[DeadJohn]

agreed---almost. The creation of a a new mount name for the screwless SDM
only body mount makes me think that we are going to see some low end
bodies that don't have screw drives..... I.E. SDM only. this won't magnify the value of your FA glass.

What's this new screwless SDM-only mount? Did I miss something buried in all of today's Pentax news?

[JinDesu]

What's this new screwless SDM-only mount? Did I miss something buried in all of today's Pentax news?

The DA*55 1.4 is SDM only I believe.

[Verglace]

SDM only could be a cost saving thing as well. Theres less people that have older cameras now and the newer cameras can't use the screw drive if the lens has sdm anyway (unless pentax gives us the option to use them). So why keep putting in a screwdrive when its hardly going to be used? Its just going to increase manufacturing costs and add extra complexity to the lenses (as we all know extra complexity can lead to more things going wrong).

[Aristophanes]

What makes you think that the DAs would be incompatible with a FF camera? As I understand it from folks that have experimented - many of the current lineup that Pentax-Hoya claimed would not work on FF cameras in fact do so nicely.

Quite a few of them vignette and they may not be optimally designed for FF.

Wow, I just realized a few more things! The DA 50 is due this year, meaning it could well be available as a bundled lens with a FF camera, as Pentax likes to offer a prime bundle most of the time.

You cannot sell FF at the $2,500 price point and not have pro level zooms. Those are not on the roadmap.

They are labelling the 50mm for 2012 as a "standard lens".

From this roadmap we are seeing the fulfillment of the APS-C line-up and the elimination of the FA 50 while the FA (3 lenses) and D FA (2 lenses) designation lives on.

The green designation is clearly not a "pro" DA* designation, and the 550mm is not a DA* either.

All the changes in ownership and direction for Pentax makes for a very confusing product matrix.

[DSims]

Here are some picture of several lenses on the K-01:
K-01 Roadmap - Pentax SLR

Even the yellow looks like a serious camera with most of those lenses on it!

[Anvh]

Relieved and glad to see the Ricoh-Pentax commitment to the K-mount - thanks. I hope some of the DA lenses are WR and that the DC motor is used instead of SDM. The focal lengths look great, especially the short and walk-around zooms.

In an interview when the 18-135 DC was launched Pentax said they will use DC for the DA lenses but the DA* will be using the SDM motor.

Both motors are very different, most likely the DC doesn't have the power to move the heavier and better sealed elements of the DA* lenses.
So the DA550 might also become a SDM lens for this reason but i'm just speculating now.
But i ain't that concerned about SDM, they work fine with all the prime lenses and with the DA*60-250 so it seems it has matured over the years.

[Anvh]

The DA*55 1.4 is SDM only I believe.

DA17-70 as well and also the DA18-135 needs the SDM contacs for focusing.
It's quite complicated to have 2 different focusing systems inside the camera, Pentax is i blieve the only one that has done it so kudos for that.

[normhead]

My DA*60-250 and 1.7 TC gets me to 425mm at F6.7. So 5.6 would be awesome. Plus it wouldn't be an FF lens, so it should be reasonable in price. But, I currently have my eye on an M-400 5.6. So, there's a limit to what I'll pay. 400 is such a nice length, especially with a 1.4 TC... that would get you 560mm at F-8. Surely that would be good enough for most of us without breaking the banks. Going from 300mm to 550mm still leaves a gap in the 400 range.

[DSims]

You cannot sell FF at the $2,500 price point and not have pro level zooms. Those are not on the roadmap.

The way I see it, they are on the roadmap. Only a ~70-200/2.8 is clearly missing. And who's to say Pentax won't release a FF mirrorless at around the K-5's introductory price, or a Pro level at over $2500? We have no idea how such a FF would take shape right now - the price point will be highly dependent upon how they design it.

They are labelling the 50mm for 2012 as a "standard lens".

Right - a 50mm "standard lens" is only standard on a FF.

From this roadmap we are seeing the fulfillment of the APS-C line-up

There's not a whole lot that still needs to be fulfilled in the APS-C line-up - at least not in a way that's APS-C only.

The green designation is clearly not a "pro" DA* designation, and the 550mm is not a DA* either.

