[BigMackCam]

I just made this little overlay with the pictures provided in this thread. It is exactly the same size and every ring is in the exact same position.

Thanks for this

Could you do similar overlays for the coatings, weather sealing, internals and lens firmware?

[Serkevan]

That's correct. The HD Pentax-D FA 70-200mm f/4 appeared on the 27th of February, 2018 on the roadmap, with a '2019 Spring' tentative announcement date. That date was reiterated on the June 2018 roadmap and again on the January 2019 roadmap before being postponed to '2019 or later' one month later on the February 2019 CP+ roadmap, which is currently the latest one.

So, if around CP+ the decision was made that the then-current design iteration was a dead end, there was around a year to enter a deal with Tamron, repurpose the lens and get it up to "Pentax standards". That sounds like a reasonable estimate, honestly. Such an abrupt change makes little sense.

[mee]

At least we don't have to wait for specs: TAMRON | 70-210mm /F4 Di VC USD

True. One other nice thing is the focusing motor(s) on it are lightning fast and quiet. A lot quicker than I remember old style SDM and maybe slightly faster than the DC motor Pentax uses. Closer to PLM speed. Full rack in a second. Half rack (full rack in one direction) is half that time. Zip and it's in place. It should probably sing on the K-new especially.


Excited for you guys!

[Riddler]

This is Lenstip's summary of the Tamron 70-210/4

Pros:

• solid and sealed casing,
• excellent image quality in the frame centre,
• very good image quality on the edge of APS-C,
• sensible image quality on the edge of full frame,
• moderate longitudinal chromatic aberration,
• low distortion,
• sensibly corrected astigmatism,
• nice out-of-focus areas,
• slight vignetting,
• silent and more or less accurate autofocus,
• efficient image stabilization,
• good price quality ratio,
• 5-year warranty period.

Cons:

• lack of autofocus limiter,
• lateral chromatic aberration corrected less efficiently than in the case of the rivals,
• too weak performance against bright light,
• modest standard accessory kit, worse than the one offered by brand name rivals.

Out of all lenses with similar parameters tested by us the Tamron 70–210 mm f/4 Di VC USD has fared the best so far. Even its strongest competitor, the Nikkor AF-S 70–200 mm f/4.0G ED VR, had to admit its defeat. That victory is even more impressive when you take into account the fact that the price of the Tamron is almost two times lower than the price of the Nikkor.The performance against bright light seems to be the most serious flaw of the tested lens. In order to defend it a bit I can only say that it was a category in which none of the rival lenses managed to perform well. In fact we have seen far weaker performances than that of the Tamron.
The summary can be only positive – you get a lens optically better than the products of Nikon or Canon and it is also noticeably cheaper.





Tamron 70-210 mm f/4 Di VC USD review - Introduction - LensTip.com

Thanks for sharing

[WorksAsIntended]

Thanks for this

Could you do similar overlays for the coatings, weather sealing, internals and lens firmware?

Lets see:


For the coatings: Sure, you just need to provide me with the hardware, the new Pentax 70-210 and a Tamron 70-210 which is adaptable on Pentax, mf is fine.
Weather sealing: I need another set of lenses to test this. (2 times Pentax, 2 times Tamron so far). Oh, and a body where the Tamron weather sealing is working. Lets say... maybe a D5? Better two, if the body fails the sealing test before the lense.

Internals, yeah, just give me another set (3 sets each now) to disassamble.
Firmware will be hard, as Pentax does not provide a way to change it easily, as Tamron does.


If you send me all of this I might give it a try. (and keep the leftovers).

---------- Post added 01-20-20 at 02:21 PM ----------

So, if around CP+ the decision was made that the then-current design iteration was a dead end, there was around a year to enter a deal with Tamron, repurpose the lens and get it up to "Pentax standards". That sounds like a reasonable estimate, honestly. Such an abrupt change makes little sense.

Does not necessarily mean a dead end. Maybe it was just cheaper to do it this way than finishing the development.

[Serkevan]

Does not necessarily mean a dead end. Maybe it was just cheaper to do it this way than finishing the development.

Yeah, I think I went a bit too much into Spanish melodrama there with the word choice
I meant that Ricoh decided that, for whatever reason, the Tamron option was better.

