Pentax Engineer on SDM Failure and Pentax DC

A brief conversation answers all our questions

By PF Staff in Photokina 2012 on Sep 17, 2012

Today was press day at Photokina, meaning that we were able to take a tour of Koelnmesse and see many of the exhibition halls that will officially open tomorrow.  We be making a post and uploading videos from this tour later today, so stay tuned!

Once the tour started, we of course proceeded almost immediately to the Pentax booth, which, unlike many other exhibitions, was practically ready to go and fully manned.  There, we had a conversation with a very friendly German Pentax engineer and repair technician.  He seemed to know a lot about the hardware found in Pentax lenses, so we asked him a few questions and also shared our findings from the SDM failure survey.

Below are the questions and answers, all paraphrased from the conversation.

Q: Our survey found that the Pentax DA* 16-50mm and 50-135mm were the most prone to SDM failure.  Do you know why this was?

A: One could say that the AF components used in these lenses was prone to failure from the get-go due to their design.  The 16-50mm and 50-135mm lenses share the same circuitry and motor, which is why they both have such a high failure rate.  Other SDM lenses don't fail as much.

Q: Has this SDM quality control issue been resolved?

The Pentax K-5 II / K-5 IIs Report

Very positive findings at Photokina

By PF Staff in Photokina 2012 on Sep 20, 2012

We have to admit that prior to arriving at Photokina, we were not overly-impressed by Pentax's announcement of the K-5 II and K-5 IIs.  The two new cameras seemed to share almost everything in common with their predecessor except for a few minor changes, and they were already outclassed in some areas by Pentax's mid-range K-30, which was launched this summer.

Pentax K-5 IIs

However, after trying the camera out and gaining a deeper insight into the hardware after our interview with Pentax, we're confident that the K-5 IIs is in fact a significant upgrade over the K-5 in terms of not only autofocus and handling, but also, and most notably, image quality.

In total, four major changes distinguish the K-5 II from its predecessor:

  • A new autofocus system with improved accuracy and reduced latency, able to make measurements in as little as -3EV ambient light
  • A new air-gap-less LCD screen designed to be easy to see when outdoors
  • Improved firmware with better stability and new AF features, including AF area expansion
  • Removal of the anti-aliasing filter from the sensor, resulting in greatly increased resolution at the risk of seeing moire in images (K-5 IIs only)

Here you can see that the K-5 II LCD has much lower reflectance than that of the original K-5, and consequently you'll be able to see it much more clearly even in bright light.  Thanks to this, the viewing angle is also much bigger.  Click on the image to enlarge.

Pentax K-5 II LCD

Pentax K-30 vs K-5 IIs Cross Sections

On display at Photokina

By PF Staff in Photokina 2012 on Sep 30, 2012

For those interested in the inner workings and structure of a Pentax K-30, a body which was sliced in half was put on display by Pentax Ricoh.  The same holds true for the Pentax K-5 IIs, shown toward the end of this post.

The autofocus module including the secondary mirror (though misaligned) is clearly visible.

K-30 Cross-Section

cut 1

Below we have a similar cut of the Pentax K-5 IIs for comparison. The two cameras are clearly built in a similar way, with the only obvious difference being that the K-5 IIs body (not just the chassis) is made of metal.

Interview with Pentax at Photokina - The Video

Just posted - video interview with 3 Pentax Ricoh representatives!

By PF Staff in Photokina 2012 on Sep 22, 2012

On September 19th, 2012, we had the opportunity to interview three Pentax representatives at the Photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany.  The gentlemen we spoke to were Mr. André Dierickx, Managing Director of Pentax Ricoh Imaging Europe, Mr. Shigeru Wakashiro, leader of the Pentax Product / Camera System Planning Team of Pentax Ricoh Imaging Japan, and Mr. Genichiro Takaoka, also a part of the Product / Camera System Planning Team.  The full video of the interview is available later in this post.

Questions were asked in English by Adam Oest, administrator of PentaxForums.com, and repeated in Spanish by Mika Cruz, administrator of the Spanish community Pentaxeros.com.  Mika's help was integral to the coordination and preparation of the interview, and we'd like to extend a special thank-you to him as well as his Spanish Pentax community!  Mr. Dierickx replied to our marketing-related questions in English, while Mr. Wakashiro replied to our technical questions in Japanese, which were then translated into English by Mr. Takaoka. In the interview, we allude to a letter that we sent to Pentax about the prospect of making a Pentax full-frame DSLR.  You can learn more about the letter here.

Wakashiro (left) and Takaoka (right)

In total, we asked Pentax 19 questions, including the "full-frame question", of course.  The video interview lasts 33 minutes, and subtitles are available.  Read on to watch the video interview and to learn more about how the actual interview went!  Here is a quick summary of the questions:

  • Which of the 9 new products announced at Photokina is the most important to Pentax Ricoh?
  • What's new in the K-5 II and Q10?
  • In what areas is the SAFOX X autofocus system going to be better?
  • Why does the K-5 II lack the PRIME M processor?
  • How will the image quality of the K-5 II and K-5 IIs differ?
  • How does HD coating differ from SMC, and will it be replacing SMC?
  • What cameras / users are appropriate for the 560mm lens?
  • Are there plans to more significant DSLR upgrades for current Pentax users?
  • What happened to that mysterious lens with a protrusion that we saw at CP+?
  • Is any of the technology found in the Ricoh GXR going to be used in Pentax cameras?
  • How about a Pentax K-mount module for the GXR?
  • Will the Pentax K-mount ever be "de-crippled" (i.e. will the aperture ring coupler be restored?)
  • How has the Q system evolved since last year?
  • Will the Q's 1/2000s flash sync make its way into other cameras as well?
  • How well as the K-01 been received by customers?
  • When is the Pentax full-frame finally going to be announced?
  • Do you have anything else to say to our users?

We were very happy with how thorough Pentax's replies to our questions were, and after the interview, we started to appreciate Ricoh's contribution to Pentax Ricoh Imaging even more, even if they are still in their infancy.

New Lenses in K-mount

From Samyang and Schneider-Kreuznach

By PF Staff in Photokina 2012 on Sep 19, 2012

A couple of new lenses in Pentax K-mount were introduced at Photokina 2012 from the two independent lens makers: Samyang and Schneider-Kreuznach. It is encouraging to see the number of available K-mount lenses grow even when it comes to expensive specialty lenses.  The new lenses include a 10mm rectilinear ultra-wide angle prime, and a tilt-shift lens.

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