HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR Review
HD vs SMC Coating
As we've already discussed, one of the principle differences between the two variants of Pentax 55-300 telezooms is the coating applied to the lens. With the new HD nano coating from Pentax, a higher level of light transmission while minimizing the effect of flare and ghosting is promised. We also explored this in our recent HD vs. SMC Pentax Limited Primes comparative review if you'd like to see another set of comparisons.
Regarding the implementation of the new coating on the 55-300 telezoom, how well do these claims hold up? Let's take a look at the following series of example comparisons. Clicking on any image below will enlarge it.
Comparison 1 - Strobe Direct Flare
For the first comparison, a flash pointed perpendicularly to the face of the lens is fired in order to assess the ability of the lens coatings to minimize the flare from this extremely difficult lighting situation. The flash, a Yongnuo 560 II manual hotshoe flash, was triggered using a Cactus v5 radio trigger. All camera/lens/flash settings, except for the adjusted aperture below, were 1/180s, ISO 100, and 1/128 flash power, from the same tripod-mounted position, manually focused on the front face of the strobe's light panel.
smc | HD | |
F4.0 | ||
F5.0 | ||
F6.3 | ||
F8.0 |
Comparison 2 - Strobe Angular Flare/Chromatic Aberation
A variation of the above controlled test, this time the flash (same as above) was located just outside the frame. Additionally, it was placed and pointed to the rear of a small, cheap tripod to assess the effects of purple fringing along its legs. Again, aside from the adjusted aperture, all camera/lens/flash settings, were 1/180s, ISO 100, and 1/128 flash power, from the same tripod-mounted position.
F4.0 | F5.0 | F6.3 | F8.0 | ||
smc | |||||
HD |
Comparison 3 - Sunlit Angular Flare/Chromatic Aberation
For this comparison, extremely strong sunlight is used to backlight tree branches, a notoriously problematic situation for lenses to cope with. On the left is the smc and on the right is the HD 55-300, both shot at the same settings on the K-3 (300mm, 1/1250s, f/5.8, ISO 100) with the lens hood not attached:
smc | HD |
Yes, we realize that the HD 55-300 shot is slightly out of focus. It was taken twice during the test because the first one the AF point was incorrectly selected, thus misfocusing the shot (and it was too bright to look through the viewfinder), however while walking back home the in-focus shot was accidentally deleted and the out of focus shot (above right) was kept. This comparison was not discarded because the difference in CA between the OOF and in-focus shot were negligible, thus still offering value as to the comparison between both lenses under these conditions.
Verdict
The images portray a very clear message - Ricoh/Pentax did not lie when it came to their claims about the new HD coating being an image quality enhancer - it's not 'just marketing.' Flare and ghosting have been reduced, as well as chromatic aberrations from flare.
Regarding purple fringing, the difference between the two variants is negligible, and stopping down as little as 1/3 stop makes a difference, with all fringing all but entirely eliminated by its first full stop. Additionally, we must note that chromatic aberration is increasingly no longer the headache it once was thanks to excellent post processing software that eliminates the vast majority of it literally within mere seconds.
At the end of the day, the "So what?" is that while there is a noticeable difference, that is where it ends. Between two identical images in the same shooting conditions such as the above comparisons, you will notice a difference. But otherwise? The 55-300, with either the smc and now the HD coatings, are not known for being excellent against flare. With that in mind, caution should be taken when deliberately pointing either lens into a strong light source if reducing these unwanted characteristics is a priority. This is unlike certain lenses that seemingly cannot produce flare no matter how hard the photographer may try, namely the lauded Pentax DA 15mm F4 Limited of either the smc or HD version.
The bottom line is that the HD coating alone should not for any reason be the purpose of selecting the new HD 55-300 over its predecessor.
Now, for what you have been waiting for - the 55-300 vs DA* 60-250 shoot-out. First up, the magnification comparison.