[BigMackCam]

Lets see:


For the coatings: Sure, you just need to provide me with the hardware, the new Pentax 70-210 and a Tamron 70-210 which is adaptable on Pentax, mf is fine.
Weather sealing: I need another set of lenses to test this. (2 times Pentax, 2 times Tamron so far). Oh, and a body where the Tamron weather sealing is working. Lets say... maybe a D5? Better two, if the body fails the sealing test before the lense.

Internals, yeah, just give me another set (3 sets each now) to disassamble.
Firmware will be hard, as Pentax does not provide a way to change it easily, as Tamron does.


If you send me all of this I might give it a try. (and keep the leftovers).

---------- Post added 01-20-20 at 02:21 PM ----------


Does not necessarily mean a dead end. Maybe it was just cheaper to do it this way than finishing the development.

Please refer to the respective manufacturers for sample equipment.

LOL

[Paul the Sunman]

Does not necessarily mean a dead end. Maybe it was just cheaper to do it this way than finishing the development.

So why wasn't the cheapest and easiest course of action to update the 60-250 with HD, new SDM, and baffle removed?

[mee]

Why recreate the wheel? It doesn't detract from the brand IMO to use other's designs. Esp since they have at least one former Pentax optics designer on staff. I'd just be happy you're seeing quality new lenses for the system at this point.


Maybe they'll release the SP f/1.8 primes too. That and the 100-400 and/or 150-600mm could plug some holes in the lineup. Then they can ..focus.. on a native ultrawide prime.

[WorksAsIntended]

So why wasn't the cheapest and easiest course of action to update the 60-250 with HD, new SDM, and baffle removed?

I do not know, I am just guessing of course.

The 60-250 suffers from slight vingetting on ff, maybe it was hard to fix this.

Maybe they decided the image qualtify is better with the Tamron.

Maybe changing the whole body is more of a redesign, especially with the new af, than using the Tamron and therefore costs more dev time/money. I mean, they even left the screws in the same position at the Tamron .

[luftfluss]

So why wasn't the cheapest and easiest course of action to update the 60-250 with HD, new SDM, and baffle removed?

There would need to be a new barrel design, to match the current aesthetic.

People might complain about the weight of a DFA 60-250 compared with the 70-210.

The 0.15x maximum magnification would be a non-starter for some, I think. The 70-210's is .3x.

[Reed]

All of SP 1.8 series prime are decent option. I had few of them for adjustment and those are really nice lenses. Very pleasing bokeh and rendering.

[BigMackCam]

Does not necessarily mean a dead end. Maybe it was just cheaper to do it this way than finishing the development.

I meant that Ricoh decided that, for whatever reason, the Tamron option was better.

It's a believable scenario. Tamron today is a different beast than 10 -15 years ago. It's turning out some really excellent glass, and build quality has improved significantly. I have a few fairly recent Tammies for my Sony A-mount gear... In particular, the 70-200 f/2.8 USD (G1) and 150-600 (G1), and I couldn't be happier with them. Reviews say the G2 versions are even better, which I find amazing given how well my first generation examples perform.

Once all the brouhaha around launch price settles, and the most-dedicated and/or impatient and/or deep-pocketed buyers (to whom we and Ricoh are most grateful) have finished their initial round or two of buying, I'm sure we'll see the price come down somewhat, and seasonal special offers will be available...

[mee]

All of SP 1.8 series prime are decent option. I had few of them for adjustment and those are really nice lenses. Very pleasing bokeh and rendering.

Agreed. The 45 f/1.8 pretty much stays on my camera. I'm eyeballing the 85 now..


They are plenty sharp without being plenty big or expensive.


as an aside, I wonder if and when Ricoh/Pentax updates the DA 16-50 if they will share with Tamron? Both Tamron's 17-50 and Pentax's 16-50 are pretty old now. Tamron seems more involved in FF lenses (more recently in mirrorless FF designs) but still have a crop catalog that could use some assistance.

[WorksAsIntended]

Why recreate the wheel? It doesn't detract from the brand IMO to use other's designs. Esp since they have at least one former Pentax optics designer on staff. I'd just be happy you're seeing quality new lenses for the system at this point.


Maybe they'll release the SP f/1.8 primes too. That and the 100-400 and/or 150-600mm could plug some holes in the lineup. Then they can ..focus.. on a native ultrawide prime.

Even more important: The 35 1.4
100-400 should be covered by the DFA 150-450 in my opinion.