[blwnhr]

I just spoke to a very good source and they said that Sigma have no intention of producing the 70-200 f2.8 in Pentax mount with HSM. This is valid for at least the next 12 months. According to Sigma there is no time in the production schedule and they are prioritizing other mounts such as Canon and Nikon.

I don’t know what this means for other HSM lenses for Pentax mount but I’d speculate to say that it probably isn’t good. Being as this would limit the market for this lens to one body-type (K10D) owner at this stage it makes good sense for Sigma not to produce HSM lenses until it is more supported.

Sucks for us wanting to use fast zoom lenses though.

[Asad_Masede]

From Sigma's point of view. I personally think Sigma will adapt their HSM lenses to the Pentax SDM mount once Pentax themselves release SDM lenses out in the wild. Sigma *cannot* do a thing until they have lenses on hand to reverse-engineer.

Releasing lenses in Pentax mount is easy, it's the economics at this point that are hard, and again, not to mention the reverse engineering aspect of how Sigma works.

12 months sounds about right. No sign of the two DA* zooms so far, and when they do come out in some days to a month or so (hopefully), Sigma will need time to reverse engineer the SDM protocol that Pentax uses and then manufacture enough stock in Pentax mount to be able to distribute them. I also think they (Sigma et al) are waiting for what Hoya and Pentax end up doing ultimately.

Very frustrating, I know. I've been hoping for some Sigma HSM lenses to come out in Pentax mount as well, namely the 150mm Macro and even the 120-300/2.8. I was lucky I got the DG 70-200/2.8 when I did, seems like the Pentax mount variant is becoming very hard to find. Half our time is spent hunting for lenses... such is the life of a Pentaxer.

Cheers,
-Asad

[Arpe]

Being as this would limit the market for this lens to one body-type (K10D) owner at this stage it makes good sense for Sigma not to produce HSM lenses until it is more supported.

Which is why it's good that Pentax have upgraded the K100D to the super model.

[raz-0]

From Sigma's point of view. I personally think Sigma will adapt their HSM lenses to the Pentax SDM mount once Pentax themselves release SDM lenses out in the wild. Sigma *cannot* do a thing until they have lenses on hand to reverse-engineer.

This sounds about right. We haven't gotten any DA* lenses yet, and I'm not optimistice about this quarter either. Sigma can't do squat until they have a sample, which if they are very sneaky they might have right about now as both SDM lens samples are about and the firmware. But how often do they produce the lense, and by the time they CAN do a run, it'll probably be about next year.

It's a shame really.

[Falcons]

If a significant amount of the market buy the new K100D Super on top of the new and existing owners of the K10D then Sigma will put out HSM lenses.

They wouldn't have anything personal against a brand etc all they would look at is market share of each model & brand - and I'll bet they have a formula for working out the percentage of lenses they can sell to for each different camera. When Pentax fulfil the needs of this formula and Sigma can see a profit possibility they will put out HSM lenses in Pentax mount.

As always each camera Brands success is dependant on how the market receives it not on how good it is (just look at the 350D) it is the consumer that dictates everything at the moment the future of 3rd party lens support is in the hands of the K100D super - so talk it up guys it will benefit us all.

[blwnhr]

Falcons, this is true, however there is a catch 22 situation here, the market of the Pentax cameras is severely limited because of a lack of fast zoom lenses.

[Timbuctoo]

Not limited for much longer. Once they start coming there will be a new one every quarter for awhile. In a years time every mount will have Sigma HSM. I read a mag recently that had a pie graph showing the main brands and the % of support by Sigma. Sony and Pentax where head and head on 8%. Canon was 40%, Nikon 36% and Olympus 8%. I was suprised about Olympus because they have HSM already but I guess they have a 4/3rds deal. The SDM lens idea by Pentax is awesome and it will help the brand no end.

Tim H

[blwnhr]

Yes, but a new one every quarter from the 3rd quarter next year! That is a long time to wait. And given the track record I'd say that's being optimistic.