight out of the box, the lens has impressive build quality. It is very compact when folded for a 55-300mm lens. Weighs 1.14 ounces with hood. Focusing with the CP is very fast even in low light. The lens is very sharp. Even at 300mm, sharpness and contrast are excellent. All in all a very impressive lens. With the built-in KP image stabilization, I can capture sharp shots with shutter speeds as low as 1/10th of a second, which is…

This lens is phenomenally cheap - lightweight, PLM autofocus is very quiet and very fast (in good light), lens is decently fast, shots are right sharp conditions. Of course, the low-light performance can't compete with faster lenses, but for the price it's very good. I used to have a Nikon D5600 with a Nikon 77-300 lens which I lost. I decided to purchase the K-70 because Pentax is backwards compatible with a variety of older glasses. While the Pentax 55-300 and Nikon 70-300 are very similar on

I bought this to use on the K-S2 and I love it. Insanely fast focusing, relatively light and portable lens. The image quality is good throughout the zoom range. The PLM focusing is incredibly fast, quiet and doesn't have the seek problems Pentax often suffer from. While the Pentax is not generally recommended for sports or other high-speed photography, this lens does a very good job and at the three air shows I took it to I never found it to be lacking. I have since switched from a K-S2 to a K1

If you have a Pentax that supports this lens, it's a killer. Not all Pentax cameras support iris adjustment from the camera on this lens and there is no way to manually adjust the iris from the lens. I use it with K-70 and it's amazing. Very sharp. Autofocus is generally very fast and accurate, and if manual adjustment is required, just grip the focus ring. No switches required. The autofocus is also very quiet. It would have been nice if it had a larger aperture, but with the high ISO…

Preliminary summary: This is the sharpest lens I've ever used on a Pentax K-70. I've had a few pickups and a few multi-lens DSLRs, but I finally settled on the K-70 when I realized it had pretty much everything I was looking for in one feature set: two dials. , weather protection, full motion screen, 2-axis electronic level, etc. I love going to zoos and natural areas, so I knew right away that I needed a good zoom lens. I've read reviews of older Pentax 55-300 models and was concerned about…

I was pleasantly surprised by the picture quality of this zoom. I compared it with fifty dollars, and with the 77-lim, with the 135th zonnar: very decent image quality. Nice drawing. The bokeh is slightly harsher than the fixes, but still good. The resolution in the center, of course, does not reach FA77, but it does not reach it slightly (noticeable only at 100% magnification), which is completely excusable for the zoom. The "collapsible" design somewhat reduces the efficiency, but allows you…