[Jonathan Mac]

Looks like Tamron are producing new f/1.8 lenses, probably to make them cheaper than Sigma's f/1.4s. A 35/1.8 at a reasonable price would be lovely, but of course neither of these lenses will be produced for the K mount

http://tamron-new-sp.eu/#/

[bladerunner6]

Looks like Tamron are producing new f/1.8 lenses, probably to make them cheaper than Sigma's f/1.4s. A 35/1.8 at a reasonable price would be lovely, but of course neither of these lenses will be produced for the K mount

http://tamron-new-sp.eu/#/

The 35 2.4 is somewhat slower and stabilized for a bargain price. I am pretty satisfied.

[timb64]

Looks like Tamron are producing new f/1.8 lenses, probably to make them cheaper than Sigma's f/1.4s. A 35/1.8 at a reasonable price would be lovely, but of course neither of these lenses will be produced for the K mount

http://tamron-new-sp.eu/#/

And the point of posting this here is?

[VoiceOfReason]

I'm pretty happy with my two Tamron lenses.

[ZombieArmy]

Pentax has gotta give incentive for that. They might change their minds after the FF release.

Those look like some very sexy lenses though.

[grahame]

Those look like some very sexy lenses though.

From the pictures, I though they were sigma Art lenses :-)

[AtitG]

Tamron 45mm f/1.8 520grams. Pentax 43mm limited f/1.9 156grams. Both priced at around $600. I dont think it will sell in the pentax mount.ü

[ZombieArmy]

Tamron 45mm f/1.8 520grams. Pentax 43mm limited f/1.9 156grams. Both priced at around $600. I dont think it will sell in the pentax mount.ü

Similar case with the 31 limited I'm sure.

That is until the full frame is released.

[aurele]

I barely see any point in getting the Tamron.

Maybe if you are a gearhead and want optimal optical qualities.

As the other said : carry them around for a day and you will love the limited !

[Na Horuk]

What is most interesting is
a) These are WR, probably the first third party WR lenses. At least the description mentions this, dont know how effective their WR will be
b) They are primes - Tamron is mostly known for zoom lenses (its most well-known primes are the macro ones), so this can mark an important change for them
c) 45mm is an interesting one.Think Tamron is trying to do something new, different? Instead of yet another 50mm design (which we have from every brand, Sigma, Mitakon, Samyang, Horus Bennu, Zenitar), they went for a 45mm f1.8 with some close focusing capabilities. I thought of the FA 43mm ltd, as well, but they seem to be quite different. I expect the Tamron to have rendering similar to macro lenses or Sigma art lenses: very sharp, contrasty, but "clean". Not so much character, fine colours, sweet bokeh as FA limited lenses

I think these will be very interesting to Pentaxians, if they ever come out in K-mount. For those who like near focus, but dont need true macro. For those who want faster than f2,4, but dont need Sigma f1.4. Silent AF, 9 rounded blade aperture, WR, VR. Honestly, main drawback I see is the (apparent) lack of aperture ring and heavy weight

Edit: One interesting thing is that the website keeps mentioning how these have amazing close-focus capabilities, but only compared to fixed focal length lenses that are not made for close focusing (ie, macro lenses, where Pentax has a great DA 35mm f2.8 limited macro, with true 1:1 macro close focus). But ok, I guess they will allow more than the usual 0.11x-0.16x magnification. 1:3.4 is.. eh, not as good as the DA L kit lens lol, but Ill stop nitpicking

[skyer]

As far as I remember, a head of Pentax department that constructed 31, 43, 77 limiteds is now working at Tamron. After looking at specs of new Tamron lenses, a first thought that came to my mind was - "Is it a Tamron version of Pentax limites"? I hope they are not but these Tamron lenses must be really good.

[grahame]

"Is it a Tamron version of Pentax limites"?

NOO! These are designed totally different from Pentax Limited. I can NOT imagine the new DFA limited being 540g (19 oz), which is almost the weight of DA 16-50/2.8!
This is Sigma's way of building a lens. And they look just like Sigma's, only the aperture are smaller.

These days, the lenses are made to be all-in-one: they have to have larger aperture (1.4 for prime and 2.0 for zoom) and corner to corner sharpness. The result: monsters are good for defending photographers when a bear is coming close, or they can be used for weight lift training. And they cost $$$$.

I would prefer buying two lenses, one has larger aperture and focuses on center performance, and one has corner to corner sharpness but F2.8-3.5 or slower. even if I have to bring both lenses, they weight 300g total if they were built by pentax.

Moden lenses are so boring! THEY ARE ALL THE SAME: huge, heavy, good on paper in everything, but don't have their own characters.

[skyer]

grahame, you must be right.

I also found that "three FA Limiteds were originally developed by Jun Hirakawa, a very talented optics engineer who worked for Pentax long time ago. He was made redundant under the Hoya’s ownership of Pentax. Mr Hirakawa currently works for Tamron", while on the Tamron website on a Design Concept page (corresponding to new lenses) it is written that "takram design engineering" was done by Kinya Tagawa.