Pentax lens roadmap updated
Pentax has updated their lens roadmap recently. Nothing particular new except for cloned Tamron which was announced this Monday. But there is a good news and a bad news. The good is that DFA 645 55mm F2.8 is still there so the 645D project is alive. The bad is that DA* 60-250mm F4 is no longer targeted to December, 2007.
October 4th, 2007 at 11:41 am
The 300/4 and 200/2.8 lost their dates (which I think used to be sometime around now). That’s disappointing; while it’s not in the budget for immediate purchase, the 300/4 is the lens I’m most interested in.
I have to say the 17-70 and 55/1.4 confuse me. Is there a need for an 18-55, 16-45, 16-40, and 17-70 all in the same relatively small catalog? Do you think the DA*55/1.4 will replace the FA50/1.4, and will it get a price “adjustment” for the star?
October 4th, 2007 at 11:55 am
DA 17-70 could be F3.5-4.5 and it will be very interesting (and not so expensive) walk around lens.
DA* 55mm F1.4 is not intended to replace FA 50mm. On a cropped cameras it’s DA 35mm. Upcoming DA* 55mm F1.4 is more like old legendary FA* 85mm F1.4 – perfect for portraiture.
October 4th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
vk, I didn’t mean that DA*55 would be a normal lens for the new format, I meant literally replace it in the lineup. The FA50 is still for sale, is a good performer, and is $175 after rebate. Will they sell the FA50 and DA*55 at the same time? Two lenses with the same aperture and only a 10% difference in focal length?
October 4th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
FA 50mm F1.4 production was dropped in 2004. So there will be no competition. Besides that, DA*55 should be much more expensive, something around $600-900 I think.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
$600-900 for the DA*55?! Ouch… still that will have to be an amazing lens considering how good the 50/1.4 is (was).
October 4th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Thanks, vk, I didn’t realize the FA50 was out of production. I agree with kw that it’s hard to imagine why the DA*55 would be so pricey. That focal length is as about as easy as it gets to design a good, fast lens.
It would be nice to have a fast, normal lens for the APS-C format (a 28 or 35mm lens of f/2 or faster). It’s unfortunate that such a lens would have to be retrofocus, which complicates the design and makes it heavier and more expensive.
October 4th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Pentax is dream factory? They promise and promise … 60-250 no date for availability. And where is reaction on 40D a D300?:( I like my K10D. But I think that Pentax is losing chance for bigger success. K10D is good camera – but i am still waiting for fix – bad exposition with M42 lens, etc. But Pentax needs higher model than K10D at least on D300/D40 level.
October 6th, 2007 at 5:11 am
Pavel: -when pentax comes out with a new version of the k10d or (K20D) it wont be as expensive as the other canikons. i bet it will be better sealed than the other 2. I think pentax is gonna wait out the live view function and make it better than the others. it took nikon 2 years for a d200 replacement the K10D came out last year. I rather wait for an excellent new K10D rather than a rush version. And I bet its gonna win the grand Prix when it comes out.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:36 am
Sorry, I don’t really give a shit one way or the other whether the new K10 or the K1D or whatever it is has Live View. I think live view is just a gimmick with no real application other than to sell more cameras. I want a Full Frame CMOS sensor 12+ MP Pentax SLR.
October 10th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Full frame is a gimmick..
Live view can be used for macro focusing and for PC connection.
I can also be used to compose shots where the camera is being fired remotely from a awkward position.
Live view is 90% gimmick but so is FF. FF is a format for film, not for digital.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:06 am
Pentax makes cameras, based on tradition and experience, others serve business-minded people with live view, running footballplayer icon, half-eaten meal icon, fireworks icon, baby mode, face recognization and other funny “functions”. I think a photographer can focus to the eye without “recognization”, and won’t hold his heavy camera above his head like a soapbox. Who wants live view, buy a bridge camera. Who’s lazy or touchy to lay down to the ground for a macro, stay at home. I prefere strong trousers to live view :-D
happyness :-)
October 19th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
I agree, Live View’s just another marketing gimmick and not only that, it goes hand in hand with autofocus ‘dumbing’ photography if you will.
How many people actually look into their viewfinders and take the time think about how to make it interesting? The majority of photographers I see are already heavily reliant on AF as it is. If the AF screws up, they take another shot but can’t be bothered to use their hands. Live View will complement that and soon you’ll have people walking around P n’ S-ing $1000+ camera kits much to the delight of the big camera companies.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Well, I’ve got a bag full of 1970s and 1980s lenses, from 15mm f3.5, through 50mm f1.2, to 135mm f2.5 and I can’t use them. Why?
Because I need full frame (crop sensors don’t support decent wideangle work, and are noisier at high ISO) and live view (focussing fast lenses for low light work, using a tripod, live view is far from being a gimmick).
I use Canon because they offer me a wide range of lenses, FF bodies and a future. While I love Pentax and Olympus kit (having owned both systems) I despair that those companies appear to have boxed themselves into the crop format, a format without a future.
Watch Nikon and Canon really push FF – come on Pentax, get with the program.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Sorry, should have written:
“Well, I’ve got a bag full of Pentax K fit 1970s and 1980s lenses”
April 4th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Is there any info about the maximum aperture of the coming DA 35 mm SDM already?
I am looking for a lens with aperture around 1.4.
I am hesitating to buy one of the last FA 50mm 1.4 or to wait for the DA 35 mm SDM.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:34 am
DA 35mm SDM is a macro lens. Its maximum (widest) aperture is F/2.8