Originally posted by piskota
thanks

so my question is: if for the same money for which i can sell my DA L i can buy the DA version it is worth changing it?
If I had the option to do a non-cash switch from the DA L version to the DA version, yes I'd do it provided the DA version was in as good shape as the DA L version I was losing.
As a DA L 55-300 owner, and having an opportunity to use a DA 55-300, the only feature improvement worth mentioning is Quick Shift. And the fact is I can fake Quick Shift with any screw drive AF lens by holding in the lens release button while I manually tweak focus. Metal mount? Bah! Anything that hits the lens hard enough to damage the DA L plastic mount is likely to damage something else regardless whether the lens is a DA L or DA version. Hood? The nearly identical 3rd party hood costs almost nothing, certainly a lot less than the typical price difference between DA L and DA versions.
I agree with the folks above who mention the brand new WR version of the 55-300. I have a K-30 and WR 18-135. Adding the WR version of the 55-300 would be a no brainer - except for the upgrade cost.