[biz-engineer]

Clearly people are still buying the current version new. An update will likely bring a slight boost to sales. If the current version was not selling they would be discontinuing it when stock ran low.

The deal with old screw drive primes is the size and weight. The FA 35 on a K1 is smaller than a new mirrorless model, as the lens with the hood will barely go past the OVF hood. For comparison, just imagine the Samyang 35 1.4 in comparison to the Pentax FA35f2, the FA35 is tiny.

[Ronald Oakes]

Wow ! A Revamp of a 20 year old lens. Its so exhilarating I could just vomit !

[virusn3t]

Folks, it's still January!
Just yesterday, who was expecting a pre-CP+ announcement? Now that it happens, it's bad?

No, but new customers wont be too amazed with a screwdrive 35mm, or say, look! Pentax release and affordable 35mm with fast AF... Nikon and Canon have they STM (old, but quiet fast motor), and possibly the 1st option once those peoples think to ride off their kit lens, almost no one, will think to go for a "L" lens or a "DFA*", i think RIcoh needs this 35mm and maybe a revamp FA-50, but with a small improvement over the screwdriver

I hope i be wrong, but the 35mm can steal the show against the 11-18 because the old 35 screwdriver "new" lens

Im more interested on the DFA*85

[Wheatfield]

It's '80 tech....

Internal combustion engines are 80s tech as well, but every car being made nowadays still comes equipped with one.
That's 1880s tech, btw.

[biz-engineer]

If the rumor is true about an FA35 2 re-release, that's going to send the wrong "brand" message to Pentax customers, better not re-release the FA35 2 unless it comes as same optical formula, more rounded blades, new WR frame, and eventually in lens AF. Not doing that doesn't quite show commitment to the Pentax brand, but rather the opposite (depleting old stock).

[Mistral75]

Internal combustion engines are 80s tech as well, but every car being made nowadays still comes equipped with one.
(...)

With carburettor(s)?

[Rico]

i did

Sorry sculptor666 I must have missed it while I was posting. I agree an updated FA35 is welcome for the reasons you mentioned. They should have done this with the release of the K-1. They should go further like the transition to the D-FA 100mm Macro AW without the aperture ring. Even the DA*55 could use a simple Hood upgrade so it doesn't vignette. Ricoh should offer current DA*55 owners a hood that works on the K-1.

[pres589]

This is conjecture but one of the biggest reasons I doubt that they added an in-lens focus motor is that there's still an aperture ring. I can't imagine going through the mechanical engineering of adding a motor, removing the screw-drive, and leaving the ring anyway.

Bonus is that with the updated focus ring grip, this should be easier to focus manually. This FA 35 f2 HD would look fantastic on my Ricoh XR7! And would probably be a noticeable step up in IQ from my K 35 f2, and smaller as well, so that I might bring it with me more often.

This isn't really a shocking move in that they've done this kind of thing before, with the DA's, going from SMC to HD coatings. This might actually reduce the cost of producing the FA 35 as its glass can be processed more in kind with other glass meant for the other HD lenses that are in production.

I wonder if the FA 50 f1.4 is going to get this treatment eventually as well? That lens could probably use the help of better coatings more than the 35 did...

p.s. I really hope the 11-18 doesn't show up with a street price over $1000. I don't know what its pricing "should" be but that seems way too high. I'm not in the market though which probably limits my ability to guess what will happen.

[biz-engineer]

This is conjecture but one of the biggest reasons I doubt that they added an in-lens focus motor is that there's still an aperture ring.

You don't know anything because the photo of this FA35 comes from rumors. Shall the rumor come true, have to wait for the official release from Ricoh Imaging to know what the lens is about. It is our human nature of our minds to imagine think without evidence that those things are true, which sometimes completely misleads us.

[monochrome]

a lot of people were calling for an HD coating update for the FA Ltd.'s. Now Ricoh seems to do this for a as so far very well judged and affordable lens and the whining is big.
For me it makes sense to update proven, fast and small FA lenses with the new HD coating which is optimized for digital sensors. Why not do this with the FA 50/1.4, FA 20/2.8 and FA 28/2.8 too.
This does not bind to much recources for developing new DFA* lenses and the small size of the FA lenses is very welcome for a lot of K1/K1II and even APS-C users.

The 35/2 and 50/1.4 still sell in Japan. They’re probably out of stock on the 35/2 so they need to run a batch. Adding 20 / 28 / 35 / 50 with HD coatings = Proven tech on (some of them) cult lenses and would be an interesting take, though DPR would absolutely FLAME them. Update to this new barrel with HD and where appropriate rounded blades, (FA20/2.8), F28/2.8, F50/1.7. Keep the FA 50/1.4 until out then make it a Limited and update the DA50/1.8 to D FA.

[reh321]

Jan 31 is less than 1-1/2 days away in Japan.

[pres589]

Pentax could do a lot worse than have the following 50's available; the new D-FA*50 1.4, an HD & curved blade revamp of the F/FA 50 1.7, the DA 50 1.8 left alone (or add the HD coatings, don't care) and the D-FA 50 2.8 Macro (coatings changed or not, don't care). At that point the DA*55 1.4 is almost superfluous although it does occupy a nice price point between the D-FA*50 and the others listed in my first sentence.

---------- Post added 01-29-19 at 01:10 PM ----------

You don't know anything because the photo of this FA35 comes from rumors. Shall the rumor come true, have to wait for the official release from Ricoh Imaging to know what the lens is about. It is our human nature of our minds to imagine think without evidence that those things are true, which sometimes completely misleads us.

I think it's pretty obvious that this is all based on the image and small amount of text from the rumor. If the image is wrong then it's kind of taken for granted by most anyone that our ideas are swept away and replaced with whatever does show up.

I personally don't mind screw drive or aperture rings at all. What I do mind is the idea of trying to sell those things on a new or "new" lens in 2019.

[acoufap]

First thing when Ricoh took over Pentax from Hoya they updated coatings of the DA Ltds to HD, put in rounded blades and substituted the green ring by a red one.

So I guess this new FA could have the attributes screw drive, HD, rounded blades, quick shift and will surely be without red ring. I already thought about the old FA35. Now there‘s only the screw drive that wouldn‘t be that pleasing to me and I‘d miss WR.

On the other hand the DA15 screw drive doesn‘t bother me much, I think because of the short throw and because I often use it in interplay with quick shift. I really don‘t like the screw drive on my DFA100WR. But that‘s another story because it‘s a macro that I mostly focus manually.

A nice compact moderate fast wide on K-1 and a nearly fast normal on the KP. I guess it‘s something I‘ll think about if it shows the mentioned attributes.

The DA11-18 I‘m waiting for since it was announced. I hope the price will be lower than rumoured.

[RonHendriks1966]

The latest screw drive lens announced by Ricoh Imaging was the HD Pentax-D FA 645 35mm f/3.5 AL [IF] (November 2015), another revamped lens.

I said it back then and repeat. No motor inside and no Wheater resistence in any form is a major mistake. If this is true then Pentax still has no clue about what the brand is about and that we live in 2019.

Makes the election for worst lens of 2019 very easy for dpreview.

[reh321]

Makes the election for worst lens of 2019 very easy for dpreview.

Pentax has eleven months left to release other lenses - you may want to reserve this comment until you see the rest of what they do.