[slip]

Why is it taking Pentax to put HD coating on existing production prime FA lenses? Is it even on the radar?

Thanks

Randy

[zapp]

Why is it taking Pentax to put HD coating on existing production prime FA lenses? Is it even on the radar?

Thanks

Randy

Coating does not help in case AF is loud and outdated.

[lytrytyr]

Why is it taking Pentax to put HD coating on existing production prime FA lenses?

Because they're still selling off their previously accumulated stock of SMC lenses?

[jatrax]

Rumor recently was FA limited lenses were again in production for another batch.
Will they be identical to old production? Will they be like the DA limited lenses and have the updated coatings? Will they be all new DFA?
No one knows.

[Na Horuk]

Is it even on the radar?

Not that we know of. We were even surprised by the HD update of the DA limited; it was unannounced.
I guess Pentax wants to first sell of all the supplies. And some FA designs might need more tweaking than just HD coatings. The materials have changed a lot since the FAs were designed, as has the market itself. Those lenses would need a new barrel design, out of current plastics, a new AF design, new aperture blades, a whole production line. Its questionable if they could all compete against lenses like the Sigma Art series, the new Tamron primes, Samyang primes (Pentax generally focused on lens character and compact lenses; not superfast, supersharp, big lenses, which are so popular atm). And Pentax is currently focusing on the K-1 camera and the new DFA zooms.

We just don't know when, if ever, we will see HD updates of F, FA or even older lens designs. (despite the fact that many want to see updates of some cult classics, from Takumars onward)

[mattt]

out of current plastics,

Limiteds are metal - it would be a big let down to go plastic - the look feel of FA 31 Ltd is so superior than the look feel of FA 35. An HD update should include an improvement in AF tech though.. the sound of screwdrive is a drawback when compared to premium offers from competition.

[bdery]

The materials have changed a lot since the FAs were designed, as has the market itself.

the FA limiteds still sell well, and are still, nowadays, regarded as being among the best there ever was.

Those lenses would need a new barrel design,

Why?

out of current plastics,

Please no. They are limiteds. The DA limiteds are metal, just like the FA.

a new AF design

DC by all means.

new aperture blades,

Not necessary. If you must (not sure you do) just make the current ones rounded.

a whole production line.

A modified production line. Most would remain the same.

Its questionable if they could all compete against lenses like the Sigma Art series, the new Tamron primes, Samyang primes (Pentax generally focused on lens character and compact lenses; not superfast, supersharp, big lenses, which are so popular atm)

The FAs, as they are, compete well.

[Na Horuk]

the FA limiteds still sell well, and are still, nowadays, regarded as being among the best there ever was.

We don't know how well they really sell, globally. We just know they are popular on some forums. And best there ever was? Sure, they are great in many ways, but on digital they have some purple fringing, CA.. and then there is the problem of lab test reviews. Lab tests would show them as "weaker" than some other, modern lenses. (sure, the lab tests don't tell the whole story, etc. etc. but if you want to sell lenses, you need that) And its not just sharpness, but longitudinal CA, lateral CA flare resistance, purple fringing.. and correcting one of these can cause problems in other areas. Sharpness and CA standards are very high with pretty much all modern primes, much higher than they were 10, 20 years ago.

Why?

Barrel design cannot be the same as it was. Materials have evolved. You need extra space for different AF system. Not to mention WR, QS.. each of these would require additional changes. Will the barrel stay metal or go plastic? Probably a mix of modern materials.

Not necessary. If you must (not sure you do) just make the current ones rounded.

Yeah, but rounding aperture blades is not that easy. They need to fold correctly, they still need to cover the precise fractions of entrance pupil.. there is a reason why rounded aperture blades are only appearing on the market in the last few years. They are technically more difficult to design than the straight blades of the past.

A modified production line. Most would remain the same.

We don't know if the FA limiteds are in production at the moment. Pentax makes lenses in batches, so the production line might be busy with another batch, of other lenses. Also, Im not sure if this thread only discusses FA limited trio, or other FA lenses that are available as new (FA 35mm, 50mm) or even FA lenses that were discontinued a while ago. Some of those would need a bigger investment for an update than others

[UncleVanya]

If they do add dc motors, I would prefer a dual drive mode with screw drive fallback. The lack of electronic motors makes the FA and DA limiteds more of a long lasting purchase because it is so simple.

[Adam]

If they do revamp the FA Limiteds, I'd expect more than just a coating swap. DC motors would be very welcome- if designed properly, the rate of failure shouldn't be significantly worse than screwdrive (which can break, contrary to popular belief!).

[monochrome]

Pentax would be insane to discontinue the FA Limited line once the existing SMC stock runs out. The issue for the FA Limiteds will be how much to 'improve' them. HD, AeroBright, SMC on internal elements, Ghostless on the rear elements, rounded blades, DC motors, drop the aperture ring, redesign the barrel to fit everything in - these are all good, modern ideas.

At some point, though, they become HD Pentax D-FA Limited DC AL ED lenses, not FA Limiteds at all, and you wonder how much of the old character is lost in the process.

[Winder]

I'm actually surprised that the new FA Limited lenses did not get released with the K-1 or at least launch a new D-FA* 50mm F/1.2.

[Nicolas06]

Pentax would be insane to discontinue the FA Limited line once the existing SMC stock runs out. The issue for the FA Limiteds will be how much to 'improve' them. HD, AeroBright, SMC on internal elements, Ghostless on the rear elements, rounded blades, DC motors, drop the aperture ring, redesign the barrel to fit everything in - these are all good, modern ideas.

At some point, though, they become HD Pentax D-FA Limited DC AL ED lenses, not FA Limiteds at all, and you wonder how much of the old character is lost in the process.

Because you concentrate on the FAltd... Half of what make the FAltd are that first and foremost they are FA with the associated warm rendering and more subtle colors in opposition with the more neutral colors and more puncy contrast of the DAs.

Another part is that they are quite small/light and with somewhat large apperture.

The last part is the slightly under corected design to make pictures more "spicy".

A modern redesign will likely grow the lens size, ask for more corrected design to fare better on reviews and modern coating would give DA like colors... You'd miss at least half of what make the FA ltds.

[yucatanPentax]

We don't know how well they really sell, globally. We just know they are popular on some forums. And best there ever was? Sure, they are great in many ways, but on digital they have some purple fringing, CA.. and then there is the problem of lab test reviews. Lab tests would show them as "weaker" than some other, modern lenses. (sure, the lab tests don't tell the whole story, etc. etc. but if you want to sell lenses, you need that) And its not just sharpness, but longitudinal CA, lateral CA flare resistance, purple fringing.. and correcting one of these can cause problems in other areas. Sharpness and CA standards are very high with pretty much all modern primes, much higher than they were 10, 20 years ago.

Just curious if you have read the story of how they were designed ~~purposely~~ to disregard test chart results and produce unique, beautiful images.

There are other Pentax lenses which meet "modern" standards, but they don't render the "magic" images of the original set of Limiteds. Meeting excellent test results, as discussed in the story about how and why the Limiteds were designed, is entirely possible. And it will give colder, more clinical results.

And, at any rate, we have "modern" post-processing that didn't exist when the FA Limiteds were designed, so if you get some PF or CA you can work on it right at home.

There's no reason to go plastic as the newish 20-40mm Limited shows.

By the way, how do the FA Limiteds hold up in "sharpness" with other modern primes? I think stopped down, they are still quite good, even if they weren't designed for digital sensors. Buy a Zeiss for sharpness and a Pentax for pixie dust magic.

[noelpolar]

Either way, FA limiteds are not going anywhere..... plenty in the used market....... time to move forward?