[boriscleto]

Hah hah - everybody would moan about the price!!

They'll moan about the price in any case (Why I said it should include a bottle of K-Y).

[cfraz]

Up until this announcement, I thought (and hoped) Ricoh was doing away with the * designation for the premium line of Pentax lenses. Just doesn't make sense to keep the * when

1) It's linked so closely with the tainted reputation of SDM reliability and slowness,

2) It's not internet search friendly,

3) It's weak branding and just plain awkward:

Suzy - "Look at my new lens, it's a DA asterisk 300."
John - "I thought it was a multiply."
Jerry - "No, it's a star."
George - "Oh, I get it. I was going to get one but I wasn't sure it would work on my camera and I couldn't find the footnote to make sure."

[Uluru]

Pentax style lens: 77-231/2.7

[Mistral75]

Pentax style lens: 77-231/2.7

Rather 77-231mm f/2.6-2.9. And people here will start bitching about the aperture not being constant .

[Kozlok]

I'm stunned...6 pages in to a rumor, and no one has said Pentax is doomed? Are we all on sedatives?

Also, looking at the roadmap lenses that have come to pass, they have so far included the whole range of the color band, including the "barely there" bits. I'm betting that's a 15-85. That would be something.

[boriscleto]

I'm stunned...6 pages in to a rumor, and no one has said Pentax is doomed? Are we all on sedatives?

That's for the tele-converter thread.

$600...Pentax is dooooomed.

[monochrome]

That's for the tele-converter thread.

$600...Pentax is dooooomed.

The Q08 WIDE ZOOM is $500 and the new Q TELE MACRO is supposedly all metal, 100mm FL‡ and all manner of other rumor stuff - so probs $600+.

PENTAX is a ZOMBIE.

[meeverett]

I'm stunned...6 pages in to a rumor, and no one has said Pentax is doomed? Are we all on sedatives?

I started taking daily doses to keep me from taking the FF troll bait every time I encountered it.

[DSims]

We know Pentax does not and should not rebadge its * lenses. And that Ricoh is fixing things, not break them further.

I think you mean we'd like to know this. Because the DA*16-50 and DA*50-135 are Tokina rebadges, of course.

[Kunzite]

No, they're not; Pentax and Tokina just shared optical designs (and those were from Pentax, IIRC). Everything else was different.

[Erd§]

Up until this announcement, I thought (and hoped) Ricoh was doing away with the * designation for the premium line of Pentax lenses.

There has been no "announcement". There is just an indication on the lens roadmap.
And how does anyone know it's not just an ordinary asterisk in place of Ricoh's non-comittal lens designation (ie. DA/FA/DFA - or, dare I say it, possibly a dreaded DFAJ )?

[Craig66]

Like to see that DA tele zoom 120 ish-380 ish as a F4

+TC would do it for me..

[meeverett]

Like to see that DA tele zoom 120 ish-380 ish as a F4

+TC would do it for me..

That's what I'm hoping for as well. Although, I don't really have a need for the TC it would be nice to have the option.

[Alizarine]

I think you mean we'd like to know this. Because the DA*16-50 and DA*50-135 are Tokina rebadges, of course.

they're co-designed, not rebadges... as far as I remember.The Tok had a tripod collar, the Pentax had none (but is AW and has SDM)

[Mazhe]

they're co-designed, not rebadges... as far as I remember.The Tok had a tripod collar, the Pentax had none (but is AW and has SDM)

The announcements and rumors want they shared optical formulas, not co-developped or co-built anything. Some designs (amongst whom 16-50, 50-135, 100) were from pentax, others (like 12-24) from tokina. They differed notably in AF system and coating (each using its own system). This was a really good thing as SMC was really superior to what tokina had to offer (to be fair, it is their only serious flaw).

Each compagny built their own lenses based on those designs, without help or interference of the others.