Pentax 55-300 DA ED vs Pentax HD 55-300

Hello,

I have a Pentax DA 55-300mm f4-5.8 ED lens and have seen the Pentax HD 55-300mm lenses available.

Is there any noticeable difference in image quality between the two lenses? is it worth upgrading for use on a Pentax K5?

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Quote:
Pentax K5D, Pentax 16-45mm f4 DA ED AL, Pentax 55-300mm ED, Pentax 100mm Macro f2.8 D-FA, Tamron 28-200mm, Sigma 170-500mm.

Both the DA 55-300mm f4-5.8's are basically the same lens with the HD version having a different coating and more of a Ricoh styling.
However, there is a newer design of it named HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mmF4.5-6.3ED PLM WR RE which won't work on the K-5 unless a firmware update is made available at some stage to make it compatible with PLM lenses. On a compatible camera it focuses faster and has a more compact design.

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John K

I picked up a used example of the DA ED version a couple of years ago and it is razor sharp, I use it with a K5. I have read somewhere in a review that the HD coating is useful to minimise problems with flare so, unless you are regularly shooting into the sun, I think that the difference between the two would be minimal.

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flickr ID: SteveW46243 or sw46246
DA AL 35mm f2.4, K3,18-135 WR, DA 55-300, Pentax KX, K5 x 2, 18-50 50-200 kit lenses, Tamron 17-50 f2.8, Fuji X10, 2x Mamiya 1000s 2x 80mm f2.8, 150mm f3.5, 210mm f4, Yashica 124G TLR, 2x Yashica FX3 Super 2000, Tamron 28mm f2.8, 90mm SP f2.5, 135mm f2.5, Olympus 35RC, 2x Yashica FX2, Kodak Pocket Instamatic, Kodak Box Brownie

i to have a da ed 55-300 and on the k5iis is a nice sharp lens and works very well with a pz af 1.5 teleconverter
a very under rated lens

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k1 k5iis
8mm fisheye pentax da 12-24 sigma 15mm
tamron 17-50 2.8 tokina 20-35 tokina 28-70 atx pro ii tamron sp 90 Pentax A 135 pentax F 35-105 sigma ex dg 100-300 f4 pentax fa 50 1;1;7 pentax A 501;1;4 pentax A200f4 pentax 55-300 sigma 70-200 apo ex 2.8 sigma af 400mm pentax 1.7 af adapter and a flash

TBH: my very original version 55-300 never worked well at all with my Kenko 1.4X PzTC on the K-5

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K-3 II, K-3 and a K-70 from SRS (having now relegated the K-30 /"K-50" to a backup body), & some Sigma and Pentax lenses (and a lot of old 35mm gear!)