[Uluru]

Photojournalists and wedding people probably wont use this lens.

First we need persuade them to use Pentax cameras.
But traditional 30-60mm range is absolutely fantastic for documentary and reportage, and even portraiture.
So although I cannot agree with your statement, I rather see an opportunity in this lens that may open people's minds to new possibilities.

When you take it like that,
DA15,
HD DA 20-40 and
DA70
may be the only 3 lenses one would ever need on an Pentax APS-C system, and be perfectly happy.

I'm definitely in for this lens; although I suspect it will be very expensive, that's perhaps the one last lens I was waiting for to conclude my Pentax setup.

[Digitalis]

That lens looks AWESOME!

[Uluru]

That lens looks AWESOME!

Totally agree!

[richard balonglong]

Photojournalists and wedding people probably wont use this lens. They usually dont mind lenses that are medium to large, and the range 20-40 is too restrictive. I dont think it's the target market.

As you said, it's just a lens, but the spec shows that it's catered more towards landscape / street togs. I only know a few street photographers that shoot wide open (Ming Thein comes to mind), but that maybe because I dont read enough

Sigma 18-35 is one of the most interesting designs of recent years. It's f 1.8, have you seen how big that lens is?

Oh, they will. I know, I'm one of those photojournalist (I'm working for a nation-wide newspaper publication here in the Philippines). There are a lot of photojournalists out there who are using small kits for low-key shooting. 20-40mm (30-60mm FF eqv.) is just right for many purposes.
What I see in the design of this new Pentax lens for is for light and low-key purposes, and small but still enjoying the flexibility of a zoom. The WR is a plus plus for limitless shooting under challenging weather conditions...

---

Last edited by richard balonglong; 11-01-2013 at 08:37 PM.

[Digitalis]

to those who complain about the zoom range bear in mind that the smaller the zoom range is typically the higher the quality because fewer compromises were made in the design of the lens. My sigma 100-300 mm is a 1:3 zoom ratio, and that lens is extremely good. I have wanted a lens to fill the gap between my sigma 8-16 and FA31 - I do have a K24 f/2.8 but I really don't like the short focus throw on that lens (I have no Idea why they made it that short). The dof scale is most likely suited to the wide focal lengths of the lens, the upshot of this is that when it is used at the longer lengths it is a simple matter to predict where the DOF will be at the 40mm focal length by dividing the distances on the scale by two.

[Winder]

More important, IMO, is the fact that it's going to be a DC lens. Finally no more loud AF is Pentax's beautiful lenses

How many motors/drives does Pentax have? Screw drive, DC, & SDM? Is DC going to replace SDM? Is SDM going to be replaced? This seems to be an area that Pentax needs to address. They need faster motors.

[Andi Lo]

First we need persuade them to use Pentax cameras.
But traditional 30-60mm range is absolutely fantastic for documentary and reportage, and even portraiture.
So although I cannot agree with your statement, I rather see an opportunity in this lens that may open people's minds to new possibilities.

I'm definitely in for this lens; although I suspect it will be very expensive, that's perhaps the one last lens I was waiting for to conclude my Pentax setup.

Oh, they will. I know, I'm one of those photojournalist (I'm working for a nation-wide newspaper publication here in the Philippines). There are a lot of photojournalists out there who are using small kits for low-key shooting. 20-40mm (30-60mm FF eqv.) is just right for many purposes.
What I see in the design of this new Pentax lens for is for light and low-key purposes, and small but still enjoying the flexibility of a zoom.

I see, I stand corrected then. I thought that, like many have expressed above, a 17-50/2.8 is perhaps more desirable for photojounalism work. If you dont mind being discovered, and have to carry your camera anyway to do a job, it makes the two advantages of this lens (DC / size) rather moot. That's just my 2 cents though... who am I to say, I'm not a photojournalist

From what I've seen so far K-3 would persuade alot of people to move to Pentax, as long as ricoh can keep their game up. This lens gives me a bit of confidence that they can!

---

Last edited by Andi Lo; 11-01-2013 at 08:43 PM.

[Adam]

How many motors/drives does Pentax have? Screw drive, DC, & SDM? Is DC going to replace SDM? Is SDM going to be replaced? This seems to be an area that Pentax needs to address. They need faster motors.

Pentax seems to be avoiding answering this question in interviews. DC is a different motor technology than SDM. It uses a ring motor, which is more reliable than SDM, but it also requires lenses to have a compliant design.

SDM should be replaced.

