{"id":14027,"date":"2015-01-18T08:26:12","date_gmt":"2015-01-18T16:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wkoopmans.ca\/notebook\/?p=14027"},"modified":"2015-01-18T08:26:12","modified_gmt":"2015-01-18T16:26:12","slug":"hd-pentax-da-55-300mm-f4-5-8-ed-wr-follow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wkoopmans.ca\/notebook\/?p=14027","title":{"rendered":"HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR Follow up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PentaxDA55300-0407\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s been one year that I’ve had the HD PENTAX-DA\u00a055-300mm\u00a0F4-5.8 ED WR and I am still very pleased with it.\u00a0 For the money it is a very good lens and the weather sealing\u00a0has been a definite plus for me.<\/p>\n

It’s minor weak points seem to be an increase in softness and chromatic aberration as you move away from the image center towards the corners and it’s slower aperture at the long end (f5.8) but all things considered it does the job and provides photographic\u00a0freedom for creating images.\u00a0 The distortions seen in the corners are at their strongest at 300mm and require stopping down to about f8.0 to make an appreciable difference.\u00a0So after a year of use I would say unless I need f2.8 or\u00a0some improvement in\u00a0image quality I tend to take the lighter DA55-300 with me over the DA*50-135 because of its greater versatility and lighter weight.\u00a0 You can see my user review for it here HD PENTAX-DA\u00a055-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR user review<\/a>\u00a0and some other thoughts here HD PENTAX-DA\u00a055-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR and the rest of the kids<\/a>.\u00a0 If I needed to I would buy it all over again.<\/p>\n

Bellow are\u00a0100% views of some test images I shot.\u00a0 I created and printed a chart specifically to\u00a0test the performance of the lens.<\/p>\n

\"Lens_Chart-1414\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While I didn’t set the test up with extreme rigor it demonstrates my points and matches my findings in real world situations.\u00a0 The first image bellow is from the center of the HD DA55-300\u00a0ED WR at 120mm.\u00a0 You can see that when used at its widest aperture for this focal length the image is somewhat soft and with chromatic aberration showing up as purple fringing.\u00a0 Stopping the lens down to f9.0 decreases this type of aberation\u00a0leaving primarily transverse aberations as seen by the red fringe on the now sharper image.<\/p>\n

\"DA55-300center120mmA\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It should be noted that with some minor processing the chromatic aberations\u00a0can be greatly reduced and further adjustments can yeild a superior image as seen in this before and after. Again taken\u00a0from the center of the frame, now at 300mm but still with a wide open aperture of f5.8<\/p>\n

\"DA55-300ProcessedCenter\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As I mentioned previously the image corners suffer the most when it comes to distortions.\u00a0 The image that follows is taken from the upper\u00a0left corner with an aperture change from f5.8 to f10 and no further processing.<\/p>\n

\"DA55-300uperleft300mmA\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here for comparison purposes is a\u00a0central crop\u00a0from the DA*50-135 and the DA55-300\u00a0both at f9.0\u00a0 (The camera was moved to provide similar framing)\u00a0 You can see that the DA* 50-135 is sharper and less distorted.<\/p>\n

\"DA50-135vsDA55-300centerA\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But with a little processing on images from both lenses the playing field is leveled slightly between them.<\/p>\n

\"DA50-135vsDA55-300ProcessedCenterA\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The image above is from the center of the frame where the image bellow is from the lower left which in the case of my lens seems to be the worst of the corners.<\/p>\n

\"DA50-135vsDA55-300ProcessedLowerleftA\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All this should be taken with a little bit of a grain of salt however as these are 100% crops from the demanding 24mpixel\u00a0Pentax K-3 under more extreme conditions than the average picture is taken.<\/p>\n

\"Salt-1435\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0(The salt picture is taken with the DFA100 WR macro as the HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR does not lend itself to this type of image making because of its maximum magnification of 0.28X)<\/h6>\n

It’s certainly\u00a0not my intent to leave the reader with a lingering sense that the lens is weak.\u00a0 It’s actually a good lens optically and you are going to have to pay for any improvements either in limiting yourself to fixed focal lengths\u00a0or by paying more money or both.<\/p>\n

Here are some\u00a0more images from the\u00a0past year taken with this lens and the Pentax K-3 with a few cameos from the K-01 mirrorless.<\/p>\n\n\t\t