[Adam]

Pentax has just released some new firmware for all the current/recent models in order to add support for the HD limiteds and the new flashes. Download links below:

New Firmware for All Current Pentax DSLR Models - Pentax News - PentaxForums.com

Adam
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[Alizarine]

added support for HD Limiteds.. not sure what that exactly does, did they change something internally with the lenses?

as for the flashes, so it seems they use the LED as flash assist... hope to see a demo video how that works. LED seems a little too bright compared to the regular beam assists

otherwise, this is good news (even the K-r is included! not the K-x though...)

[ruggiex]

added support for HD Limiteds.. not sure what that exactly does, did they change something internally with the lenses?

I thought it's just letting camera ID the lens and be able to do various program lines properly due to any optical difference in the lens coating.

[Alizarine]

I thought it's just letting camera ID the lens and be able to do various program lines properly due to any optical difference in the lens coating.

Good point there. If that's the case though, then it should warrant an old smcDA Ltd vs new HD-DA Ltd comparison

[thibs]

Good point there. If that's the case though, then it should warrant an old smcDA Ltd vs new HD-DA Ltd comparison

Exactly as the firmware support for the DA560.

[Asahiflex]

I thought it's just letting camera ID the lens and be able to do various program lines properly due to any optical difference in the lens coating.

Due to the better light transmission of the HD coating when compared to the "old" SMC? That's just a few percents (if any) of difference in exposure, but OK.

Maybe they also updated the in-camera lens corrections (JPEG only) for those lenses. I don't use those corrections as these considerably slow down my K-5.

[thibs]

Maybe they also updated the in-camera lens corrections (JPEG only) for those lenses. I don't use those corrections as these considerably slow down my K-5.

Those corrections are supposed to be in lens, not in camera but for a few lenses (DFA and FA Limited). Or at least were.

[Asahiflex]

Those corrections are supposed to be in lens, not in camera but for a few lenses (DFA and FA Limited). Or at least were.

Lost in translation? Optical lens corrections cannot be made in-lens but are a function of the Prime (Fujitsu Milbeaut) processor.

[kluzo]

When I clicked on "download for Windows" downloaded the file k5_2_104.EXE not k5_2_105.EXE. Is that okay?

[Kunzite]

thibs is talking about the lens correction data being stored in the lens (the correction itself being, of course, done in the camera).

[Adam]

When I clicked on "download for Windows" downloaded the file k5_2_104.EXE not k5_2_105.EXE. Is that okay?

Download the mac version

[hcarvalhoalves]

thibs is talking about the lens correction data being stored in the lens (the correction itself being, of course, done in the camera).

To be pedantic, I don't think there's any correction data in the lens. The camera most likely just recognizes which lens is attached, and the firmware contains the mapping between lens IDs and correction parameters.

[Mistral75]

Due to the better light transmission of the HD coating when compared to the "old" SMC? That's just a few percents (if any) of difference in exposure, but OK.

Maybe they also updated the in-camera lens corrections (JPEG only) for those lenses. I don't use those corrections as these considerably slow down my K-5.

They say themselves "Optimized contrast AF when using HD PENTAX-DA Limited series lenses" as they did for the firmware version dedicated to support HD DA 560mm f/5.6.

As far as I remember it's only the second time one sees such explanation: first for HD DA 560mm f/5,6, then now for the HD Limiteds.

However, K-r and K-5 were announced in September 2010 and not only HD DA 560mm f/5.6 but also DA 50mm f/1.8 and DA 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 were announced in the meantime, without any firmware update to optimize contrast AF when using them.

I therefore think there might be "something" in HD coating that interferes with the functioning of contrast AF and makes it necessary to specifically calibrate contrast AF for HD lenses.

[Mistral75]

To be pedantic, I don't think there's any correction data in the lens. The camera most likely just recognizes which lens is attached, and the firmware contains the mapping between lens IDs and correction parameters.

I'm afraid not: lens correction data are stored in the lens's chip. Otherwise you would see firmware updates for each and every new lens, which is definitely not the case, see my post above.

[LeFanch]

When I clicked on "download for Windows" downloaded the file k5_2_104.EXE not k5_2_105.EXE. Is that okay?

It looks like the EXE files contain the previous version, the very last version can be found in the zip file ("Mac/Windows" version).