[Kobie]

I am starting to think this lens to be much better than what I thought. The animals pictures above are quite good.

It is definitely a lens that punches way above of its weight class.

[jgnfld]

It is definitely a lens that punches way above of its weight class.

The PLM might not match the highest grade professional lenses around, and it definitely is slow if you really truly need low f-stops (but really this is no longer so big a deal these days with modern hi-ISO-capable sensors), but it is very, very good.

On the water in my boat it is almost always the lens I mount for targets-of-opportunity.

[northcoastgreg]

Dusk settles over Death Valley:

[normhead]

I am starting to think this lens to be much better than what I thought. The animals pictures above are quite good.

My only complaint with this lens is the ƒ 6.3 at 300mm means the fastest aperture possible with the 1.4 TC is ƒ9, well beyond the APS-c diffraction limit. But with no TC, there's nothing to complain about...



My buddy Dave the Birder and Friend.

[jgnfld]

normhead said: "My only complaint with this lens is the ƒ 6.3 at 300mm means the fastest aperture possible with the 1.4 TC is ƒ9, well beyond the APS-c diffraction limit. But with no TC, there's nothing to complain about..."

I don't know about your own experience and your particular 55-300 PLM & 1.4 TC copies, but I have tested closely on such things as the small writing on oil tanks a mile+ away from a tripod and I simply cannot see any additional detail through that lens+TC over simply cropping the lens-only output.

[normhead]

normhead said: "My only complaint with this lens is the ƒ 6.3 at 300mm means the fastest aperture possible with the 1.4 TC is ƒ9, well beyond the APS-c diffraction limit. But with no TC, there's nothing to complain about..."

I don't know about your own experience and your particular 55-300 PLM & 1.4 TC copies, but I have tested closely on such things as the small writing on oil tanks a mile+ away from a tripod and I simply cannot see any additional detail through that lens+TC over simply cropping the lens-only output.

It appears that the TC doesn't help it... but there could be other reasons for that. To get to 300mm though, it's as good as the DA*60-250 with the TC.

[Kobie]

Hey look! It's Snowing!!
K-3, ISO-2500, F/6.3 @300 mm, 1/500 sec

[northcoastgreg]

Artist's Palette in Death Valley NP, using PS on the KP:

[CooperPete]

Hi, all:
Since I first post Q. About the HD DA 55-300mm PLM WR RE lens few years back, I paired lens with KP, the lens info wouldn’t register with the KP. I thought maybe because KP is a mid-range camera.
Now I got K-1, the same happened, even it is totally compatible with K-1, it still wouldn’t register lens info on photo data. I wonder if I did something wrong?

[rogerstg]

Since I first post Q. About the HD DA 55-300mm PLM WR RE lens few years back, I paired lens with KP, the lens info wouldn’t register with the KP. I thought maybe because KP is a mid-range camera.
Now I got K-1, the same happened, even it is totally compatible with K-1, it still wouldn’t register lens info on photo data. I wonder if I did something wrong?

My guess is that there is something amiss with the lens.

[Des]

Fast and quiet autofocus is the lens's real party trick. Just the thing for photographing albatross from a moving boat.

[K2 to K50]

Fast and quiet autofocus is the lens's real party trick. Just the thing for photographing albatross from a moving boat.

Des, this sequence of shots is amazing - the focus is spot on with every single one. What is your secret? Have you used burst mode with AFC, Focus Priority, etc etc or you just incredibly quick in point and shoot??

[Des]

Des, this sequence of shots is amazing - the focus is spot on with every single one. What is your secret? Have you used burst mode with AFC, Focus Priority, etc etc or you just incredibly quick in point and shoot??

Thanks very much Peter. I can't remember precisely which settings I used for each shot, but I suspect it was my birds-in-flight setting (saved as User 1) - Tv, 1/1000th or faster, floating ISO, AF.C, auto 9 point AF. This works well in contrasty situations, where the camera can get a good fix on the bird. Mostly for general birding I use TAv with the ISO capped at 1600 for the K-3 and 3200 for the KP, AF.S, select AF point. Yes I often use burst mode too. The focus isn't always spot on - I discard those that are not (unless I want the shot just as a record).

With the old screwdriven 55-300 I tried to stop down wherever possible, but with the PLM this is not essential. Still, using f8 when conditions allow gives more margin for focus error and does maximise resolution.

[northcoastgreg]

Death Valley NP:

[K2 to K50]

Thanks very much Peter. I can't remember precisely which settings I used for each shot, but I suspect it was my birds-in-flight setting (saved as User 1) - Tv, 1/1000th or faster, floating ISO, AF.C, auto 9 point AF. This works well in contrasty situations, where the camera can get a good fix on the bird. Mostly for general birding I use TAv with the ISO capped at 1600 for the K-3 and 3200 for the KP, AF.S, select AF point. Yes I often use burst mode too. The focus isn't always spot on - I discard those that are not (unless I want the shot just as a record).

With the old screwdriven 55-300 I tried to stop down wherever possible, but with the PLM this is not essential. Still, using f8 when conditions allow gives more margin for focus error and does maximise resolution.

Thanks Des. I must get around to learning how to set some specialty User settings. One thing I would like to set in 2 or 3 User setups is to turn the LCD display off on the KP for all user settings - I find the battery life on the KP is nothing like the old second-hand K50 I first bought.