Ricoh launches weathersealed HD PENTAX-DA 55-300 mm F4-5.8ED WR

Ricoh has launched the HD Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED WR, a telephoto zoom that’s weathersealed to complement the company’s recent SLRs. It also gains Pentax’s latest ‘High Definition’ coating to minimize flare and ghosting. Aside from that, the specifications are practically identical to the existing smc DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED. It’ll be on sale in November 2013 for a suggested retail price of $449.95 / £399.99.

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Press Release:

Ricoh Imaging Adds New Lens to its Industry-Leading APS-C Optimized Lens Lineup

HD PENTAX-DA 55-300 mm F4-5.8 ED WR Marks 28th APS-C Optimized Lens for Ricoh Imaging’s Robust APS-C Camera Offering

DENVER, CO, October 7, 2013 – Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation (Ricoh Imaging) today announced the introduction of a new HD PENTAX-DA lens. Specifically designed for PENTAX K-mount DSLRs, the new HD PENTAX-DA 55-300 mm F4-5.8ED WR is a versatile telephoto zoom lens that features the PENTAX high-grade multi-layer High Definition (HD) coating and dependable weather-sealed construction.

Complementing the largest offering of APS-C optimized lenses in the imaging industry, the new HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm lens is the 28th in the Ricoh Imaging lineup of PENTAX K-mount lenses architected and engineered to perfectly pair with an APS-C-sized sensor. With a zoom ratio of approximately 5.5 times, the  55-300mm range  covers a wide range of focal lengths from medium to super telephoto and thanks to the sturdy and dependable weather-sealed construction the HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm lens can also handle a wide variety of weather conditions ensuring moisture or rain are never the cause for a missed photo. Additionally, thanks to the treatment of the PENTAX HD coating, photographers are assured much higher light transmittance than conventional multi-layer coatings, delivering sharp, clear images with significantly reduced flare and ghosting, even under demanding, backlit conditions.

“With the announcement of the  our new long zoom 55-300mm lens, Ricoh Imaging now offers twice as many APS-C optimized lenses as some of our competitors,” said Jim Malcolm, Executive Vice President, Ricoh Imaging. “Pair this with our robust family of APS-C DSLRs, which includes the newly announced PENTAX K-3, and consumers a guaranteed an unequaled imaging experience that combines sharp optics with powerful electronics to create beautifully crisp and clear images.”

Ricoh Imaging’s full line of APS-C cameras includes the full-featured, entry-level K-500; the customizable, weather-sealed K-50; the robust, highly-regarded K-5IIs as well as the standard setting K-3, which touts a host of professional-grade features like a high-resolution 24 megapixel image sensor, fast 8.3 frames per second frame rate, selectable anti-aliasing filter and easy and seamless wireless connectivity with unprecedented functionality.

Pricing and Availability

The HD PENTAX-DA 55-300 mm F4-5.8ED WR will be available for purchase online at www.us.ricoh-imaging.com and at retailers nationwide in November 2013 for a suggested retail price of $449.95.

To learn more about the new PENTAX K-3 and Ricoh Imaging’s unmatched lineup of APS-C DLSRs and lenses as well as other Ricoh Imaging products, please visit www.us.ricoh-imaging.com.

HD Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED WR specifications

Additional images

HD Pentax DA 55-300mm F4.0-5.8 ED WR

Comments

I’m in the market for a new 35mm, was thinking of getting the Sigma Art but it is just too expensive for my needs now even though it is an excellent lens.

Thinking of getting the DA 35mm f2.4, the HD 55-200 was not in the roadmap, will wait for the HD 35 f2.4 if ever there will be one.

Nice, but I was hoping for the rumoured DA 18-70 f2.8 instead.

Pentax is rolling out HD coating over it’s line up, it’s not really a new lens it has different coating and wr protection. Therefore these updates are not on the roadmap. There probably will be one or two new lenses later this year.

Same old optics huh? I’ve owned both the DA 55-300mm and the DA version, and while they were both OK optically, that’s about as much credit as I would give them.

I wish Tamron would stop their Pentax boycott and release the new 70-300mm VC in K-mount. That lens puts the 55-300mm to shame.

Exactly. I had the 55-300 too, but I sold it in order to get a faster telezoom with f2,8. Since Pentax makes none, I have to look at Tamron 70-200/2,8.
On the other hand the DA 55-300 was really lightweight and portable, ideal for chasing wild animals (in good light of course). And weather sealing is very useful for this purpose too.

This is good news. The DA 55-300 is a sharp lens. I have often wished it was weather-sealed to go along with the weather-sealed camera body (K-5). Next, I would love to see some weather-sealed limiteds and DA primes…

That’s exactly what I thought. I like the 55-300mm Pentax, one of my favorite all around zooms. It’s a bit pricey at that SRP though.

C

Sorry I fell asleep at the key board due to the soporific sound of crickets chirping.

Not bad innovation, but I’ll keep my older DA55-300 🙂

Pentax should RE-build FA*80-200/2.8.. that will be better.