[Ben_Edict]

Folks, Pentaxians, Dear Assembly

As I was at Photokina for the last three days, I have a few good news for us:

the legendary 60-250/4 will be available before Christmas in Germany - so I guess it will be in the US even earlier. Price in Germany will be around 1200 - 1300 Euros, which is probably about the same in USD, then.

The lens feels and handles superb. For an AF lens it is a real masterpiece. I can't say anything about IQ, as the light in the hall was too dim, to take any meaningful shots. But at least from what I could recognize, the fall-off at max. aperture and max. focal length towards the edges of the image is negligible.

The SDM tc shall be with us from March/April 2009, but no price yet.

For those, missing the really small Pentax istDxx cameras, the new K-M will be highly welcomed. It is diminutive!

The Pentax representative I spoke to, was very firm denying a full-format camera could be expected. Unfortunately he also hinted, that we will miss longer focal lengthes for the foreseeable future too... No lenses longer than the DA 300 are on the horizon. So Sigma again, for me - just got my Bigma...

Ben

[Isaac314]

You should have asked about WIDER. WIIIIDER. Where is our 11-16?!?

I think as long as the 645d will come out sometime in the next 2 years, full frame will not be missed

[Ben_Edict]

You should have asked about WIDER. WIIIIDER. Where is our 11-16?!?

I think as long as the 645d will come out sometime in the next 2 years, full frame will not be missed

I don't think we will get any of the two products you mentioned. The 11-16 is a Tokina lens and so far Tokina did not introduce a single lens for PAF newly. The 645D was cancelled so often by Pentax, I really believe this project dead. Seeing, that the prices in digital medium format come down massively (hey, you can have a 31 MPixel H3 now for under 12 kEUROs), it wouldn't be economic for Pentax to do that. When Pentax was still on its own, they might have done that, even if it wouldn't make economic sense. But under the Hoya leadership, Pentax will concentrate on products that actually earn money.

Ben

[k100d]

did you get to try the DA*55? i'm very curious about the lens, although my poor k100d won't support it. it's what i gave up for AF microadjust :P

[Serpiente]

did you get to try the DA*55? i'm very curious about the lens, although my poor k100d won't support it. it's what i gave up for AF microadjust :P

Me too.. I expect a lot of it.. I hope it wont be too expensive! or else I will stay with my M 50mm 1.7

well I think the SDM is worth to updrade to a k100d super or higher but not a must if you dont want SDM..

[k100d]

well someone has said it will be $800! what's a $800 lens w/o a suitable body

[Snapshot12]

Let Canon,Nikon and Sony fight out the FF market,in which I don't think any of them can make a huge profit. Meanwhile Pentax just keep churning out affordable,light-weighted,well-featured Dslrs and Lenses, then when it's ready,just produce a MF,something between 40m-60m with half a dozen of quality primes to go with it to accommodate the 'PROS' in Landscape and Fashion, and something for us Pentaxians to look up to as well.

Let us all be honest, Pentax is waaaaaaaaay too late for the Sports side of business. Never did,never will...

Half of the leica S2 price would be wonderfull!!!

[Peter Zack]

Snapshot12 you are right about the sports thing and given the current economies (I've said this a few times) the K-M might just be a god send and some lucky (brilliant) timing. Affordable cameras that will still sell while the $3000 FF's sit idle.

[Marc Sabatella]

he also hinted, that we will miss longer focal lengthes for the foreseeable future too... No lenses longer than the DA 300 are on the horizon.

I suspect you misinterpreted his hint. There is absolutely a longer lens on the horizon; it's right there on the official lens roadmap, marked only as "super telephoto".

[philmorley]

I suspect you misinterpreted his hint. There is absolutely a longer lens on the horizon; it's right there on the official lens roadmap, marked only as "super telephoto".

a while back when it was discussed how many lenses pentax had ready but didnt have production capabilities (about 20+ from memory) there was discussion of a da135-400 probably f5.6, super tele *may* refer to this.

[Snapshot12]

A faster K30D (5-7fps) with improved AF speed and a K300D with a 14.6m sensor which records HD video until the card is full and also retains AA batteriers next year will not go amiss...

After that, there is K-M II or K3000 to pick up the pieces...

Everyone wants a Ferrari,but at the end of the day a Ford takes us from A to B...slower,yet just about on time.

[roentarre]

Snapshot12 you are right about the sports thing and given the current economies (I've said this a few times) the K-M might just be a god send and some lucky (brilliant) timing. Affordable cameras that will still sell while the $3000 FF's sit idle.

I would consider this camera for work purpose like photos of wounds, chest X ray etc. It would seem like a reasonable size to bring along. With a smaller lens like V40L II, it would be soooo light.

[Ben_Edict]

Supertele: I sure not misinterpreted the Pentax guy. He was very straightforward with his notion on longer fl lenses. As we all know, the Pentax Roadmap tends to map out the distant future at times. At the time being, you can still buy the 300/2.8 and the 600/4 FA lenses. So, this is still an option, though you may have to order from Japan directly.

By the way: these two long FA lenses, together with the FAs 50/1.4 and 35/2 and 20-35/4 are still included in the titel photograph of the latest Pentax lens brochure, shown at Photokina. So I guess, these lenses will be around for another while.

FF: I think, Pentax made very clear in early summer, that they will release an upmarket modell during 2009 with a slightly bigger sensor, but not FF. But there was no hint of that at Photokina. I hope, they have learned from their often too early announcements in the past (645D or the first FF MZ-D) and following disappointments of the Pentax community.

K-M: I am sure, this camera will appeal to many people. It is so small, it would be a great carry-along second body for many K20 or K10 users, too. Dealers list it at 499 Euros, including the NEW 18-55 lens. Pentax has released two lenses which will only be available in a kit with the K-M, the mentioned 18-55 and the 50-200, both in a more lightweight, more plasticky version, than the standard DAs. The K-M and those two new lenses have plastic mounts. I think, this is good enough for occasional use and the typical holiday snapper and the advantage of the low eight might "outweigh" longevity considerations. I am just not sure, I would hang a Bigma from that mount...

55/1.4: no, I had not time to try that lens. To be honest, I did not even think about it, as I am happy with my collection of FA/A and M 50/1.4 lenses and will not buy an additional one anyway (as I alsow have A and M 50/1.7 and the A 50/1.2 anyway).

Ben

[Peter Zack]

Ben, You said "The K-M and those two new lenses have plastic mounts." DPR has a sample camera and reports the mount is metal on the camera but plastic on the 2 L lenses. Does this also mean that the current DA50-200 remains as well as the DA18-55mm II?

[Ben_Edict]

Ben, You said "The K-M and those two new lenses have plastic mounts." DPR has a sample camera and reports the mount is metal on the camera but plastic on the 2 L lenses. Does this also mean that the current DA50-200 remains as well as the DA18-55mm II?

The German press release says explicitly "light weight thanks to construction of body AND bayonett with plastics" So, may be this is ambiguos? But for me the plastics bayonet was pretty definite...

Regarding the lenses: it looks as whether we will have both lens series, those low weight/low cost with plastic mount and the standard DA series with metal mount. Pentax did explicitly introduce a "light weight" lens series, the
DA-L series, of which these two lenses are the first ones. I guess, there will be more in the future.

As you know, Pentax has a history of running several different lens series in parallel, like the newer Takumars in K-mount (the cheapo series) alongside the standard M-lenses, finally introducing the high-end *-series. Looks like we get cheap lenses again.

Ben