[TwoUptons]

Does anyone here hope that the new limited will also come with screw mount, similar to the SDM/screwmounts of the past, therefore allowing older bodies to use it?

That might be pretty cool as a 'limited Limited", something like they did with the M-mount 43mm lens.

But it would have to have an aperture ring to be completely useful, I think.
Even the adapters that have aperture control don't usually have it labelled well, do they?

But M42 with an aperture ring would allow it to be used on nearly anything these days...

As cool as that would be, I don't think it's likely...

-Eric

[someasiancameraguy]

You mean "screw drive"? "Screw mount" was used before the K-mount was introduced in 1975.
I don't see any advantage to that - in lens motors are quieter than the screw drive and could be used by older camera bodies as well.

Yeah I mean screw drive. And I mean film cameras for AF

[Wheatfield]

Perhaps your expectations have changed; mine have not for purchasing lenses.
We will have a better idea of what audience Pentax is aiming at when we see how large the lens is, which will give us an idea of how much "imperfections" it fixes.

If the goalposts were in the same spot as they were a quarter century ago, they would have put some lipstick on the FA 50/1.4 and been done with it rather than upping the game with the DFA* 50/1.4.
I recall that was what they did with the FA35/2, and didn't get much traction.
The big magic with the Limited lenses and their special rendering is mostly attributable to undercorrected spherical aberration and is what gives the almost 3D rendering.
I'm not sure how that magic is going to transfer to an ultra wide with near infinite depth of field wide open.
However, things like corner sharpness wide open are more important in today's market than it was in the 1990s market, and that is going to be pricey in an ultra wide.

[reh321]

If the goalposts were in the same spot as they were a quarter century ago, they would have put some lipstick on the FA 50/1.4 and been done with it rather than upping the game with the DFA* 50/1.4.
I recall that was what they did with the FA35/2, and didn't get much traction.
The big magic with the Limited lenses and their special rendering is mostly attributable to undercorrected spherical aberration and is what gives the almost 3D rendering.
I'm not sure how that magic is going to transfer to an ultra wide with near infinite depth of field wide open.
However, things like corner sharpness wide open are more important in today's market than it was in the 1990s market, and that is going to be pricey in an ultra wide.

I'm not going to argue this point; I never said they are aiming at audiences from the 1990's.
I have already stated what I believe they are targeting.

What matters is what will be acceptable to Pentax purchasers for the next years and still be the same small package they have come to expect of "Limited" lenses.

I suspect that means somewhere between your expectations and mine, but I'm not going second-guess Pentax designers.

[Mistral75]

Does anyone here hope that the new limited will also come with screw mount, similar to the SDM/screwmounts of the past, therefore allowing older bodies to use it?

Yeah I mean screw drive. And I mean film cameras for AF

You mean a KAF2 lens, with both a focus motor and a mechanical coupling to the camera's focus motor?

Considering that the latest KAF2 lens is the smc Pentax-DA★ 60-250mm f/4 ED [IF] SDM announced in September 2008, more than twelve years ago, I very much doubt it.

[Kunzite]

You mean "screw drive"? "Screw mount" was used before the K-mount was introduced in 1975.
I don't see any advantage to that - in lens motors are quieter than the screw drive and could be used by older camera bodies as well.

I agree; it definitely won't happen.

They did that when there were only a few in-lens AF compatible cameras - these lenses were announced* in 2007 and 2008, and they added camera support in 2007 (with the K100D Super, and with a firmware update for the K10D).
Now the oldest non-compatible camera is more than 14 years old.

Besides, the Limited is a KAF4 lens and its aperture cannot be controlled by these cameras.

* the DA* 60-250 was postponed a bit

[deus ursus]

[...]
I hope it will be better corrected for e.g. comma, [...]

Well, a lot of us are struggling with getting the commas right, so having a lens helping out would be a huge benefit.

:-p

[BarneyL]

Is it confirmed that DFA 21 Limited is going to be KAF4? Woe is me, how could I use it on my Super A then? :P

[fs999]

I recall that was what they did with the FA35/2, and didn't get much traction.

Hey, don't say anything against the FA35/2. It's a fantastic lens !

[Mistral75]

Is it confirmed that DFA 21 Limited is going to be KAF4? Woe is me, how could I use it on my Super A then? :P

At least the two prototypes shown in the video and those on the pictures don't have an aperture coupling lever.

[pres589]

It would be shocking if Pentax released any lens in 2020 or beyond that isn't KAF4.

And yes, it would be great to use a lens like this with a Super Program. Probably have to settle, if that's the right word, for something like the M 20 f4. I mean, that's one of the multiple routes I went to get ultra-wide glass on a k-mount film camera.

[Wheatfield]

I'm not going to argue this point; I never said they are aiming at audiences from the 1990's.
I have already stated what I believe they are targeting.
.

Good thing since a significant portion of their audience from the 1990s has died of old age.
If they aren't aiming at a 1990s audience, what audience are they aiming at?
If the answer is a 2020s audience, then the expectations are different. We expect corner to corner sharpness. We expect purple fringing to be non existent. We expect decent wide open performance, and the nature of digital photography has raised the expectations bar a lot since the original Limited lenses were released.
What are considered quirks in a legacy lens will be death to a lens released now.
The point being, someone thinking a 21mm Limited lens is going to cost significantly south of US$2k is going to be sorely disappointed.

[Serkevan]

The point being, someone thinking a 21mm Limited lens is going to cost significantly south of US$2k is going to be sorely disappointed.

There are a bunch of examples of modern 20mm fast lenses under 1k, however...

[Paul the Sunman]

It would be shocking if Pentax released any lens in 2020 or beyond that isn't KAF4.

However, there may be refreshes of existing lenses that keep the mechanical coupling.

[TwoUptons]

There are a bunch of examples of modern 20mm fast lenses under 1k, however...

How many of those are first-party (from camera OEMs)?

And how many are, like the Limiteds, meant to be premium options?

I still would love a 24mm f2.8 plastic fantastic along the lines of the DA50mm f1.8 or the DA35mm f2.4, but that's not what this is...

-Eric