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We're happy to finally bring you our interview with Pentax at this year's CP+ show. See the video below:
Read on for the full interview transcript:
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Read more..Here's a video tour of the Pentax booth at CP+ 2013, showing you just about everthing that was on display! Stay tuned for our interview with Pentax as well as a summary of what went on at the show.
Hands on with the Pentax WG-3
Demo of Pentax's new outdoor compact · Posted on 02-12-2013 in CP+ 2013At CP+ Pentax announced the next generation of waterproof compact cameras featuring the Optio WG-3 (now available for pre-order).
The WG-3 has lots of new features compared to its predecessor, including better waterproofing, wireless charging, an electronic level, and a compass display. See the video below for a live demonstration of these features and more!
We expect to see the WG-3 hit the shelves in March. Stay tuned for an in-depth review!
Interview with Sigma at CP+
The future of the of Sigma lineup for Pentax · Posted on 02-08-2013 in CP+ 2013At the CP+ show this year we had the chance to interview a Sigma representative and ask about Sigma's plans with their Pentax lens lineup. Sigma is one of the largest third-party Pentax lens manufacturers, and the current Sigma lens lineup is in fact more expansive than that of Pentax. Many Sigma lenses are more affordable and on par (optically) with their Pentax counterparts, thus making them very popular among our users.
Sigma recently announced a series of new lenses, many of of which are already available for Canon and Nikon, but not yet in stock for Pentax or Sony. Will these lenses be coming out for Pentax? The video answers this question and more:
Note: when she says "new products", the Sigma representative is referring only to the four recently-accouned Sigma lenses listed below.
Interview with Tamron at CP+
Commentary on current and future lenses · Posted on 02-05-2013 in CP+ 2013While at CP+ he had a chance to stop by the Tamron and Sigma booths, where we asked the representatives of each company a few questions. Here's our interview with Kenji Nakagawa of Tamron.
The Tamron 18-270mm lens was recently made available for Pentax under the Pentax brand (see the SMC Pentax-DA 18-270mm review). While he shares no Pentax-specific lens plans, Nakagawa states that there is demand for Pentax lenses, which is reassuring to those who thought that perhaps Tamron was moving away from Pentax. At the moment, the majority of Tamron lenses are for Canon, Nikon, and Sony, with only a handful also available for Pentax. Tamron's latest high-speed lenses featuring ultrasonic focusing systems are currently not being produced for the Pentax mount.
HD Pentax 560mm Lens Officially Available
In Japan and shortly also overseas · Posted on 02-02-2013 in CP+ 2013
Today (2/2) is the day that the HD Pentax 560mm F5.6 lens ($7000) finally went on sale in Japan meaning that we'll soon also be seeing it in the US and elsewhere. Originally expected in the middle December, the lens was delayed by about 6 weeks total.
The 560mm is an extreme-telephoto lens designed for APS-C cameras. It's fully weather sealed and it features a silent and fast DC autofocus system. Pentax recently launched a firmware update for 6 of its cameras in order to get them to autofocus properly with the 560mm lens. According to Pentax engineers at CP+, this lens's autofocus will not be fully supported in live view by older DSLRs such as the K-7 or K-x.
We expect to have a production copy of this lens in our hands soon, so stay tuned for an in-depth review!
We've managed to learn a bit more about the about the Pentax Q10 evangelion edition (announced earlier this week) at CP+, so we thought we'd make a quick video about it!
Even though the camera will only be available in Japan, the good news is that 1500 examples of each color will be made, and thus we'll see a total of 4,500 of these Q10's.
Tokina Confirms Pentax Full-frame Under Development
Pentax considering sourcing FF lenses from Tokina · Posted on 02-01-2013 in CP+ 2013
A Tokina employee revealed to us today at CP+ that Tokina has renewed their discussions with Pentax about reviving their lens collaboration as of late last year.
According to the employee, Pentax is reportedly developing a full-frame camera (he claims that a prototype already exists). He stated that all lenses developed will be re-branded under the Pentax name as it had been done in the past.
Talks had previously stalled after the Ricoh takeover in 2011, but Pentax has requested that Tokina still show new lens designs for possible collaboration. However, no Tokina prototype lenses have been made for the Pentax full-frame yet, and no deals have been finalized.
Tokina is an independent lens manufacturer who has co-designed lenses with Pentax; those lenses have been branded under the Tokina and Pentax names. Though Tokina no longer markets many of these lenses, most of these co-designs are still sold under the Pentax name.
