Pentax21277 55 - 300 mm HD DA F4.5-6.3ED PLM WR RE Telephoto Zoom Lens - Black

This is an excellent little lens very well worth the about 305 EUR you can get it for new here.Even though it clearly is an APSC only lens I did buy it for my Pentax K-1 FF camera as light vacation/travel tele option.The lens when folded together is just about the size of the fantastic Pentax DFA 100mm F2.8 macro lens,so while certainly being no pancake it is very easy to transport in very small bags.The build quality is very ok for this price range and certainly better than Tamrons.The optical quality is great, especially at the important long 300mm end. Certainly not on DA* 300mm prime level (who would expect this?) but good enough for 60x40cm prints.The new PLM lens AF drive is really very silent and quick. I find it preferable to old SDMs, Sigma DCs and HSMs.Focussing with it is very fast, especially if the change of focus is not between ultra close and infinity. I'd even might give it a try in sports subjects.This PLM drive has the same functionality as the "STM" drive from Canon: It can make very small adjustments silently during video capture.What is also worthwhile noting is that this is the first Pentax lens that I know which is "focus-by-wire", so there is no direct physical connection between the focus ring and the lenses. So when the camera is powered off you can not adjust focus. Pentax calls this "power focus".It features the new KAF4 mount, which means the aperture is not controlled via physical level from a little motor in the camera body but the lens has its own aperture motor. In order to use this you do need one of the newest models K-3II or K-1 or K-70, K-S1, K-S2. Otherwise the aperture will be fixed and you can not really set it.As already mentioned: I use it on a FF body. The strongest hard vignetting is between 78-88mm with only small parts of the corners being shaded at both 300mm and 55mm. Especially at 300mm I usually do crop somewhat anyway to that is not a major loss. Also my zoom lens usage usually means that I use the lens at one of the two ends, so that seems to work fine. Even at the worst vignetting 88mm when using square crop (25 MPx) no vignetting is left on the picture. Together with the Pentax DFA 28-105mm lens this should make my preferred light FF travel combo.Fully recommended.

light, sharp weather resistant and quick to focus.

a good addition to my Pentax16-85mm for my K3. A bit soft at 300mm but the fast auto-focus compensates for that for me and it is sharp to just over mid range. Only works on the latest Pentax models, some may have to have firmware updated as mine did, or it will only work on full open.

Having used the Pentax 18-50mm DC WR RE I was a bit sceptical about buying this. The release mechanism of the compact 18-50 is clunky at best. However on the 55-300 it's as smooth as silk. This lens looks and feels like a quality product (unlike the 18-50) and first impressions are that it focuses quickly and accurately (on a K70) and is very sharp at the apertures I use - generally I aim for F8-F13. There are faster lenses, but for me that's not particulalry important.It's also a nice compact lens, light enough to carry around your neck for a good length of time.Note that it is not compatible with many older Pentax bodies so do your research. If you have a compatible camera and want a quality lens that is user-friendly and doesn't break the bank, I'd definitely give it some serious thought. I'm certainly very happy with my purchase.

A super lens, it would have deserved a super 5 if it wasn't for the autofocus, which can get lost at night, with far measurement. All in all, I'm not sure if it's the lens or the body.If you have money, you take photos with Pentax, this is one of those must have lenses. I attached it to the body and I don't unhook it. And one more thing, it is a pity that it is not with constant light, but with this quality of pictures it is forgivable.Why the next stupid question in the survey. Who said this is a landscape lens? This is zoom, short but zoom, you can landscape, but you can also street, architecture, sport, what "smart intellectuals" wrote this survey.The question should be: How does it work in your photography? No matter what kind of photography, whether the lens works, it's what I needed.

This is a great lens, currently I am using this as my primary daily lens, and so far it's been flawless.I have been using this with my K-70 and so far it's been flawless, images are sharp and the focusing speed is very fast (and it's silent when focusing too!), most of the time there's no searching, although when trying to focus on small, distant objects there can be some searching (but manually focusing helps in these circumstances).This lens has opened up more options for me in regard of how I take my photos, although it's not a macro lens it does do well for some light macro photography, but it's zoom-range is where it excels, images are sharp, very colourful and I haven't noticed any Chromatic Aberration issues.Certainly a great lens to have with you.(Please note, I also attached a Gobe UV 58mm UV filter to the lens.)

Purchased to be used with a K10D DSLR with the software updated to 1.31. Taken a few photos of various subjects and up to now has performed perfectly. Auto focus is very quiet and quick, and sets first time. The zoom operation is smooth with enough resistance to stop drift and with good progression. The zoom range has made my standard lens (18-55) redundant and overlaps nicely with my zoom lens. The lens is solid and may appear a little heavy, fitted to the K10 (a heavy camera) makes the whole package heavier than other makes with similar combinations. But, I like the weight and do not notice it when being used. When looking for the lens I was comparing it with the DA* lens of the same zoom range. The DA* has some benefits, but at over twice the price for minimal gain in quality, I went for this lens and am very pleased with the results. A good buy at the purchase price.