[NeverSatisfied]

Creampuff had a good point- I count myself as one of the "poor Pentaxians". And I bought most of my lenses before the price increases. I'd never be able to afford them now, and at this point I'm kicking myself for having sold off my DA*16-50. $1500??? I will never re-purchase that lens at the current price! I have been slowly saving for the FA 31Ltd... I like high-quality glass, but in this case, the Sigma 35/1.4 sounds like it is a viable alternative, and will cost less too!

[Class A]

So yes, that assertion may be challenged.

OK, I personally would then not state it as a fact.

It very well could be perpetuating a myth, though I find no reason not to believe it is true.

There are many things that are plausible, i.e., one has no reason to not believe they are true, but they are just not true. In other words, to believe in something one should try to find supporting evidence, not be contend with the absence of evidence to the contrary. The compatibility issues you mentioned are such supporting evidence, but very circumstantial at that and, AFAIC, not sufficient to support an allegation of this magnitude.

The reason why I believe it is quite a heavy allegation is that I'm assuming reverse engineering to circumvent licensing fees is illegal. Otherwise, licensing fees would just pay for access to documentation. However, I believe that they pay for being allowed to legally use some technology (such as a lens mount and lens protocols).

Strange other third party manufacturers do not have such compatibility problems.

I don't know whether it is really true that Sigma is the only one ever having compatibility problems and that the latter are frequent. I've very rarely came across respective reports and not all of them were unambiguous as to what the real source of the problem was.

So either Sigma has no licenses or they can't produce a compatible tech using a license or they cut corners not implementing it fully. Chose the one you prefer.

I could make a choice (even outside the choices you gave me; note that they clearly very often succeed to make a 100% compatible products), but that wouldn't mean anything with respect to what is really true. And only the latter matters.

as for Metz, well USB is there for exactly that. Reverse engineering. What else?

A USB port can also be justified to allow firmware upgrades to fix bugs, introduce new functionality, or make the flash compatible with a new product. All these do not imply any kind of reverse engineering.

[Rondec]

Creampuff had a good point- I count myself as one of the "poor Pentaxians". And I bought most of my lenses before the price increases. I'd never be able to afford them now, and at this point I'm kicking myself for having sold off my DA*16-50. $1500??? I will never re-purchase that lens at the current price! I have been slowly saving for the FA 31Ltd... I like high-quality glass, but in this case, the Sigma 35/1.4 sounds like it is a viable alternative, and will cost less too!

Sure. These are MAP issues and if you call B and H directly, they will give you a lot better deal on the lenses than what is advertised anywhere else. Over Black Friday and leading up to Christmas, the DA 16-50 was selling for 750. Not sure if they would go that low now, but that is the way to buy lenses if you need new ones. However, the FA limiteds don't ever seem to go on sale. They are what they are and the FA 31 has been selling for 990 for the last couple of years.

[snake]

Sure. These are MAP issues and if you call B and H directly, they will give you a lot better deal on the lenses than what is advertised anywhere else. Over Black Friday and leading up to Christmas, the DA 16-50 was selling for 750. Not sure if they would go that low now, but that is the way to buy lenses if you need new ones. However, the FA limiteds don't ever seem to go on sale. They are what they are and the FA 31 has been selling for 990 for the last couple of years.

For the record, which has been posted here, several, including myself, have called B and H and they wouldn't budge from MAP pricing over the phone

[NeverSatisfied]

Yea I saw the Black Friday sale... It just came along at the wrong time- didn't have the cash, and this Christmas season I showed remarkable restraint ( ) and didn't use credit cards for anything. I'd hate to think that from now on any Pentax lens purchases will have to be made on only one certain day of the year!

I agree though about the FA Ltd lenses, I've never seen any sales on them either.

[ElJamoquio]

New high end glass, and new high end cameras. I agree, and I believe we'll see exactly that.
Well, it already started with the 560mm

You can purchase a 300-800mm (used) and a D600 w/ 24-85mm for less than the 560, and still have money left over for the 85mm f/1.8 and a 1.4 TC.

