Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
11-27-2014, 02:22 AM   #1
Senior Member




Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 224
Existing lenses and a Pentax FF

I was just about ready to spring for a new K-3 but since current activity seems to lead everyone to believe a new camera is on the horizon, and many believe it will be a FF my question is about current lenses and a new Pentax FF camera. Do most think the lenses currently available and earlier lenses will fit a Pentax Full Frame camera?

I know there is also the belief that even if a FF camera will be coming out soon or a K-3 II or K-3 IIs will also be coming out soon as well. I'm just trying to justify holding off.

11-27-2014, 02:30 AM   #2
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 1,126
I guess it depends what you mean by "fit". If it's a K mount, then yes they'll fit. But some lenses designated as APS-C only (i.e., DA) do cover the FF sensor. It remains to be seen how Pentax would handle that situation. But all current DFA and FA lenses will of course be compatible with any future K mount camera.
11-27-2014, 03:54 AM   #3
Senior Member
Timd's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cape Town, SA
Posts: 262
I think there is much excellent analysis of existing lenses (including the DA ones) and their compatibility with the full frame image circle. However, your question is more "will Ricoh retain the K mount on the new FF camera?"

By the way, there is little chance of a K-3 IIs as the K-3 does not have an AA filter already.
11-27-2014, 04:53 AM   #4
Senior Member




Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 224
Original Poster
I should have said 'fit' and 'function'

11-27-2014, 05:04 AM   #5
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter




Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Gladys, Virginia
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 27,572
I think all k mount lenses will be "usable" on a full frame camera. There would probably be an automatic crop mode that would be available for APS-C only lenses. Looking at the list in your signature, your DA 15, 18-55 and 18-250 don't cover an image circle bigger than APS-C. But the rest of your lenses would function just fine.

Some of the DA lenses (DA 40, DA 70, DA *55, DA *200, 300) are probably usable with some vignette control. The 60-250 seems like it is almost full frame compatible, but not quite.

Anyway, long story short, your lenses will work fine, the only question is whether they cover the full frame sensor completely with their image circle.
11-27-2014, 06:19 AM   #6
Veteran Member
ZoeB's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Tromsų, Norway
Posts: 886
I find it hard to believe that pentax would come out with a new lens ecosystem for a FF DSLR when they
a) are the only company that produce a mirrorless camera with an SLR lens ecosystem mount, and
b) hopefully know that a significant portion of their high-end DSLR users have been sticking around for years hoping for a full frame without having to switch lens systems
11-27-2014, 07:25 AM   #7
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
jatrax's Avatar

Join Date: May 2010
Location: Washington Cascades
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 12,991
Nothing to add re lenses but I thought I would mention that k-3 is an excellent camera and current prices are amazing.
A hypothetical k-3II will be twice as much as current k-3 pricing.

And a hypothetical FF will be at minimum 3x current k-3 pricing.

I can understand wanting the latest and greatest but at what cost? There will always be a new body coming out. If cost is not a factor, then nevermind.

11-27-2014, 07:45 AM   #8
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Nevada, USA
Photos: Albums
Posts: 3,348
The lenses will fit and function just fine. I think the real question is how sharp will these lenses be. Legacy glass was designed to a performance specification based around film. A digital sensor may stress the performance and reveal ever so subtle aberrations that would not be picked up on film.

There are many examples of legacy glass being used on the Sony A7 system. Most of the images are outstanding! It's hard not to ask yourself, "Wow, is that a $30 lens?!" Well, yes it is. Primes have proven to be exceptional lenses. Whatever Pentax did, they did it right.

Of course, nobody posts the stinkers coming from cheap kit lenses of the 80s and 90s. It's hard to show off your $2k camera body with a soft image full of aberrations if you know what I mean.
11-27-2014, 04:03 PM   #9
Pentaxian




Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 2,962
QuoteOriginally posted by BlakeShellman Quote
I was just about ready to spring for a new K-3 but since current activity seems to lead everyone to believe a new camera is on the horizon, and many believe it will be a FF my question is about current lenses and a new Pentax FF camera. Do most think the lenses currently available and earlier lenses will fit a Pentax Full Frame camera?

I know there is also the belief that even if a FF camera will be coming out soon or a K-3 II or K-3 IIs will also be coming out soon as well. I'm just trying to justify holding off.
Here is my strategy on these things. I bought an original K5 (before the II even came out)... but it was nearing the end of it's 'generation'... so I picked it up cheap. It served it's purposes quite well and still works like a charm. Now that the K3 is coming down in price I have 1/ skipped a generation, in fact 2 generations of cameras between purchases 2/ picked up a fantastic camera that will show much more obvious 'total package' performance improvements.

If the K3 were to be discontinued tomorrow and another whiz bang camera came along in 2-3 years when the prices on the new whiz bang gadget starts to drop I will get one of those.

In real dollars I paid a slight bit more for my K3 (now) than I did for my K5 back then...If you chase every butterfly that comes along you will have spent a lot of money on a lot of things....instead of just using what you have.

Too many people are gear junkies and approach things from that angle rather than approaching them from a photographer's/artists angle.
11-28-2014, 10:46 AM   #10
Senior Member




Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 224
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by alamo5000 Quote
Here is my strategy on these things. I bought an original K5 (before the II even came out)... but it was nearing the end of it's 'generation'... so I picked it up cheap. It served it's purposes quite well and still works like a charm. Now that the K3 is coming down in price I have 1/ skipped a generation, in fact 2 generations of cameras between purchases 2/ picked up a fantastic camera that will show much more obvious 'total package' performance improvements.

