[fzwo]

If there were to come a Pentax FF, it would of course retain full compatibility to A, F, FA, FA*, D FA glass and be able to use DA and DA* lenses. Everything else would be suicide.

Maybe it would even come with aperture coupling. Maybe it won't come at all. But if it comes, you will of course be able to use FA lenses on it, with full compatibility for screw-drive AF, auto aperture, EXIF data, etc.

[Rondec]

I have been using the 5D (12MP) and E-3 (10MP) for several years and there are advantages to both in terms of IQ. With good light the high pixel density of the E-3 gives me more detail than the 5D. The 5D however gives me cleaner files and a more pleasing image "most" of the time.

I am not necessarily interested in ultimate detail as I am sharpness. As pixel density increases (and Pentax is going to increase it) then the shortcomings of the lenses will become more and more apparent.

Photozone ran two reviews of the Sigma 50mm f/1.4. One on an 8MP 350D and one one the 15MP 50D. The higher pixel density really challenged the Sigma lens.

"It's quite obvious that the lens has more trouble with the 15mp of the EOS 50D compared to our initial test based on the EOS 350D @ 8mp."

Sharpness plays a big role in how much an image "pops" and how how well a lens isolates the subject from the background. While the smaller APS-C sensor may not give you the shallow DoF of the full-frame, but with a really sharp lens (good focus), with great bokeh, you can achieve very good subject isolation.

Because I like a larger aperture to keep ISO down, improve subject isolation, and keep shutter speed up I am very critical of how a lens performs wide open. If I shot landscapes or macro I would be less critical of this, and less critical of the Limited lenses.

The problem that I have with photozone's pentax testing is that all of their testing is currently done on a 10 MP K10. That is fine for consistency, but certainly using a K20 or K7 would put more strain on the lenses and separate them out. It is hard to tell which lenses are truly sharper when they are up against the theoretical limits of the sensor resolution.

[ogl]

The big Question is will a Pentax FF have contacts for old FA glass?

Do you really think that Pentax can make a lot of new FF lenses with new FF body?


What contacts do you mean?

[ogl]

The problem that I have with photozone's pentax testing is that all of their testing is currently done on a 10 MP K10. That is fine for consistency, but certainly using a K20 or K7 would put more strain on the lenses and separate them out. It is hard to tell which lenses are truly sharper when they are up against the theoretical limits of the sensor resolution.

You can easy get new datas for 12 and 14.6 MP camera from photozone's tests.
Ask Falk Lumo about the methodology.

[dnaseigel]

Pentax needs to complete the DA* line, it is half done IMO.. Need a DA* 11mm f2.8, DA* 35mm f1.2, DA* 90mm f1.8, DA* 180mm f4 Macro, DA* 250-500mm f4.5, DA*14-60mm f4 DA*10mm f3.5 Fisheye..

I'll take that DA*250-500 f.4.5 and the DA*14-60mm f/4 as soon as they hit the street, but I have no idea what I'll tell all the lenses I have between 28 and 55mm what happens to them if a DA*35mm f/1.2 should be announced. There will be a bunch of fine lenses standing on the corner wearing a sign saying "will resolve the crap out your camera's sensor for food." I need something else in that range like I need another massive oil spill. My hunch is Pentax is thinking along those lines as well. Nevertheless if it were to come to fruition I would kick my small village of wide-normal primes to the corner without a second's regret!

[zackspeed]

hmm......i think in question of lenses this year,we will be a little disappointed
i think no * lens,but more in standard range......
Looks like a 645 System and new aps-c Body session this year.
Nothing in *line.
Hope the best

[0144]

hmm......i think in question of lenses this year,we will be a little disappointed
i think no * lens,but more in standard range......
Looks like a 645 System and new aps-c Body session this year.
Nothing in *line.
Hope the best

do you have some information?

one of those patents for lenses with 4/3 image circle looks like a nice FF 28mm F2 design just patented smaller to confuse people.

i'm waiting for a silent, WR FA31 equivalent

[legiman]

DA* 28mm f/1.8 WR, filter: 52mm
DA* 55-300mm f/2.8 (or f/2.8-4.0) SDM WR, filter:77mm or

that would be nice
...

