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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.
The 10-17, 16-50 f/2.8, 50-135 f/2.8, 35 f/2.8 Macro and 100 f/2.8 Macro WR were all Pentax original optical designs also sold as Tokina for other mounts. The Tokina 12-24 f/4 was also sold as a Pentax. And I believe the original plan was to make the Tokina 16.5 - 135 also for Pentax, but it wasn't good enough so Pentax did their own 18-135.
Note that the even if the optical designs were same for the lenses sold as Pentax and Tokina, their outer designs, features, AF (and on the 100 Macros the aperture design) differs.
Thanks, guys! I already have all FF Tokinas that wish I could. Move your FF body out.
Great! tokina's 16-35mm Nikon lens is supposedly great.. too bad it doesn't take a filter or I would have already picked it up! It sure would be nice to have ALL Tokina's offerings in a PK mount as well.
Pentax can kill 4 birds with 2 stones, if they discontinue the 16-50 & 50-135 f/2.8 and the 16-45 & 17-70 f/4 lenses and release a 16-80 f2.8 and 80-200 f2.8 FF high quality lenses (Fully weather sealed too!) they can make alot of people happy.
how about 24-70 and 70-200(300) f2.8 ?
needs many FF zooms
@Richard balonglong - you are correct, I use the Tokina 16-28 2.8 on my D600 and it is very good, and affordable.
@MrCynical - I hear you but I doubt that 99% of the folks who post specification comparisons have a single real world application where the differences between two cameras matter. I assume anyone who is wasting their time coming to the forum of a system they supposedly dumped is one of those.
@Ronniemac: I believe those are the ones that I can recall. Maybe one of the superzooms, too?
I know the Tokina 16-50 and 50-135 (non motor) versions were offered in Nikon and Canon mount for APS-C cameras and are very highly regarded by their owners, although of course they are sometimes looked on with contempt by Canon and Nikon brand snobs. I think they have since been discontinued, at least they were the last time I was checking for a friend.
A Pentax FF with a Tokina 16-28mm would be a great setup...
On the Lenses Road Map, at the very bottom right corner, there is a x1.4 teleconventer. Could anybody tell, if it will be possible to use the teleconventer + e.g. Limited lens (70*1.4=98 almost 100mm) on a FF and have the correct results? Just out of curiosity. Cheers
I don't give a crud about tokina
FULL FRAME IS COMING :D :D
Can anyone tell me which lenses are Pentax - Tokina colaboration;
I know about the 10-17, 12-24, 16-50. 50-135, any others?
Seems to make sense for Pentax to work with Tokina. The result has been some nice glass for our cameras.
Was the Pentax 50-135mm f/2.8 a Tokina design?
@ksuwildkat
The issue with Pentax AF isn't the number of AF points as such, but the size of them. Focus on the eyes of someone wearing glasses, and if the glasses are a bold colour the AF system will focus on them instead because the AF points are enormous. AF systems with lots of AF points are more useful simply because a side-effect of this is that the AF points need to be small.
I switched from nikon D300S to pentax k5...why
because k5 is almost the perfect camera in every respects.
k5+fa 31 is a dream!
@outsider: I love Nikon as well and yes they have better buffer times and what not but Pentax cameras are great as well, just in other ways. For me when I do real estate photos my Pentax is perfect. It even has an in-camera HDR mode that works well in that line of photography that your D300 doesn't have. Also put a K-5 and d300 at ISO 6400 and tell me whose camera is better. I almost never us anything but the center focus point so. Having 50 more won't do me any good.
@disco_owner: That's why if the only valid part of this story about Tokina is that they're going to resume working with Pentax, it's still good news. Isn't everyone always saying that a sign of Pentax's impending demise is their disappearance from big box stores and their lack of third-party support? Well one of the things we know Ricoh has done since talking over is try to sell Pentax in more avenues. Reaching out to potential partners is another good sign.
@Ogl; I think there is a cool sort of owner's cachet to having your lenses made by the company who built your camera, like they are master craftsman like Leica. But, really, I'm at the stage where if Pentax came out with a K-mount full frame K-5, with Pentax ergonomics, some Ricoh UI (like the GXR), and nice, quick, super silent lenses like the Olympus EM-5 series Zuikos, I wouldn't care if the lenses were made by Kentucky Fried Chicken. In fact, the lenses don't even have to be that good, so long as it leads to Pentax getting a full frame out, I'll pre-order a batch of the Colonel's own extra crispy recipe lenses.