This is perhaps the most curious and intriguing part of the road map, but it's hard to imagine Pentax releasing a low quality prime lens this long. I certainly don't expect them to turn out something like the 500mm f/8 MF junk lenses that you can buy for about $130! But perhaps this is an indication they're aiming to keep it semi-affordable too.

Also, on FF 300mm would appear relatively short for some photographers - choosing 550mm gives them something that's clearly longer (even on FF) than the DA*300's 450mm equivalent FOV on APS-C. And every 50mm longer they go makes the lens bigger, more heavy, more demanding to design as a fast lens, and more expensive to produce and buy.

[drugal]

Even the yellow looks like a serious camera with most of those lenses on it!

I couldn't agree more.

I really think the DA* will be about 17-85 f/2.8

I'm glad I just got a Pentax-F 28 2.8 because it appears that this hole in the prime lens map will not be filled for awhile.

I wonder if they'll drop the 40mm ltd? For mounting on my K-5, it seems like the ltd is a better fit, but is there really room for 2 lenses with what appears to be identical formulas?

[rvannatta]

The one disagreement that I have with everyone's analysis is the DA limited zoom. It won't be f2.8 imo. the standard theme of the DA ltds is compact size with comparably slower apertures. For a zoom I'm guessing that it will be f4. Possibly a rework of the FA20-35f4 zoom.

I think there will be a few potential surprises in this roadmap. For instance I don't think they would put FA lenses on the roadmap tipping their hat on a FF camera until they announce a FF camera. 3 of the 4 zooms in 2013 (and the 550 telephoto) rather suspiciously fill some of the big FF gaps in the current Pentax lineup.

I think we all see in the road map what we want to see. I see the DA limited zoom as a upscale physically small alternative to the default XS lens
for the Mirrorless models, but it would make a good walking around lens for the SLR family as well. I would expect that the DA* zoom on the bottom of the list is actually a replacement for the somewhat maligned DA*16-50 As for the 550, I'm sort of resigned to it being an f5.6

[bobmaxja]

BE AWARE
Pentax will not inform the competitors if they are coming with a FF. THis mean you will not see any FA or DFA in this Roadmap. Otherwise that will be too easy to know what they are cooking

[cheekygeek]

I agree with those who are reading the tea leaves of the lens road map
and seeing full frame (even though they are using the DA placeholder
(how could they really do anything else without tipping their hand?).

Calling the 50 a "standard" lens is the most obvious tip off. I think
it would be easiest for them just to ramp production back up for the
FA50 1.4.

That "high magnfication" zoom lens looks like a the old FA 28-200mm
(or something new with a similar range).

The word "Limited" in the 2013 Zoom limited is an odd one. If you look
above that range at the lenses already available you already see 3 DA
zooms that cover that focal length range, along with an FA Prime
Limited and 2 or 3 other DA primes. I just don't see needing a limited
range zoom down there for an APS-C.

Similarly, the "DA Wide Zoom" is only slightly longer than the DA
12-24mm. That would only be needed if the sensor size was larger. It
would either be a 14-28mm rectilinear full frame zoom, or they are
bringing back that lens that only Pentax produced way back when, the
F17-28 fisheye. It seems more likely to me that it be a rectilinear
that would sell.

I believe more than ever that a full frame could be announced at CP+
for delivery later this year. Also to be announced there are probably
all three of the 2012 lenses on the road map. Keep in mind that any
new full frame lenses could also be used on APS-C cameras, the same
way that we use the older glass now.

[DeadJohn]

What's this new screwless SDM-only mount? Did I miss something buried in all of today's Pentax news?

The DA*55 1.4 is SDM only I believe.

Oh, I was thinking from the camera side and wondering about a camera that only allowed SDM lenses. Thanks for clearing that up.

[maxfield_photo]

BE AWARE
Pentax will not inform the competitors if they are coming with a FF. THis mean you will not see any FA or DFA in this Roadmap. Otherwise that will be too easy to know what they are cooking

That's an excellent point, not much in the way of reassurance, but excellent none the less. Considering how tight lipped they were on the K-01, we may not get any clues that a FF is in the works until it's right on top of us.