Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras USA

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I bought this lens for travel as a replacement for my 70-200 f 2.8 monster.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I use my 55-300 with a K20d and the results have been everything but consumer quality. The build quality is good, the focus is acceptable in good light and the optical quality is astounding for a consumer priced lens.
I have used mine for well over a year now for shooting butterflies and dragonflies. My photos have stood up to those made with vastly more expensive glass. The shots are sharp and the bokeh is wonderful for a zoom.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I am Pentax user for a long time, this lens is value to money. Focusing is fast, light weight and compact.

A well balanced mind range lens to capture exciting moment of family and group activities.

Image quality is good.

The only thing you need to accept is the motor sound and auto focusing speed is just better than manual.

In extreme case I use manual focusing, DA lens allows me to do so any time.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I need a travel zoom that would take the place of my 70 to 200 2.8 zoom which is a monster of a lens. I am taking a backpacking trip to Suriname so I am taking a Pentax 16-50 2.8 and this lens which hopefully will work out well. I am satisfied with the quality of the photos, but I am disappointed in the auto focusing whic is very poor. Still I feel that I can use it in manual mode.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

Light and compact for what it is. A big zoom range, and considering this, lens speed at F4-5.8 is reasonable. Seems mechanically well built; zoom and focussing movements are firm but smooth. Focus ring turns a long way and can get confused- focussing can be slow, but you can help it by overiding by hand- a useful feature. It may not be macro (1:3.6) but its close up ability is useful. This lens covers a lot of situations, eg scenics, portraits, wildlife. Results generally sharp. A good performer, a useful and well priced lens.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

It's been a few weeks sing I bought this lens. I am more happy than I expected. Image quality is great and it very sharp. I like the bokeh as well. Range was what I am looking for. I think the price is reasonable for this lens. I strongly advice this lens....

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I have bought previous Pentax lenses in this series that seemed to be a bit over-hyped in my experience (perhaps I was just unlucky with bad copies - Pentax quality control is not what it used to be). However, this lens turned out to be very good for the price.

Images are sharp and contrasty and it can resolve quite a bit of detail, even in low light (bear in mind that at f/4-5.8, there will always be some limitations). Auto-focus is average in speed and noise for a Pentax lens. Construction is of pleasing quality, with only a little barrel wobble. Best thing about this lens, apart from the great images it produces (lovely for portraits), is the light weight and compact form factor for a zoom of this range (it easily fits in a standard snout bag attached to the camera).

Overall, I highly recommend this lens.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

In this range you aren't going to find a better value for your Pentax DSLR. Very good lens from one end to the other but stop it down to f9 at 200mm and the detail is stunning. This lens acts like a MUCH more expensive and heavier piece of glass between 100mm and 220mm. It softens a little at 300mm but still very good imagery considering size and cost. CA is very well controlled. It can hunt a bit when moving from one end of the focus range to the other especially in low light but it's AF is fairly quick within a limited range.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I use it with DA 18-55 and two FA primes 35 and 50 mm, what gives me high focal coverage and great bokeh with fast lenses when it is needed. SMC DA 55-300 is super sharp even wide open in the whole focal range. With its value of about $400 with taxes [...]t is a very good choice for beginning photography lovers. Bokeh is sometimes not the prettiest but it is a matter of personal preference. Additionally with really long focal lengths it not difficult to get it right. Simetimes the focus in my K200D goes in wrong direction and it takes quite a long time to go back to focus on the object. But when it finds the focus, it is really sharp. And one more thing - if you need a macro lens, get something else. This lens can focus on objects from 1.5m, so it is no good for macro photography.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

For the price, this is excellent! Very good resolution at f/8-f/11, including longer focal lengths, at least in the center. Nice color and contrast. Auto-focus sometimes hunts, but is accurate and works well overall. Useful manual focus too. I use a 77mm Bower snap-on cap on the lens hood, attached with a loop of Elastoma, which allows me to easily cover the lens between shots.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

This is a wonderful lens, I have an older lens, and this is lighter and very easy to use.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

very good focus lens

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I use this lense mostly for travel, landscape and wildlife photography.

I already have the DA* 50-135 and considered buying the DA* 300mm f4 for the extra reach. For my needs, however, the DA 55-300mm was the good choice.

Indeed, in addition to be relatively low cost, this lens is lightweight and compact. It is a real pleasure to carry this lens along with a few limited in the bag all day when hiking or simply strolling the streets.

This lens is versatile. the 300mm f4 does not have any flexibility as far as range.

This lens is also surprisingly sharp up to 300mm and has good color rendition, in accordance with the several reviews here.

