I tried the above lens today at the PMA show in Melbourne today. Unfortunately...not on my K10D, but theirs. They said mine hasn't got the firmware needed for it to work yet, the one they had did apparently. And they wouldn't let me put in my card.
Well what can I say.....very quiet, very quick. I could not hear the motor at all, and the AF was very fast...I was very impressed and can't wait to get mine.
They also had some other DA* lenses and a 645D behind glass. The other lenses were the DA*60-250 f4(quite large), the DA*200 f2.8(very nice), the DA*300 f4(nicer),the DA*50-135 f2.8(not for testing, but it was a working copy), and the DA35 f2(due out soon I was told. Not sure if it was the macro one...sorry again.)
I got a few pics of some of the lenses..sorry they are not very good. I was very excited and rushed.
There will be others from the forum going, and will probably have better info than me.
I think the sign is meant to say f4 not f2.8..silly me didn't check.
You said the DA 35mm you saw was f2, that would be the normal version, the macro is f2.8.
But are you sure about the f2 aperture?
It's not on the official roadmap yet (it's just written DA 35mm SDM) and f2 would be a little disappointment (many are expecting f1.4).
Btw, I can't believe they managed, in an official and big event, to write a false aperture on the DA* 300mm sign, LOL.
Wow, Scott. Thanks for posting this. I did not even know this is happening in Melbourne at present.
645D looks a lot smaller than I have anticipated, which is probably a good news.
Da35 f2 is probably a speculation still, not yet confirming its aperture. I think it is the melbourne people fooling around there (I doubt they know their own lenses in this area; their primary concern is to sell sigma lenses instead pentax lenses).
All the Da* zooms and primes look fantastic to me. Cannot wait to get a copy each
Hi Guys,
Yeah I don't know what happened about the f2.8 sign! Should read f4 I think. The 35mm was metal and it looked like a limited...so it was probably the DA35mm f2.8 macro....again, silly me didn't take a lot of notice...sorry. To busy testing the DA*16-50.
James, The show is open to the public tomorrow from 2.00-6.00pm and Sunday from 10.00-5.00pm I think. It's at the exibition building. If you can make it there, it's worth a look.
Cheers.
Well what can I say.....very quiet, very quick. I could not hear the motor at all, and the AF was very fast...
Thanks, Scott.
Did you manage to try the AF in low light? In your impression, was there any hunting? If you had to guess, how did the speed/accuracy stack up against the current "screwdriver" AF?
645D looks a lot smaller than I have anticipated, which is probably a good news.
nah it's just the scale of everything around it including the lens has been upped to make the camera look small enough to be acceptable.
I know everybody is eager to get the 16-50 but boy-oh-boy it's the 50-135 that has my anticipation set to max. I just wish the pricing dept. didn't know they were * lenses.
Did you manage to try the AF in low light? In your impression, was there any hunting? If you had to guess, how did the speed/accuracy stack up against the current "screwdriver" AF?
John
Hi John,
No problems in low light from what I tested...no hunting...there wasn't a lot of low light spots at the stand though. I would say that it is at least half as fast again...if not more....very impressive! Most Pentaxians are going to be very happy.
The SSM 16-50 was dead silent, but it wasn't that fast at all, a few people around me who were also trying it were of the same opinion.. Maybe low battery? (though no warning). It wasn't slow but not much quicker than the 16-45/4
They fixed the 300 f2.8 it now says 300 f4... and the 35mm they had is the 2.8 macro one..
Ohh and a Panasonic girl.. Its funny how they use girls like this to sell cameras too... ahh well sex sells..
Funny job sitting there with people taking photos of you all day, though of course you were supposed to use the Panasonic demo cameras
Can anyone tell me how the AF/MF switch on the lens barrel works. Does it work independant of the switch on the body? That is if the body swithch is on an AF mode, can you swith the lens to MF, or must the body also be switched MF?
The SSM 16-50 was dead silent, but it wasn't that fast at all, a few people around me who were also trying it were of the same opinion.. Maybe low battery? (though no warning). It wasn't slow but not much quicker than the 16-45/4
Funny job sitting there with people taking photos of you all day, though of course you were supposed to use the Panasonic demo cameras
So that was where you were today! Lucky that you got some free protrait sessions there - I wished I was there too. (Had to recover sleep from doing nightshifts)
If what you said was true assuming that the k10d they provided already had the right firmware for these SDM lenses, this would be a in deed a bit dissapointing. However, 16-50 does not really need that fast AF anyway. I would love to know whether AF is fast enough with Da* 200 or 50-135 f2.8 ...
