[Adam]

I have been following this thread out of interest ... how could the KP be "too old" to work with the "new" PLM 55-300 lens?

Lol, it's the newest model.

Does sound like a broken main board, or a firmware issue in the camera.

Adam
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[C_Jones]

I would make sure the 55-300 is fully turned until I heard it lock into place when mounting it. The lens (55-300) you have/had is Pentax KAF mount and the KP is also KAF mount, so they are compatible. Your camera battery should be fully charged and you should make sure that AF is enabled on the camera. The 55-300 model you are specifying has a feature called the "Quick-Shift Focus System" which will instantly change the AF mode to MF by twisting the focus ring. I am not sure if your lens went into a manual mode due to that feature being enabled by you possibly moving the focus ring, but I just wanted to mention that scenario to you. Compatibility does not seem to be an issue. The lens is a 2016 model and the KP is a 2017 model. You might want to try the "Green" Auto mode on your dial with the lens mounted just to make sure it is not a case of your camera settings.

[bwgv001]

just checked, there was actually a firmware upgrade (version 1.2) to allow for the 55-300 newest version.
My bad, picked wrong model

[jbinpg]

Just a note that this PLM lens (and likely the ones to come) must be fully unstowed from its stowed position for the plm to work. When I use mine, I have now got into the habit of unlocking it and fully zooming out to the 300 position before using it.

[talgarik]

Just a note that this PLM lens (and likely the ones to come) must be fully unstowed from its stowed position for the plm to work. When I use mine, I have now got into the habit of unlocking it and fully zooming out to the 300 position before using it.

Do you mean that if you unlock it but you don't extended at 300mm it will not work?
And you have to perform this operation before turning the camera on?
Thanks

[jbinpg]

It must be unlocked and zoomed a bit. To ensure mine works, I just rack it out to 300mm and back to activate it.

[davidreilly3207]

I have been following this thread out of interest ... how could the KP be "too old" to work with the "new" PLM 55-300 lens?

Ricoh-Imaging claims this lens is compatible with the KP. Since the KP has not had a firmware update since being introduced, don't think that is an issue.

[Kerebron]

It must be unlocked and zoomed a bit. To ensure mine works, I just rack it out to 300mm and back to activate it.

I've never performed such voodoo rituals with mine and it works flawlessly.

@OP: I've heard about two or three cases like yours, when this lens didn't work straight out-of-the-box, but after a couple of tries it kicked in. I don't know how many times you've tried to mount and unmount it, but it's worth to try to do it a few times. Maybe a gentle knock from the side or at the back of chassis.

[CooperPete]

I just purchased a Pentax KP w/ HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm f4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE lens, it's on the way to be shipped to me. looking forward to hear some more.
Thanks

[CooperPete]

Hi, All:
i am new to DSLR cameras. I have Pentax KP. I have few Q. about properly collaborate the Pentax PLM 55-300 lens w/ pentax KP.
I did Follow everyone's recommendation, extending the lens to full 300mm before connecting to KP and turn it on. it did work that way and it able to focus and took photos. however, even photo was taken OK ( see photos), but the KP would not properly register the lens, it would say, "no lens information" as though it was a third-party lens, any comment on this will be appreciated.

[stevebrot]

Hi, All:
i am new to DSLR cameras. I have Pentax KP. I have few Q. about properly collaborate the Pentax PLM 55-300 lens w/ pentax KP.
I did Follow everyone's recommendation, extending the lens to full 300mm before connecting to KP and turn it on. it did work that way and it able to focus and took photos. however, even photo was taken OK ( see photos), but the KP would not properly register the lens, it would say, "no lens information" as though it was a third-party lens, any comment on this will be appreciated.

When you take a photo the camera reads a numeric code from the lens and stores the code in the a special location in the file written to the SD memory card. The code for your lens is "8 197". When software is used to read information about the photo, it will read the lens code and then find the lens name from a list. If a name is not found, it usually means the lens is newer than the version of the software being used. In that case, the space is often left blank or has a message such as what you saw.

However, that is not what is happening with the photos you posted. Those were created from the original file by software that removed the lens id code during processing without replacing it with a lens name. The EXIF says that the photos were edited in Photos 3.0. If I remember properly, that tool is part of MacOS. I know nothing of the tool or whether it will properly assign names for Pentax lenses. A Mac guru might be helpful.


Steve

[CooperPete]

When you take a photo the camera reads a numeric code from the lens and stores the code in the a special location in the file written to the SD memory card. The code for your lens is "8 197". When software is used to read information about the photo, it will read the lens code and then find the lens name from a list. If a name is not found, it usually means the lens is newer than the version of the software being used. In that case, the space is often left blank or has a message such as what you saw.

However, that is not what is happening with the photos you posted. Those were created from the original file by software that removed the lens id code during processing without replacing it with a lens name. The EXIF says that the photos were edited in Photos 3.0. If I remember properly, that tool is part of MacOS. I know nothing of the tool or whether it will properly assign names for Pentax lenses. A Mac guru might be helpful.


Steve

Hi, stevebrot:
Thanks for the comment, I did use Mac photo. However, after i download the photo from SD card to Mac Photo, before I use the photo Editing, i check the lens info, it was already missing.
when i use old Zeiss M42 with KP, with same mac photo tool, it did show M42 on the photo info,
any thoughts on this?
thanks a million.

[stihlmania]

Here is what I think CooperPete is seeing.....the 55-300 PLM may need its data contacts cleaned... Screen shot 10.09.28 is what you should see [except I am not using the PLM version]

[CooperPete]

I will try it, but Pray tell How to clean data contacts?
thanks.

[Adam]

Here is what I think CooperPete is seeing.....the 55-300 PLM may need its data contacts cleaned... Screen shot 10.09.28 is what you should see [except I am not using the PLM version]

Since the focal length is there, I would say your mac software is simply failing to recognize the lens id. It's up to the program viewing the image (not the camera) to figure out what the lens is.

If you attach a photo straight out of camera (without editing it), you should be able to see the lens name. You can also do so by uploading here:

Check Camera Shutter Count and Manufacture Date