[RonHendriks1966]

At the time Power Zoom in the lenses seems to be getting popular. There is one for Nikon 1 series and also Olympus announced one.

Would it be good when Pentax came with new or updated lenses (like DA*16-50, 50-135 and 60-250) with not only SDM-II but also Power Zoom?

[eddie1960]

given they had power zoom way back before anyone else AFAIK it might be nice
maybe we'll see something along those lines
Personally it's not a sell feature for me

[Lowell Goudge]

the feature I thought was of interest the most was image size tracking, especially when you are shooting a moving object because once framed on the subject, the image size in the frame would remain the same as the focus shifted. this is important for sports photography, and for Birds in Flight.

Somewhat missed in my opinion, and when the K10D was announced, it was announced with support for power zooms, but this never materialized.

[eddie1960]

not being a sports or BIF guy I hadn't thought of that. i can see it being useful

[cmohr]

I always liked the Powerzooms, as they would auto focus correct as you zoomed, not sure how they wouls get the power to the zoom now though, as the old PZ contacts are now the SDM contacts that doulbe as PZ contact that support old PZ lenses. It would mean having to add another set of contacts to the camera body, not impossible, but another obsticile to the PZ.


Hmmmmm, PZ, SDMII D FA*135-400/F4.0 would be nice. Just dreaming.

[Lowell Goudge]

not being a sports or BIF guy I hadn't thought of that. i can see it being useful

I had it on my PZ-1, and found that this, along with predictive AF was quite effective, although you need to watch the kind of motion you have when it is activated. My daughter on a swing really had the thing confused, because it was designed for linear motion not oscillatoins.

What really suprised me, was all the failures that pentax had with SDM, because I don;t recall a lot with the PZ lenses and motor drive (the mode slide switch was another issue as it was prone to being hit)

[RonHendriks1966]

Hmmmmm, PZ, SDMII D FA*135-400/F4.0 would be nice. Just dreaming.

Well I had DA*135-270mm/f2.8 in mind but when it is going to be a big lens then DA*135-400mm/f3.5 would be maybe even perfect.

That powerzoomfunction could still be run true the sdm contacts I guess or does it need a set of new contacts for that? No problem, just it is only for new camera's and not for oldy's like K-5.

[OutOfFocus]

SDMII D FA*135-400/F4.0 would be nice

+1

then DA*135-400mm/f3.5 would be maybe even perfect

Even better.

There's many features I'd rather see before PZ.

[RonHendriks1966]

+1



Even better.

There's many features I'd rather see before PZ.

well maybe nice to have it all at once.

[axl]

Having recently bought FA*28-70 and being father of 7 months old I would really appreciate:
- full support for PZ lenses on modern DSLRs
- new PZ lenses
- new SDM (or DC) PZ lenses

I think SDM PZ would really be appreciated by many folks, especially sports guys, birdwatchers, videographers etc

my 2p

[Mehlsack]

I cant see PZ materialize, you need so much more computing power to evaluate the picture and zoom accordingly :S

Well
ich would like to skip the next one or two bodies and want to invest in some good glas...but there is none

Ok, you got me:

31 ltd
100macro wr
12-24 Fisheye

But thats not the thing i want 500+ damnit

[thirdofthree]

Not sure I'd use the PZ features, and I definitely wouldn't want the extra weight / size that might go along with it. For example:

255g | 66 x 66mm | w/o PZ | FA 28-105/3.2-4.5 AL [IF]
515g | 73 x 96mm | w/. PZ | FA 28-105/4-5.6

Granted, PZ isn't the only difference between these two lenses (e.g. optical formula, shell material, etc.) But one of the things I like about my Pentax lenses is they're reasonably small and light weight.

[photoracer]

Well I had DA*135-270mm/f2.8 in mind but when it is going to be a big lens then DA*135-400mm/f3.5 would be maybe even perfect.

That powerzoomfunction could still be run true the sdm contacts I guess or does it need a set of new contacts for that? No problem, just it is only for new camera's and not for oldy's like K-5.

If they added the PZ function again all those lenses would have to be built as screw drive ones because it is not possible to share both functions on only 2 contacts. Anything else would destroy the Pentax compatability. One of the issues with screw drive is that you can make it as fast as motor in the lens, it just won't be as quiet. In the film era there were plenty of cameras that could drive a screw drive lens as fast as a ring motor Canon lens. You just had to make the camera bigger to carry a higher torque motor. Think Nikon F5 and Minolta Maxxum 9. Both at different times held the title of fastest AF on the market. If Pentax made seriously fast and quiet ring motor lenses I would care less about Power Zoom. But they have not, and also they never implimented the advanced PZ features in any camera after the PZ-1p either so those things may only be possible in a brand new body.

[Aegon]

Power Zoom is touted as a videography feature, allowing smooth transitions for your filming needs. Other video features include quiet autofocus and step-less aperture adjustments, also found on some µ43 "HD" lenses.

Pentax cameras support video. But some µ43 cameras, such as the GH2, are killer video machines that can also take a still picture. So it makes more sense to sell video lenses to µ43 than Pentax.

[cmohr]

I do admit, I did give my 28-80 PZ a go on my k-7 and it did work a treat actually