[ghelary]

I'll take that DA*250-500 f.4.5 and the DA*14-60mm f/4 as soon as they hit the street, but I have no idea what I'll tell all the lenses I have between 28 and 55mm what happens to them if a DA*35mm f/1.2 should be announced. There will be a bunch of fine lenses standing on the corner wearing a sign saying "will resolve the crap out your camera's sensor for food." I need something else in that range like I need another massive oil spill. My hunch is Pentax is thinking along those lines as well. Nevertheless if it were to come to fruition I would kick my small village of wide-normal primes to the corner without a second's regret!

I had a quick look at your profile, if you ever owned it, you don't seem to own it at the moment, have you ever considered buying the 31/1.8 ldt ? This is a fantastic lens, second to none. Sure, it's 1 stop slower that a 35/1.2, but it's separating power for candids and portraits is already plenty enough and it's sharp enough at 1.8 (to me) and astonishingly sharp above.

[RBellavance]

DA* 28mm f/1.8 WR, filter: 52mm

Remove the * and I'm very likely in line for one. They could even make it f/2 and I'd still want one.

[Aristophanes]

... but I have no idea what I'll tell all the lenses I have between 28 and 55mm what happens to them if a DA*35mm f/1.2 should be announced.

Do you have any idea how big, heavy, and costly such a lens would be?

Likely about 25% more mass than this and about 50% more expensive:

Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : EF 35mm f/1.4L USM

And that's no WR lens. You can get pretty close with the Sigma 30/1.4, but oh!, so soft, major vignetting, and so on.

Good Lord! The dream factory has been drinking silly juice.

[gazonk]

Do you have any idea how big, heavy, and costly such a lens would be?

That's the drawback of APS-C DSLRs using the flange distance of FF... (on a smaller mount system, a 35mm/1.2 could be made smaller than the 50mm/1.2).

[fzwo]

That's the drawback of APS-C DSLRs using the flange distance of FF... (on a smaller mount system, a 35mm/1.2 could be made smaller than the 50mm/1.2).

Which is why mirrorless is the way to go (in the long run).

[eigelb]

New Samyang 35mm f/1.4 lens to be announced at Photokina in Nikon, Pentax, Sony
mount. The Samyang 35mm f/1.4 lens will have manual focus - nice :-)

[ghelary]

That's the drawback of APS-C DSLRs using the flange distance of FF... (on a smaller mount system, a 35mm/1.2 could be made smaller than the 50mm/1.2).

Then buy a Leica M8 and a voigtlander 35/1.2, but personnally I think there is a reason why Leica don't sell a 35/1.2. It's simply not needed. When you want shallow DOF, just take a longer lens. I doubt that you need the perpective of a 35mm when the background (and foreground) is all blurry. Half a stop speed compared with 35/1.4 doesn't justify it for low light either.

Having the flange of a FF allows for an easier 100% coverage viewfinder, like in the K7. So at least there's some logic here. I don't think that the compacity of a camera is driven by the registration flange at the moment. There's much more improvement to be expected by getting more compact electronics and batteries. Especially with the mechanical assembly of the sensor and the screen that can be thinner.

I'm all in for fast primes but I found myself choosing the 43/1.9 against 31/1.8 when going out for its compacity while I believe that the 31 have the edge on quality.
For the same reason I lust more the 77ltd than the 85/1.4 not for focal lens or quality but for compacity (provided this is an excellent lens) Today's APSC cameras can provide clean enough 1600 iso pictures, that's enough for 99.9% of my photography.

If you look at Pentax strength to me they are the following :
- Rugged cameras and lenses
- Compacity (for cameras and the DA & FA ltd)
- Compatibility and ease of use of manual lenses
- Great ergonomics.

They are not strong on extreme focal length or extreme apertures, while some may desire such lenses, I believe that there enough brands providing very capable products for those categories (Canon for focal length and extreme apertures, Nikon for focal length, Leica for extreme apertures) I feel that Pentax is rigth to dig their own way which suit travel, adventure photoraphers and hardware geeks.