Moreover this lens is solidly built and very smooth in operation. The Quick-Shift focus option is very nice.

Yes, the autofocus can be noisy and other lenses may be better suited for low-light photography.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

This is my second lens, after kit 18-55 lens. It seems to fit my needs better than the kit lens. It hasn't disappointed me, even sometimes the slow focusing is annoying (while it rotates in wrong direction)... Anyway, this is a part of this lens characteristics, so I wouldn't expect anything more. Generally spoken, it fits my needs, and will be my best friend most of the time

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

Quite compact for a 300mm zoom. Great design; good rubber grip on zoom ring. Delivers consistantly sharp images, even when using MF.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

For a long lense at the price,this is an excellent quality lens through its entire focal length.At 300mm the IQ and colour are very sharp. Highly recommended.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

I use this lens for nature photography and shots of our one year old outside. Performance is sharp on subjects within 10-15 feet but it's not a long range birding lens on my K-X. It's also fine to use in a naturally well-lit indoor situation given a body with good high ISO. Here's a few examples:[@]

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

When I went to purchase my Pentax K-5 one of my pre-requisites was to get a nice telephoto with decent reach. The Pentax DA 55-300mm had gotten a lot of good reviews with solid image quality. When I bought the K-5 this was the lens I figured on along with looking at either the 18-135mm (see my review for that lens, it's awesome) or an 18-55mm WR kit lens that came with the K-5 (opted against it since most said the 18-135mm had better bokeh and performed better).

The 18-135mm... I can't speak highly enough for. The 55-300mm on the other hand, is still a solid lens with good results. That said, I honestly feel I'm a bit spoiled by the 18-135mm to the point that the 55-300mm isn't as exceptional and it makes me value the smaller telephoto more despite the long-range telephoto being my primary need.

Images taken with the 55-300mm come out stunning. The quality is very good. My big beef thus far is that at the long end of the lens (300mm), focusing can be quite spotty with the lens hunting to take a bead and sometimes seemingly getting flustered to the point of a point-and-shoot style focus delay that often requires 2-3 presses of the shutter to take a bead. This seems less of an issue at shorter reaches with this lens and I'm not sure if it's the fault of the lens or an issue with the K-5 and this particular lens.

Otherwise... this lens is just plain loud. Whereas the 18-135mm takes a bead on most things very quickly and without much drama, the 55-300mm is probably one of the loudest autofocus lenses I've ever used. It's not a huge issue for the motorsports photography I most often do but for anything like birding or wildlife, this lens is probably not the perfect option and you might be more keen to look at one of the USM lenses from Sigma as an option.

Also, in terms of build quality... the 55-300mm is nowhere near as nice as the 18-135mm which has a heftier, more solid feel. I don't know if that's because of the WR aspect of the 18-135mm or not but the 55-300mm actually feels like it's partially created out of plastic vs. the all metal heft of the 18-135mm. In one hand, that's probably a huge asset because at the long end of a 300mm lens, that's a lot of heft to be hand-holding. On the other end... it doesn't feel as crafted a piece as the 18-135mm. Granted, the old Canon Rebel XT had a very cheap feeling 18-55mm all-plastic kit lens that came with it and this is definitely a few serious grades above that lens... but for the $ and with the metal mount, I guess I thought it was going to be something more than it was.

I do like the ability to manually adjust or tweak focus with the focus ring after the lens takes a bead which is a nice touch. Also, like I said... despite some of the shortcomings I've mentioned, the lens is actually quite good and takes a quality photo. If I were comparing this to the 18-55mm on my old Canon, it'd be a no contest in terms of build quality and image quality despite their very different focal lengths. Yet, like I said... comparing it to the 18-135mm Pentax lens that's my base lens for this camera, the 18-135mm definitely spoils me. It almost makes me wish for Pentax to release a long telephoto WR lens of similar quality to the 18-135mm WR's build but with a 300mm or 400mm max reach, preferably with an ultra-sonic motor for faster and quieter focusing. Until then... this one more than suits the bill, even if it's not perfect.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

Fast, Excellent Build quality, a little heavy, best for sports and wildlife.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED Autofocus Lens for Select Digital SLR Cameras:

So, it doesn't have the reach of the superzooms that many are used to in the point-and-shoot world, it's noisy, with the screw autofocus, and at f/4 it's not exactly fast, nor is it weatherproof..... but it *is* cheap, and it does take good pictures in good light. And you do still get a reasonable zoom range (for an SLR). So if you want to experiment with zooms, this is a good place to start.