[boriscleto]

I wonder why they exchanged the zoom ring with the focus ring compared to the DA* 16-50 ... hope they keep it consistent with the DFA line then.

Because it's a Tamron, and that is how Tamron designed it.

[monochrome]

Oh for pity's sake - some people complain when Pentax rebadges a lens and asks more money for it just because the ring is green. Other people complain when they don't.

[Krizu]

Oh for pity's sake - some people complain when Pentax rebadges a lens and asks more money for it just because the ring is green. Other people complain when they don't.

Just wait for the people to complain about the FF being too heavy :-P

[infoomatic]

Because it's a Tamron, and that is how Tamron designed it.

yes I know. But having a consistent way of handling the lenses is - at least for me - important. But as I have seen the DFA 150-450 is being operated the same way, so I just have to get my brain around the old way and practice a little. Hope the 70-200 is the same.

---------- Post added 09-25-2015 at 04:34 PM ----------

Other than that: is the designation "WR" the new way of saying all-weather? I mean, like, as sealed as the DA*?

[northcoastgreg]

There is an extra Aspherical in the Pentax lens, and no mention of the XR lens elements by another name. Which suggests that there have been some alterations made to the Tamron design.

Maybe. But I think the more likely explanation is that Pentax has merely chosen to highlight different aspects of the lens, underscoring the use of aspherical and low-dispersion glass, while ignoring the XR elements. Furthermore, I don't find that the Pentax lens features an aspherical element that is entirely lacking in the Tamron lens. Look more closely at the optical formula of the Tamron:


From this drawing we can see that the Tamron uses three "Glass Molded Aspherhical" lenses and one "Hybrid Aspherical Lens". That's four aspherical elements right there. And from the Ricoh-Imaging website there's the following:

Consisting of 17 elements in 12 groups, the newly designed optics feature three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) optical elements, one anomalous-dispersion-glass aspherical optical element and three aspherical optical elements to accommodate super-high-resolution image sensors.

I would suggest that would what Tamron calls "hybrid aspherical lens" corresponds to what Ricoh calls "anomalous-dispersion-glass aspherical optical element." Moreover, in Tamron's own explanation of hybrid aspherical technology, they write about "AD-Hybrid Aspherical " elements (where AD stands for "anomalous dispersion").

That doesn't mean, of course, that Pentax might not be using their own glass elements. But given the $1,299 pricetag, I think that's rather unlikely.

[jpzk]

All of the moaning and whining about this lens being "this-or-that" is worthless/irrelevant until someone tries this lens "out in the field".

Who knows? It might be very good, just as the "old" 70-200 and 90 Macro from Tamron.

We shall see.

[Mistral75]

I wonder why they exchanged the zoom ring with the focus ring compared to the DA* 16-50 ... hope they keep it consistent with the DFA line then.

Because the Tamron lens is designed so.

[normhead]

I have the tamron 17-50 and Tamron 90 macro... those are a couple of lenses I will never sell. And since we know of at least one Pentax lens designer let go by Hoya and now working at Tamron, whom Ricoh announced publicly they were going to try and hire back, (there could be more) you have to ask... who is the real Pentax lens design team, the guys Hoya brought in because they did agree with the Pentax design philosophy or Tamron? My guess is, they couldn't hire Jun away from Tamron, so they are just paying for his designs.

After all, it isn't the company name that gives the design a unique-ness. It's the design team.

[Mistral75]

Maybe. But I think the more likely explanation is that Pentax has merely chosen to highlight different aspects of the lens, underscoring the use of aspherical and low-dispersion glass, while ignoring the XR elements. Furthermore, I don't find that the Pentax lens features an aspherical element that is entirely lacking in the Tamron lens. Look more closely at the optical formula of the Tamron:



From this drawing we can see that the Tamron uses three "Glass Molded Aspherhical" lenses and one "Hybrid Aspherical Lens". That's four aspherical elements right there. And from the Ricoh-Imaging website there's the following:

Consisting of 17 elements in 12 groups, the newly designed optics feature three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) optical elements, one anomalous-dispersion-glass aspherical optical element and three aspherical optical elements to accommodate super-high-resolution image sensors.

I would suggest that would what Tamron calls "hybrid aspherical lens" corresponds to what Ricoh calls "anomalous-dispersion-glass aspherical optical element." Moreover, in Tamron's own explanation of hybrid aspherical technology, they write about "AD-Hybrid Aspherical " elements (where AD stands for "anomalous dispersion").

That doesn't mean, of course, that Pentax might not be using their own glass elements. But given the $1,299 pricetag, I think that's rather unlikely.

The optical formula of the Pentax lens for comparison purposes:

[boriscleto]

yes I know. But having a consistent way of handling the lenses is - at least for me - important. But as I have seen the DFA 150-450 is being operated the same way, so I just have to get my brain around the old way and practice a little. Hope the 70-200 is the same.

---------- Post added 09-25-2015 at 04:34 PM ----------

Other than that: is the designation "WR" the new way of saying all-weather? I mean, like, as sealed as the DA*?

WR is WR and AW is AW. WR is splash resistant and not fully sealed like AW.

[ChristianRock]

The point is that it is a simple rebadge without any Pentax pixiedust or coatings.

I believe it has Pentax HD coatings. The samples in the Ricoh page have a different color character than the Tamron pictures I've seen.

So what is your source for saying it has no Pentax coatings?

[mecrox]

Oh for pity's sake - some people complain when Pentax rebadges a lens and asks more money for it just because the ring is green. Other people complain when they don't.

Ah, but a couple of posts ago you were saying that this lens was not a "simple rebadge". Are you now saying that it is? You can't win, you know. Lol. It looks to me to be a perfectly decent lens for any FF camera. Job done. Can't understand what the fuss is about. Not much more to say really.

[Winder]

I'm sure it is going to be a great lens. Tamron has really come a long way. I hope Ricoh has a D-FA* 24-70mm F/2.8 HD DC AW in the works as an option.

[JinDesu]

I'm sure it is going to be a great lens. Tamron has really come a long way. I hope Ricoh has a D-FA* 24-70mm F/2.8 HD DC AW in the works as an option.

If I were a betting man, I bet they would do an overlapping focal range but probably not 24-70. Something interesting just to be weird.

[Kunzite]

I'm sure it is going to be a great lens. Tamron has really come a long way. I hope Ricoh has a D-FA* 24-70mm F/2.8 HD DC AW in the works as an option.

I hope it isn't... until they'll make a nice set of primes