@WMW Always good to be skeptical, especially of Pentax full frame rumors. But I have a feeling this is becoming more and more inevitable. Personally what I hope they do this year is release a Canon 7D level APS-C camera (like what we thought the K-5 II would be) and announce that full frame is coming in 2014. At least then it won't have the sense of a rushed product. Plus, if they did that, and full frame never came, I'd be happy to buy it and consider my Pentax collection complete, and then add full frame from another company.
I guess I'm just tired of the strange contradiction on this forum, where people get angry when anything but a full frame camera is announced, and then on the other hand, when any good news is released, the majority gird themselves against false hope by taking on the maximum level of cynicism.
I just wished Tokina would release their 11-16 2.8 lens in pentax k-mount. not too fussed about their tfx lenses as I have no need or use for a 35mm format sensor.that lens is sharp.
I'll believe it when I see it. Until such a time, its all hopeful speculation.
Rather strange and silly to buy Pentax FF to use Tokina lenses or Tokina lenses under Pentax brand name.
I'd like to see ORIGINAL Pentax lenses. Anyway, they just started to talk about FF lenses with Tokina. It means that FF camera will be not early than the end of 2013.
@Adam Don't post madeup stories? I think 80% of the forum still wants your head on a pike for the K-3 tease :P
Always good to keep a healthy dose of skepticism, but...
The timeline fits up pretty well. Assuming Pentax wants a FF by late this year (or more likely early to mid 2014) that would it would be logical for them to already have a prototype so they can start to decide if they want to make a sensor buy, as has been said they are considering in a previous interview. The prototype would also be helpful to show to close allies like Tokina, so they could start to adapt designs to coincide with the launch, or share collaborations on lenses Tokina would sell to other companies.
Such a partnership, although it might come at the loss of glass exclusivity like what happened with the 16-50 and 50-135, could help speed up the construction of a full frame lens lineup by adding to Pentax's already existing lens design and construction capacity.
@Outsider - Goodbye!
This makes a lot of sense. Tokina has plenty of full frame designs. I own the 35-70 Macro and the 70-210 4-5.6. Beautiful all metal build and capable of sharp images if you dont push them too hard. Give them a modern refresh and they are ready to go.
@outsider - if you are so happy with your Nikon, why are you here? I know I dont spend any of my precious time on Nikon Rumors or any other Nikon specific site. Oh my, 51 focus points. Please show me the difference on an image. I have yet to have a client tell me "well I was going to buy this but you didn't have enough focus points."
Tokina and Pentax have a lot of history and its good to hear they are talking. Hopefully talk will turn into glass.
Ahem... how about April 1, 2012?
@smeggypants - we don't post made up stories here on the PF homepage. We have a journalist over in Japan that's covering the CP+ show.
@outsider: If you sold all your Pentax gear, and their cameras are "garbage", what the Hell are you doing here besides being a troll?
Some of you guys are unbelievable. You just can't please some people.
I think there's way so much more in a focusing system when it comes to a pro body than a fast 11 pointer. Given that they are equal/above competition in most features when they release a body, I really hope they get this no-brainer correct. Also, I can't help but imagine having group flash support for studio work, amongst others. Good luck!
WOW - strangest group of comments I've read on this site for a long time!
I hardly know where to begin.
This article makes perfect sense. Anyone who's been truly listening has heard Pentax telling us for a year now that they're developing a FF camera. And that it takes 1.5 to 2 years to develop a new camera. And that Ricoh still hasn't owned Pentax for that long.
It's just good to know Pentax is at least considering using Tokina again, since they make good lenses! It would actually be more difficult to believe they hadn't contacted them, considering their limited resources and how many engineers they reportedly lost under Hoya management. They have to have the lenses in order to release a FF!
We already know that Pentax is working on a full-frame camera. I can't agree with the sort of negativity others have expressed, and this is not the first time Tokina has designed lenses for Pentax. The statement that a prototype already exists is more questionable, but it isn't surprising that Tokina is working on full-frame lenses for Pentax.
"A Tokina employee revealed " = Story is made up.
@outsider...It's fair that you have given up on Pentax, and totally fair that you enjoy your current camera...but it is bit much to just state that Pentax will never get with the program and just list the features of your D300.
If and when Pentax release a FF, let's judge it's quality then.
I have no idea if they will or if it will be good...but I'm just thinking about how many people had written off Macintosh before they went down the iPod, iMac, iPad path. Companies can have success or failure in the future...but we all have to wait and see...none of us can know until it happens.
Cheers.
You mean an EX Tokina employee ;-)
I hope the Pentax FF and the lenses will be at a reasonable price, not jacked-up like the UPP junk.
