[pepperberry farm]

[ChristianRock]

this one just arrived today - NIB/NOS lens....

Very nice colors!

MPB has a bunch of those for sale for very little money... I thought about getting one...

[pepperberry farm]

Very nice colors!

MPB has a bunch of those for sale for very little money... I thought about getting one...

thank you....

I had one several years ago that ate itself - the plastic gears used for the AF function wore themselves out.... but I remembered how much I loved the colors from the lens....

I've been through several super-zooms looking for anything that was close to this lens' color-rendering (mainly Sigma lenses and a DA L 55-300mm) and finally just bought another DA 18-250....

[ChristianRock]

thank you....

I had one several years ago that ate itself - the plastic gears used for the AF function wore themselves out.... but I remembered how much I loved the colors from the lens....

I've been through several super-zooms looking for anything that was close to this lens' color-rendering (mainly Sigma lenses and a DA L 55-300mm) and finally just bought another DA 18-250....

So you think it compares well to the 55-300? That is interesting, indeed.

I use the Pentax FA 80-320mm now as my AF telephoto lens. It's a good lens and sharpness is supposedly about the same as the 55-300 if you use a hood - which I do. Except for the 320mm end where it does get quite soft wide open, but so does the Tamron 70-300 that I was using before.

[pepperberry farm]

So you think it compares well to the 55-300? That is interesting, indeed.

I do - in the main part of the zoom's range, say from 35mm to 250mm, I would say it has better color and rendering than any of the DA 55-300 models (excepting the newest PLM version, mainly because I've not used one)

the funny thing I keep reading about the 55-300 PLM isn't how great the lens' rendering, color, or clarity is... it's how fast it focuses, which always makes me wonder if the people using it are making allowances for the lens' abilities just because of the PLM drive's ability to focus quickly...

(shrugs)

I use the Pentax FA 80-320mm now as my AF telephoto lens. It's a good lens and sharpness is supposedly about the same as the 55-300 if you use a hood - which I do. Except for the 320mm end where it does get quite soft wide open, but so does the Tamron 70-300 that I was using before.

I've been through the Sigma and Tamron 70-300mm zooms; uniformly awful at the long end - that's why I stopped trying to scratch that itch at 300mm and just bought a solid 300mm prime...

I strongly considered buying a used DA* 60-250 SDM lens, but just could not get around the entire SDM reliability issue....

[ChristianRock]

I do - in the main part of the zoom's range, say from 35mm to 250mm, I would say it has better color and rendering than any of the DA 55-300 models (excepting the newest PLM version, mainly because I've not used one)

the funny thing I keep reading about the 55-300 PLM isn't how great the lens' rendering, color, or clarity is... it's how fast it focuses, which always makes me wonder if the people using it are making allowances for the lens' abilities just because of the PLM drive's ability to focus quickly...

(shrugs)

I heard good things about the 55-300 PLM in terms of optics as well. I've seen that it's pretty good. But you could be right, the fast focusing could be influencing people to think it's a better lens, you always enjoy the picture of a lens that you enjoy using...

I've been through the Sigma and Tamron 70-300mm zooms; uniformly awful at the long end - that's why I stopped trying to scratch that itch at 300mm and just bought a solid 300mm prime...

I strongly considered buying a used DA* 60-250 SDM lens, but just could not get around the entire SDM reliability issue....

That, and the 60-250 is quite large. Plus it's not cheap. But I've seen stellar pictures from it...

[pepperberry farm]

[pepperberry farm]

[paulh]

SMC-DAL 55-300 on K-5

[pepperberry farm]

[Clarkey]

I do - in the main part of the zoom's range, say from 35mm to 250mm, I would say it has better color and rendering than any of the DA 55-300 models (excepting the newest PLM version, mainly because I've not used one)

the funny thing I keep reading about the 55-300 PLM isn't how great the lens' rendering, color, or clarity is... it's how fast it focuses, which always makes me wonder if the people using it are making allowances for the lens' abilities just because of the PLM drive's ability to focus quickly...

(shrugs)




I've been through the Sigma and Tamron 70-300mm zooms; uniformly awful at the long end - that's why I stopped trying to scratch that itch at 300mm and just bought a solid 300mm prime...

I strongly considered buying a used DA* 60-250 SDM lens, but just could not get around the entire SDM reliability issue....

Jumping in. You can always convert it to screwdrive. Much lower chance of an SDM failure compared to the 16-50. I do miss mine, quite a lot, but am not shooting telephoto enough to justify it.

[pepperberry farm]

Jumping in. You can always convert it to screwdrive. Much lower chance of an SDM failure compared to the 16-50. I do miss mine, quite a lot, but am not shooting telephoto enough to justify it.

I'm not aware of anyone that has been able to convert a DA* 60-250mm to screwdrive...

[Clarkey]

I'm not aware of anyone that has been able to convert a DA* 60-250mm to screwdrive...

I was thinking 50-135, so chalk me up for a face palm. There was some talk a few years back on this, though

[pepperberry farm]

I was thinking 50-135, so chalk me up for a face palm. There was some talk a few years back on this, though

no worries - I've passed on a couple of the DA* 60-250 lenses because of the SDM issue and still hope for someone to come up with a way to convert it....

[juristkostya]

a couple of years ago died SDM in my 60-250, converted it to a screwdriver, everything was successful