[Kunzite]

So what? It's a 3rd-party lens, and it's used; Pentax is under no obligation to match used 3rd-party lens prices! It's like asking them to make a new K-mount FF flagship, but price it no more than an used D700 or something.
By the way, the street price for the 300-800 is about $8000 (and it was announced in 2005).

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Last edited by Kunzite; 01-01-2013 at 10:29 AM.

[ElJamoquio]

For the record, which has been posted here, several, including myself, have called B and H and they wouldn't budge from MAP pricing over the phone

I asked about the 31mm and they said no-can-do. I'm not sure if they have a different theory for the DA's.

[Blue]

I asked about the 31mm and they said no-can-do. I'm not sure if they have a different theory for the DA's.

The FA Ltd lenses weren't under the MAP policy implemented by the Denver office. They also weren't on sale during the Black Friday weekend. In fact, there is a thread somewhere trying to get BH/Ador to do a special sale on the FA's but it was a no go.

[Ratmagiclady]

This lens looks heavy and big and is designed as a wide angle full frame lens. It will also be expensive. There is really no need to look at this lens with Pentax offering APS-C cameras only.
There is a new Sigma lens, but no news for Pentax users.The Sigma 1.4/30 already fills the gap.

Well, of course some of us run our Pentax DSLRs right alongside film, so my Sigma 18/1.8 is kind of a lot of fun that way. But admittedly that's probably not the hugest market share.

One day I might 'content' myself with an FA 31. Just a touch slower than 1.4 at half the size.

[HSV]

I you don't mind me asking...what's your objection with the fa31?

I haven't seen any better lens in the 20-40mm range (the da35 comes close, but has a "stiffer" character).

[spotreunion]

I have currently the Sigma 30 1.4 and think it is a great portrait lens (but I know some have a different opinion).

Nevertheless I'm looking forward to the Sigma 35 which has some great feedback.


Maybe too heavy but the images look realy sharp and this looks like it could be my next lens.
Anyone heard of when the Sigma 35 1.4 will be released with the Pentax mount ?

[fazel]

I just switched from Pentax to Canon (still have one lens left to sell - https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/photographic-equipment-sale/210368-sale-k...-70-200-a.html) and this is one of the lenses I purchased. I did have the 31 limited, and feel like I get excellent results more consistently with this lens, but that probably has more to do the the 5D's autofocus system. I'm no expert, so my opinion doesn't mean much. I've attached a pic of my son that I just took. This is wide open, 1/125, ISO 1250. The other fast lens I was able to get was Canon's 135 F2, similar to another lens you guys are discussing. That's an excellent lens as well. For what it's worth...

[NeverSatisfied]

Good to know you've owned the 31 Ltd, for a comparison. Thanks Fazel. (By the way, nice bunch of equipment you had for sale there!)

[Digitalis]

When I bought my K5IIs it didn't take me long to realise all my pentax lenses suddenly started focusing with a degree of accuracy I have never seen before - even my FA*85mm f/1.4 - (my K-7 needed +6 adjustment with that lens) focused perfectly with the K5IIs, I didn't have to adjust anything with my considerable collection of pentax glass that is nothing short of astonishing. However my sigma lenses are all over the shop, the worst culprit is my Sigma 100-300mm f/4 APO EX DG - and I suspect the fact that it is not parfocal isn't helping. There are exceptions i'm sure, but isn't just a pentax thing I have students that use bodies made by Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony/Minolta(rip) even a Sigma SD-1 had problems. So if Sigma does decide to produce the 35mm f/1.4 for Pentax K mount, be prepared to spend a great deal of time shooting focus charts and even then some lenses require such a great deal of AF adjustment that they are uncorrectable. I have yet to find a recently made Sigma lens that focuses manually as well as the FA limited lenses do.