[MikeyBugs95]

... why don't you wait and see what it's like instead of assuming the worst in advance?

Because assuming everything will be bad and the competition's older equipment will always be better is easier than waiting for the results to see whether or not it actually is worse or better.

[reh321]

Murphy's Law.

And you're determined to make every negative comment you can about Pentax.
From your profile: {deleted}

[BigMackCam]

From your profile:

To be fair to @MJKoski that quote is actually a guest-book message from another user. And I'm off to deal with that message, in its full extent, right now... back soon

[BigMackCam]

To be fair to @MJKoski that quote is actually a guest-book message from another user. And I'm off to deal with that message, in its full extent, right now... back soon

And... I'm back

[reh321]

In that video the lens is no more faster than Nikon 50/1.4 G which is slow.

Fast enough to capture a dead rabbit, and my K-30 is fast enough to capture many living animals .... the KP with PLM lens and K-1 with modern lenses will do just fine.

[JPT]

I tried the lens at CP+, and it was fast, smooth and quiet on the K-1 mark 2. However, it was not particularly faster than other brand lenses.

Immediately after, I tried the Tokina 50mm f1.4 on a Canon 5D mark 4. Judging by the weight, design and feel of both lenses, I’m pretty convinced that they are the same inside. The Tokina was very fast and decisive. I think the Canon body was the difference.

My conclusion is that the Pentax is most likely still constrained by the body. If you trust Pentax to improve AF in future bodies, I think this lens will be ready. But on the other hand, we are likely to see merely “good for a Pentax” performance at first, as evidenced by the video.

That’s just my impression based on a few minutes with it in early March. It’s likely to have been optimized since then.

[awscreo]

But surely you're not assuming it won't focus accurately? The only AF issues we have with Pentax cameras are that the AF.C is lagging behind the competition. AF.S focus accuracy is (and has been for some time) absolutely fine.

I've said this more than once before now... why don't you wait and see what it's like instead of assuming the worst in advance?

Screw drive motor lenses can be unreliable in my experience.

[BigMackCam]

Screw drive motor lenses can be unreliable in my experience.

Really? Interesting... I actually haven't had a single unreliable (both generally, and specifically relating to AF accuracy) screw-drive lens for my Pentax gear, and I have "a few" of them

I do own an old consumer-grade, screw-drive Minolta AF lens for my Sony A-mount gear that has some play in the mechanism, and that occasionally leads to some inaccuracy through physical movement after AF has locked...

In any case, the new D-FA50/1.4 isn't screw-drive, is it? Or am I missing the point of your post?

[reh321]

Screw drive motor lenses can be unreliable in my experience.

Don't all the new lenses contain in-lens motor, so we can finally put screw drive behind us?

[Kunzite]

I tried the lens at CP+, and it was fast, smooth and quiet on the K-1 mark 2. However, it was not particularly faster than other brand lenses.

Immediately after, I tried the Tokina 50mm f1.4 on a Canon 5D mark 4. Judging by the weight, design and feel of both lenses, I pretty convinced that they are the same inside. The Tokina was very fast and decisive. I think the Canon body was the difference.

My conclusion is that the Pentax is most likely still constrained by the body. If you trust Pentax to improve AF in future bodies, I think this lens will be ready. But on the other hand, we are likely to see merely “good for a Pentax” performance at first, as evidenced by the video.

That’s just my impression based on a few minutes with it in early March. It’s likely to have been optimized since then.

Thanks for your impressions; reasonable as always.
Was it faster than the usual Pentax lens? From Pentaxforums' Youtube video, I believe it should be... not to PLM level though.

Solving the lens-side of the AF equation takes more time than the camera side - as shown by the screw drive comments above
When the camera with fast AF will be released, they'd better have as many fast AF lenses on the market as possible.

[jatrax]

Screw drive motor lenses can be unreliable in my experience.

In what way? As far as trouble free operation I do not think you can begin to compare them to in lens motors. Lenses with motors have a failure rate, no matter what brand. Screwdrive? I think I can remember a single complaint on this forum of a screw drive failure and that might have been impact damage. That is about as reliable as anything I can think of.


As far as accurate focus? I guess we could debate that. I find the newer lenses with motors to 'seem' to be a little more precise compared to older screwdrive. But I'm not sure that is really true or just my impression. I suspect the stepping is finer on modern lenses versus the older screwdrive. But that also was if I remember improved somewhere around the K-3 with a faster screwdrive motor.

[beholder3]

It's quite fast:
Pentax D FA* 50mm F1.4 Focusing Speed - YouTube

I think that is as fast as it gets on 1.4 portrait lenses.

It seems a tad quicker than the most recent Nikkon and Sigma 85/1.4s and a world faster than the Nikon 104/1.4 (which has the old Pentax SDM style micromotor).

To be fair I'd say it's simply fully on par with the direct competition.

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

[Reed]

The only significantly faster "modern, big, and top of the line", lenses are recent SP Tamron primes, and those are f1.8 not f1.4 lenses. Tokina lens on Canon might be a bit ahead becouse of faster signal processing for the af measurement.Simmilar conclusion was made by Lenstip.com crew in their relation from cp+, still with bit of typical for them Pentax bashing.

[repaap]

I’d say that those fast lenses will always be slower than even fraction less light ones. physical laws. also when something moves fast and stop fast. there needs to be bigger ’brakes’ to slow it down.it need snappy and strong engine(compared to size). I can literally hear my DA*55 engine little ’warming up’ before it get’s to full speed. and if you keep on focusing that engine will be little faster. if you stop, it will have to warm up again to get little faster speed. I tried it yesterday. it did not look ’so much’ slower. but then again DFA*50 is way more responssive . those milliseconds are faster in that case. Also DA*55 dont stop instantly, it slows down little first.

[Rondec]

If someone can spill negativity on a Pentax forum, he will.

I would just say that MJKoski has very high expectations of his gear. He uses it in extreme situations (truthfully, outside of manufacturer's specifications) and is trying to get every bit of detail and sharpness out of an image.

The hard part is that his needs are actually pretty different from most of ours. It feels a bit to me like a Formula One driver complaining because a Subaru Outback doesn't have the acceleration and cornering that he has come to expect in his vehicles. Very true, but the people looking at Subarus don't generally have that level of expectation. A lot of us are hobby photographers and even those who shoot weddings and portrait sessions aren't generally pushing our gear to the levels that MJ does.

I still feel like Pentax makes camera bodies and lenses that are exceptional -- at the price. I expect the DFA 50 to be the same, although there is no perfect lens and I'm sure it will have some flaws, minor though they may be.