[Andi Lo]

How many motors/drives does Pentax have? Screw drive, DC, & SDM? Is DC going to replace SDM? Is SDM going to be replaced? This seems to be an area that Pentax needs to address. They need faster motors.

I think canikon has multiple types too, but they dont give it a new name sometimes, and just put everything under the AF-S / USM label for everything that's not screw drive.

[Azzy]

We're not gonna know until production units come out and get tested. So the question you're asking is probably a little too early.



So far I have the Tamron 17-50 and Pentax 50-135 and manage to do my assignments OK. Not a pure pro but when it comes to operation I don't have any problems with both (on the K-5 IIs). As for "bread and butter lens" I think a 70-200 fits the bill more than a 50-135.

Right I have tamron 17-50 as well. I really love this lens, its cheap, has great optics and low weight. But it is missing: fast quiet AF, solid build quality and the lens is actually f3.2 instead of 2.8.

I mentioned 50-135 since that's the range Pentax seems to commit to fill the 70-200 range on APS-C. Anyways both 16-50/50-135 are way overdue for an update, especially with a new and faster more reliable motor to match the new AF system from K-3. What's the point of engineering a new AF workhorse when there is no lens to take advantage of it.

[richard balonglong]

I thought that, like many have expressed above, a 17-50/2.8 is perhaps more desirable for photojounalism work. If you dont mind being discovered, and have to carry your camera anyway to do a job, it makes the two advantages of this lens (DC / size) rather moot.

I agree.. The 17-50 2.8 or the Pentax 16-50 2.8 is more flexible if size doesn't matter. As for me, that Pentax 20-40mm is so damn beautiful and sexy! hehehe. But, for my needs, the 17-50/16-50mm is all I need...

[Digitalis]

canikon has multiple types too, but they dont give it a new name sometimes

But they do specify if lenses use ring type USM or micromotor USM (Which is basically the same as the failure prone SDM) from the patents that I have seen, DC is similar to ring type USM albeit instead of using a ultrasonic vibrations to produce torque - as it uses electromagnets to drive the focus mechanism. The Pentax DC motor is basically a large ring type micro-stepping motor using 10 pole permanent magnets arranged in a circle. The downside to this design is that it make the lens rather heavy due to the use of permanent magnets - however the advantage is that it isn't as delicate as ring type USM motors, the power to weight ratio is higher, and there is minimal overshoot/undershoot with these kind of drive systems than there is with ring type USM*.

Here is an excerpt from the patent:


The Source of this image can be found HERE


*the reason ring type USM is so delicate is that lens makers have to avoid overloading it - because the more mass it has, the greater the chance that when the mechanism tries to halt its motion the mechanism will undershoot/overshoot its target - Canon/Nikon use internal feedback loop controls to compensate for this, however a DC motor doesn't need complicated self-correcting hardware which means that it will be generally more responsive and accurate.

[Alizarine]

How many motors/drives does Pentax have? Screw drive, DC, & SDM? Is DC going to replace SDM? Is SDM going to be replaced? This seems to be an area that Pentax needs to address. They need faster motors.

I agree on replacing SDM. It's not that fast vs. screwdrive, and reliability issues have been going on for years... (hopefully mine won't give up anytime soon) However DC isn't the SDM replacement; it's used mostly on lighter lenses or those with few lens elements (not sure why it's in the HD 560)

Right I have tamron 17-50 as well. I really love this lens, its cheap, has great optics and low weight. But it is missing: fast quiet AF, solid build quality and the lens is actually f3.2 instead of 2.8.

I mentioned 50-135 since that's the range Pentax seems to commit to fill the 70-200 range on APS-C. Anyways both 16-50/50-135 are way overdue for an update, especially with a new and faster more reliable motor to match the new AF system from K-3. What's the point of engineering a new AF workhorse when there is no lens to take advantage of it.

True. I don't mind the screwdrive on the Tamron though, unless it's for use in a church or other places/events that require things being quiet. As for the "workhorse" lenses, as it was pointed out in another thread more WR lenses are coming out soon; hopefully it's an update of the 2.8 zooms with newer motors and coatings.

[Gray]

Put side by side with the DA* 16-50, you can see the size advantage that the DA 20-40 has. DC instead of SDM is a killer advantage too.

But the best thing about the DA 20-40 is its look - it's beautiful.

[7samurai]

SDM needs to go. Just reading the Amazon reviews on the 16-50 make me cringe. I need lens that can take advantage of the new K-3 for sports. DA* lens with DC would be awesome.

I was thinking the 20-40 DC WR lens would go well with the 12-24 DC WR.