Originally posted by JohnBee Hard to tell(because of size), but how would you rate the 55-300 vs the SP 60-300?
I only used the 55-300 for a couple of hours. I got this shot with it:
@f/6.3:
I never did any formal comparison tests but these are my impressions from practical use. Note that I'm talking about the performance of these lenses when used wide open - by f/8 they all achieve good sharpness and it's harder to differentiate them.
The SP 60-300 might be the sharpest wide open. I'm surprised how sharp it is given that it's a zoom. But it is vulnerable to PF, so it's not all good.
Next, I'd say you have the DA 55-300 and the FA 100-300 - hard to tell which one is sharper - both can provide great results if used well. PF is not an issue for either of them. I focus manually, and the FA has a longer throw, so it works better for me. The DA probably has the shortest throw of all these lenses.
I also used the Tamron SP 300/5.6. It's as sharp as any of the above but is even more vulnerable to PF than the SP 60-300 zoom.
The Tamron 70-300 may be the least sharp of the bunch @300mm wide open, but not by much. It has a decent focus throw for manual focusing and the closeup capability is its selling point for me. It also suffers from PF, but it's different than the older adaptall lenses.
I also reviewed these lenses (other than the DA) here on PF. And you can follow the links in my signature for more sample shots from each of these lenses.