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The difference in using the DA 55-300mm versus the kit DAL 55-200mm lens is pretty large. The auto focus is quicker as is the manual focus. The included hood keeps lens flare to a minimum and even at 300mm, the lens takes sharp, hard focused pictures. It is a bit heavier than I expected but has metal mounts so it is not in danger of falling off your camera. My primary walking around lens when there may be a long shot needed. I am very happy I purchased this lens.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Not a bad lens, and surely worth every bit of the ~$70US I paid for it. I would have been much less happy had I paid $250-300US for a new one. Things not to like: 1: It's APS-C only, and not full frame; 2:It's not "internal focus," so gets longer when it's zoomed. Almost twice as long. (See first two pics.) 3: The zoom ring is sticky. Which is much better than a loose zoom barrel, of course. 4.It lacks an aperture ring. This means less control, unable to use the lens on other cameras using cheap adapters, and faint concern about whether my K-70 aperture control block will ever fail. 5:It's "all plasticky," though the plastic doesn't really feel "cheap;" 6:Even the lens mount is plastic, and not metal. Some comments out there in the world suggest that the plastic mount can wear, but again, the lens I bought is used, and the mount looks plenty OK to me. (Even so, the DAL mount is plastic, but there is a DA version of the lens with a metal mount.) 7:Autofocus is noisy. Probably the noisiest autofocus lens I have.That said, it =does= have autofocus! Summary: In my case, what it is is a $70US lens. It is not the sharpest lens around, but much better than say, a Sony 55-210. Seems it could be sharper, but generally sharp enough. I am not disappointed, though I had hoped it would work better for astrophotography things.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
I take a lot of pictures of my kids playing sports, so I really needed a longer lens. I love being able to get so much closer. The first shot I took with the lens was of a cardinal way up in a tree and it made a really nice picture. I used it on a recent school trip to Gettysburg and was able to get some great battle field shots that would have been impossible with my 18-55mm lens. I also took some closer shots of the students and got a really nice "bokeh" allowing the person to stand out from the busy background. I was also able to get pictures at the OSU graduation, in that huge stadium where it is possible to actually see faces. I sort of used the lens as a telescope to try to find our son. The biggest drawback I have encountered is that it is impossible to take shots in close quarters. I had to switch lenses in these situations. A 18-270 lens would take care of that issue, but if you are on a limited budget as I am, that is not an option. I would recommend this lens to anyone.Read full review
This is simply a great lens for the price! I'm not a professional so to spend thousands of dollars on a lens that is only fractionally better makes no sense! A tripod helps a lot with this lens especially at the highest zoom levels! If you read other reviews by Pentax users you'll see this lens rates very high.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought this lens to complement my 18-135 recognizing that it gives quite a lot of cross-over which means you can leave the 18-135 at home if the subjects you are photographing are such that you don't need anything less than the equivalent of around 80mm in 35mm format. It is fast focusing, but in some situations this may require manual intervention which is very easy on this lens. Image quality is excellent. Build quality is good with a metal mount. Not light in weight but when used on a K5 with a battery grip it balances quite well.
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