If the K3 were to be discontinued tomorrow and another whiz bang camera came along in 2-3 years when the prices on the new whiz bang gadget starts to drop I will get one of those.

In real dollars I paid a slight bit more for my K3 (now) than I did for my K5 back then...If you chase every butterfly that comes along you will have spent a lot of money on a lot of things....instead of just using what you have.

Too many people are gear junkies and approach things from that angle rather than approaching them from a photographer's/artists angle.
That's a good strategy.
11-28-2014, 10:57 AM   #11
Veteran Member
aleonx3's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Brampton, Ontario
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,996
QuoteOriginally posted by BlakeShellman Quote
snip..
Do most think the lenses currently available and earlier lenses will fit a Pentax Full Frame camera?
snip..
This is probably the least you have to worry as your DA lenses would still work; most likely the new FF will be able to support both DA and FA lenses - just like the Nikon D750 does. The way it works is that the camera detects lens with APS-C circle, it adjusts automatically the image circle to the smaller APS-C size with less pixels.
11-28-2014, 11:17 AM   #12
Pentaxian




Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 6,027
I'm wondering about the analysis of the existing DA lenses -- isn't the circle only part of the equation?

I'm assuming like most that an FF camera will have a crop mode that will take APS-C sized images, and that it will detect DA lenses and act accordingly. (Similarly, the newer Q models with the bigger sensor than the original do this automatically with the toy lenses, don't they?) So the questions are:

-- Will Pentax have this mode be an option or force it on you? i.e. It is possible that DA lenses will go into crop mode and there is nothing you can do about it, even if they would "work" in FF mode.

-- And if you can use existing lenses that were not necessarily designed for FF but have a big enough circle -- well, is having a big enough circle really the issue? How about edge sharpness? Isn't it possible that even if some of these lenses cover the area, they will still look like crap in that area because that area was supposed to be hidden and therefore they were not concerned with making them sharp out to those edges? After all, isn't that why we have smaller and lighter lenses for the APS-C size?

-- And if they DO look like crap on the edges, or some of them do, then possibly Pentax would indeed be tempted to force the crop mode on you with DA lenses whether you like it or not, otherwise people will start complaining about the edges (unfairly, because they weren't designed to be seen), and thereby hurting Pentax's reputation? (And they do have a reputation for good lenses, after all, among people that know they exist.)

How does Nikon do this? Can you use FF mode all the time no matter the lens?
11-28-2014, 11:29 AM   #13
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
jatrax's Avatar

Join Date: May 2010
Location: Washington Cascades
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 12,991
QuoteOriginally posted by vonBaloney Quote
Will Pentax have this mode be an option or force it on you? i.e. It is possible that DA lenses will go into crop mode and there is nothing you can do about it, even if they would "work" in FF mode.
I would prefer to make the choice, but there are certainly valid reasons for Ricoh to enforce crop mode.

Another, more complicated, option would be to crop only to the ability of the lens mounted. All DA lenses are identifiable by the camera, unlike some older FF lenses, so it would be possible to crop individually. But then you have a multitude of different image sizes which might confuse users even more than a mandatory crop.

Personally I would rather have the option in the menu to shoot FF at all times and fix the vignette in post.
11-28-2014, 11:44 AM   #14
Pentaxian




Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 6,027
QuoteOriginally posted by jatrax Quote
I would prefer to make the choice, but there are certainly valid reasons for Ricoh to enforce crop mode.

Another, more complicated, option would be to crop only to the ability of the lens mounted. All DA lenses are identifiable by the camera, unlike some older FF lenses, so it would be possible to crop individually. But then you have a multitude of different image sizes which might confuse users even more than a mandatory crop.

Personally I would rather have the option in the menu to shoot FF at all times and fix the vignette in post.
Yes, well I think people will be quite angry if they can't use their high-end DA 300/4, etc in FF, knowing that the circle will cover it. For myself, I only have one DA lens, the 18-250, which I assume would not work (at least through much of its range) so I'm not worried about it. And then I have a bunch of older film-era glass, which should all work fine, even if the less great among them are punished by the sensor a bit. (An overstated problem, I think.)
11-28-2014, 11:57 AM   #15
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
jatrax's Avatar

Join Date: May 2010
Location: Washington Cascades
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 12,991
QuoteOriginally posted by vonBaloney Quote
Yes, well I think people will be quite angry if they can't use their high-end DA 300/4, etc in FF,
Agree with that 100%. Pentax has sort of worked themselves into a corner with the DA lenses, some supposedly FF capable and some proven not, but all with the same 'DA' designation. I suppose no one there at that time thought FF would ever again be an issue. I will be curious to see how they work through that. Re-badge as D-FA? Ignore the whole thing? Publish a list of FF capable lenses? Force the camera to crop on all DA lenses regardless? No easy answer, and someone will be upset no matter what they do.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
camera, ff, k-3, k-mount, lenses, pentax, pentax lens, slr lens
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Nikon builds a time machine, and warns: the Pentax FF is a threat! Uluru Pentax Full Frame 20 02-08-2014 05:38 PM
Will existing Q lenses work on the Q7 without problems? Docrwm Pentax Q 15 06-22-2013 06:38 AM
Pentax FF and DA lenses troenaas Photographic Industry and Professionals 28 08-17-2012 01:49 PM
Full Frame lenses and value if a FF camera is introduced olivemike Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 22 01-16-2012 11:20 PM
A question: Existing Lightroom Catalog and converting PEF to DNG after the fact George Lama Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 3 08-14-2011 11:34 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:02 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top