The DA55-300 Wide Open @300mm samples. (56k dialup unfriendly)

[skypacker]

Took a few sample shots with the DA55-300 today. All are straight from the cam JPEG.
Contrast +2
Sharpness +2
Fine sharpness +2
WB = daylight.
Highest quality JPEG.

ISO 200-400
f/5.8 @ 300 mm
All hand held, so some are affected by hand shake.
No PP except crop for 100% crops.
No PP except resizing in Adobe CS3 for the others.

At the center, this lens is sharp throughout it's zoom range wide open. Absolutely no need to stop down if you don't want to. Corners could use some improvement though.

Colors and contrast are excellent too...far better than the Sigma 70-300 I had.

Where this lens falls flat is AF. Very slow AF and too much hunting when zoomed out, even under perfect sunlit conditions. Much worse than the Sigma. But if your subject is standing still, then obviously there are no problems.

The second problem is the red, green, blue and yellow fringes at high contrast boundaries. Some are difficult to remove even in ACR.

I can live with the fringing; if the AF was improved significantly, then this lens would probably be one of the best travel zooms around regardless of system.

[skypacker]

[skypacker]

[skypacker]

[skypacker]

[skypacker]

[skypacker]

[skypacker]

Last samples.
EXIF is intact on all.

[sbc]

Thanks for the samples. As for the slow AF, well at least you caught the moving cars!

[nik34]

Wow! many sharp lobang no.,
strike this weekend i will buy one.

[fengwei]

Thanks for sharing the experience w/ the lens and some sample photos. It's pretty much in line w/ what others have said about this lens: excellent optical quality, but slow and hunting AF especialy at the tele end. I myself almost bought one for light walkabout (when I don't wanna carry the much bigger and heavier FA*80200), but haven't made my mind yet. Probably will get one eventually

[woonsin]

Hi Skypacker,

Your images are very impressive by DA 55-300mm lense that I almost bought this from Ho Chi Minh City but missed chance due to lack of credit.

Now I feel latest DA Star 60-250mm f4 SDM may be better due to faster AF which I saw some images from DPreview but too high price will surely burn our pockets.

[kkleong]

Thanks for the hands-on review, Skypacker!
Wow.. sharpness is very good even at 300mm, F5.8

[maverickh]

Hi Skypacker,

Care to reveal how much did you pay for this lens and where did you purchased it from ?

[skypacker]

Thanks guys.

SBC, those were very slow moving cars, almost down to a crawl.

AF-C is practically useless on this lens, but you can get around the problem to an extent by using AF-S mode and focusing at intervals using the shutter half press as required.

But for still objects which are not going anywhere, where you can take all the time in the world to focus, this lens is perfect for getting high IQ.

Fengwei, it is indeed an excellent travel zoom because it covers a massive zoom range with great IQ throughout the range. Also, the low weight and the smooth zoom ring makes using the lens painless.

Woonsin, I am also awaiting the DA*60-250. Hope to snap one up by June-July once it's available. TBH, if you put both on a tripod and shoot, I don't think there will be SG$1000 difference in IQ. The extra stop with the DA* (if it is sharp at f/4) would be helpful though to keep the shutter speeds high and reduce shake. EDIT: BTW, this is f/5.6 till about 285-290 mm (didn't check properly, but it hits f/5.8 only towards the very last bit of FL).

Maverick, I paid SG$735 for this lens at AP-F last weekend (overpaid, I know). Probably can get it closer to SG$700 or lower if you look around, but I was in a hurry and just wanted to get the lens

[skypacker]

Some shots from yesterday, after RAW conversion, cropping and PP.
Not wide open or at the extreme end of the zoom, but in the 100-200 mm range, but at f/7.1, ISO 250, approx 1/1000 secs or thereabouts.

Sorry for the large sizes, but these are already PPed for some other site and I don't want to redo them all over again.

[skypacker]

[maverickh]

Hi Skypacker,

thanks for the reply . I consider your photos sharp . Would you recommend it for taking pictures of wildlife ?


BTW which shop did you purchased from ?

[epileatheral]

This photo is a good reminder for us all not to do anything hanky panky in the flyer...

[skypacker]

Originally Posted by maverickh Hi Skypacker, thanks for the reply . I consider your photos sharp . Would you recommend it for taking pictures of wildlife ? BTW which shop did you purchased from ?

Alan Photo- Funan.

For wildlife, it maybe too short; i don't know as I've never shot animals in the wild. It should be okay for the zoo though. But if the animals are moving around, it may be difficult to get a quick focus lock.