Eh, no big deal. I sold all my pentax cameras many many months ago, after using a nikon. Pentax has been wasting it's time releasing apsc after apsc, with little to no real world differences. Every time I visit this site, there's some new garbage model, advertised at a "discount" price. They've been screwing around for too long and even if they did release I full frame, it still wouldn't be half the camera a D300 is as far as usability, flexibility, user options. They've been out of the game so long, wait, they've never been in the game. Pentax perhaps has bad management, that will probably lead to the end of the company as a whole, just like so many others. Hate to talk crap about the company that furnished my first slr, but it's so true. With my 5 year old D300, I have 51 focus points, can shoot in completely uncompressed 12 or 14bit raw, or TIFF. And the buffer clears in seconds after processing 15 raw shots. I can even view what I just taken while the computer is working. Pentax cameras are unbelievably laggy. It's almost surreal. They'll never get with the program.
Awesome! Now Pentax users can buy Tokina lenses for 2x the price that Canon and Nikon users pay! I guess its better than nothing.
A Tokina Employee isn't "Tokina Confirms" - please don't treat us all as fools.
This is flim-flam.
"Friend of a friend of a friend of my hairdresser's dog walker's aunt's pen pal . . ."
Hey, that's me! Whenever she writes she says "where is my FF Pentax, Sonny Boy"? I tell her, "ask someone at Tokina". She isn't writing back much these days.
great news... just the news...
Tokina has currently only 2 FX zooms, 16-28 and 17-35; it will not be a big contribution for Pentax full frame lineup
plain worthless rumor
Let me guess: They will leak pictures/announce the new Pentax FF body on April Fool's Day 2013.
I have by now given up on Pentax! A pity, as the menu system of the Pentax DSLRs are second to none, when it comes systems, and menu design.
I think it will be launched in 2015 at Photokina
Tokina lenses aren't that great....so I think I'll take this with a huge Pinch of Salt....
This could be really simple. Just use all the current Tokina designs (maybe just the best ones in their class), perhaps add some nice touches (extra ED glass, tougher construction, etc.), badge them as Pentax, and you're good to go. So let's hurry up and get on with it already!
So, why do they need all new lenses? Bring back the FA line and call it a day.
sweet, I'll just go remove the Canon 6D from my B&H cart and await the release....as far as lens selection goes, Tokina could make the PKA mount for their existing lineup quickly I thnk.
Will a Pentax FF have an s version available with no AA/low pass filter in front of the sensor???
Friend of a friend of a friend of my hairdresser's dog walker's aunt's pen pal . . .
While I don't doubt that there's plans for a full frame, I'll just wait until there's something more concrete from official headquarters.
Sooo ... 2-4 more years to wait only?! :D
Now if only we could get a new cropped body ;)
They could also ask Zeiss to restart manufacturing their discontinued ZK line of lenses. Zeiss' reasoning at the time of discontinuing the ZK was that Pentax did not have a full frame body that took advantage of their glass....
To put it mildly: this is FANTASTIC NEWS!!!
I don't even know I want to buy a FF (I'll probably know I want want when Pentax releases it), but a Pentax FF definitely inspires confidence in the company.
We'll see. I think the telling thing will be if they start converting the DA* line to something like a DFA* line. A FF camera appeals to the pro or advanced amateur. Both groups expect quality lenses to go with a capable body. Without a FF capable premium lens line, a FF body won't sell. So I'd expect to see "DFA*" lenses appearing in advance of a FF body hitting the market.
why not a pentax employee!!
any way Iwill get it when it become a fact!
Fake. Unnamed employee who says Tokina has NOT finalized any deal for full-frame lenses has seen Pentax prototype for a Pentax full-frame? This isn't news ...
Son of a b***... I was almost hoping they wouldn't make a full frame body again. Makes the investment in DA lenses hurt a little more.
I still think it falls under rumor category.
Hallelujah!
Yessssss.... so glad I didn't cave and get a K-5II. now I need to just wait a year (or three) and bam.
There has been a prototye for the last 5 years :P
11-16 F2.8 for k-mount ,... indeed :)
About time someone broke the "cone of silence". ;)
o/ rejoice!!!
argh how long do you think? cosi need to buy a new camera asap!!!
I will take the 11-16 F2.8 for k-mount right now, please.
NOW LET THE FORUM GO BEZERK!!!!!
awesome news!
HOPE
I doubt he's in trouble, that's nothing that the Pentax execs haven't confirmed already, this is just from a 3rd party.
Tokina is one of the best lens manufacturers out there, rivaling CaNikons own lens divisions. I'm glad they're renewing they're relationship with Pentax as their last partnership developed a few stunning lenses and with better management this go around should yield some great results
Looks like a Tokina employee is on big trouble...