[Sandy Hancock]

The link I previously provided said not?

I confess I did not notice the link. That is very interesting (but *very* wordy).

[kinkindoll]

Nice! I can't wait to see the results! I might hold off until there's a 10% discount on everything - which might not be until black friday.




The link I previously provided said not?



That's why I only buy cameras here, and lenses generally likewise. Ironically, the Sigma lens I bought from HK was faulty.

I hope they will do a sales coming Father's Day and I can find an excuse to buy a gift for myself lol

[RobG]

I hope they will do a sales coming Father's Day and I can find an excuse to buy a gift for myself lol

I don't mind what they use as an excuse for a discount.

---------- Post added 10-08-21 at 09:22 AM ----------

I confess I did not notice the link. That is very interesting (but *very* wordy).

Sorry! I should have made it more obvious. Did the link not go directly to the part about lenses?

[RobA_Oz]

The original SDM lens is around $800AUD cheaper, and marked as “low stock”. I wonder if they’ll discount it to clear stock, now that they’re listing the new lens.

[JPT]

There are some here but only one at full size.

?????? HD PENTAX-DA?16-50mmF2.8ED PLM AW @ review vol.1 ? ??? DA ? ?????????????? - ????

Today Yaotomi put up the second part of their report. It has examples f starbursts and bokeh. There are a few full size images you can access by clicking the small thumbnails.

?????? HD PENTAX-DA?16-50mmF2.8ED PLM AW @ review vol.2 ? ?? ???? ????? 2021 - ????

[RobG]

Today Yaotomi put up the second part of their report. It has examples f starbursts and bokeh. There are a few full size images you can access by clicking the small thumbnails.

The resistance to flare seems high. I'm impressed by the dynamic range! It looks like he had a nice drive in Northern Kyoto including a visit to the town of Obama. It reminds me of visiting a bird sanctuary in that region. I'm very glad not to be in Kyoto at 41C though. Looks like the new lens is very good indeed and works really well with the K3iii.

[UlrichSchiegg]

This lens is available in Europe with Pentaxians since a week. Are you late again in the US?

[Smolk]

My point was that it was a small {49mm filter} lens, and certainly wasn’t perfect - no corner-to-corner sharpness and other ‘issues’ that would be ‘unacceptable’ today. But it did have real character - so it was very much like the “Limiteds” of today - and in that day, it was more than ‘acceptable’.

It certainly has that character, that's why I still have my copy. (In fact, I sold one and then repurchased the lens again.)
It suffers from flare and the lack of sharpness may well be partly due to the absence of modern coatings. The adapted 7-element version was similar in sharpness (though not character) and remained the basis for the Pentax 1.4/50mm ever since. Look at the scheme for the FA 1.4/50mm and that of the Takumar 7-element:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/data/23/SMC_TAKUMAR_50_1_4_071110_45k_optics1.jpg

https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/data/30/smc_Pentax-FA_50_1_4_100514_11j_wx_optics.jpg

Same for the K, M and A versions. That it seems to be imperfect is a bit of an anachronism, but on the whole of course I agree. Not a lens used for standard purposes.

[reh321]

It suffers from flare and the lack of sharpness may well be partly due to the absence of modern coatings. The adapted 7-element version was similar in sharpness (though not character) and remained the basis for the Pentax 1.4/50mm ever since. Look at the scheme for the FA 1.4/50mm and that of the Takumar 7-element:

Same for the K, M and A versions. That it seems to be imperfect is a bit of an anachronism, but on the whole of course I agree. Not a lens used for standard purposes.

I certainly agree with your comment about coatings.

About ‘standard purposes’, well, I do not see myself spending the money to get a “star” lens.
I still shoot with the sun {if it is present} somewhere in the 180 degrees behind me, I am still interested in the middle of the scene - not in the corners - and I still value ‘smallness’ in a lens. For the twelve+ years I used the “Super Program”, a Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7 was my standard lens. Right now, a 20-40mm Ltd is the standard lens on my KP, and I am thinking of using a Takumar 35mm f/2 as the standard lens on my {‘crippled’} K-30 {assuming I can tolerate manual focus}.

[Smolk]

Right now, a 20-40mm Ltd is the standard lens on my KP

One hears very different assessments of the 20-40mm. I'm interested in it, as I'm now changing too much between the 21, 28 and 40/43. On the other hand I would love to have an AW lens but perhaps WR will do.
I think the 16-50mm may be too heavy for me - although it would cover even more distances. (It is pricy but I have a lot of lenses I probably need to sell. I've just been abroad for the last half year... can't sell just yet.)

[jersey]

I will most likely also get 20-40 if I can find silver one. Color is important :P If I find range lacking there is always 55-300.

Somehow could not find it in myself to justify ~500$ more on a walkaround lens, and WR should be good enough for middle Europe weather. 55-300 works no problems, K-50 kit WR lens also had no issues. I do not plan to go to Africa or close to polar circle

[mtkeller]

One hears very different assessments of the 20-40mm. I'm interested in it, as I'm now changing too much between the 21, 28 and 40/43. On the other hand I would love to have an AW lens but perhaps WR will do.
I think the 16-50mm may be too heavy for me - although it would cover even more distances. (It is pricy but I have a lot of lenses I probably need to sell. I've just been abroad for the last half year... can't sell just yet.)

I think it really depends on what someone is aiming for with the 20–40mm Ltd. To me, it's a great walk around lens for street or normal focal length landscape shots. Thus, I tend to be shooting it stopped down a bit, which seems to take care of any issues that some might fixate on. However, I must say that I've generally been pleased with using it wide open at closer focus distances. Of course, it's "only" f/4 at 40mm there, so if you want faster than that, you will need to look at the DA* 16–50mm. I already carry the DA* 11–18mm as a heavy lens in my kit walking around. I'm not keen to add the weight of the DA*16–50mm to that (and don't do video, so the additional AF features having PLM offers for video are lost on me as well).

[repaap]

Today Yaotomi put up the second part of their report. It has examples f starbursts and bokeh. There are a few full size images you can access by clicking the small thumbnails.

?????? HD PENTAX-DA?16-50mmF2.8ED PLM AW @ review vol.2 ? ?? ???? ????? 2021 - ????

Very nice. Bokeh is smooth and solid through out the frame. I will save up for this lens and this will be my workhorse

[deus ursus]

[...]The ‘Limited’ lenses tend to also have tiny or no hoods, and are best used when the sun is “behind” you.

Oh, the hoods are compact, but effective. Andif you ask me, the DA 21 does a fairly decent job shooting into the sun.

[JPT]

The lens is not on sale in Japan just yet - that will be August 27 - but some camera magazines have published reviews now. Here are some of the findings.

Design/build
- Bigger than the old one in all dimensions and heavier, but feels just right in the hand
- They mentioned that because it's girth, it looks like a full frame lens
- Great build quality and weather sealing as expected
- It is focus-by-wire because of KAF4, but the feel (resistance) is just right nonetheless

Image quality
- Very sharp - clearly new generation optics, compared to the old one
- Although it’s not a macro lens, and the minimum focus distance is the same 30cm as the old one, it is still quite versatile in this respect.
- The level of ghosting and flare is very low and not noticeable. They did show an sample where they had tried to provoke this and it did not show ghosting

Bokeh
- Bokeh looked nice and not distracting in any of the printed sample images
- The “bokeh balls” remain circular (not polygonal) as you stop down. They are still almost perfect circles at f8.
- Aside from the more obvious examples of smooth bokeh, I was impressed how the slightly out of focus areas looked in the samples. There is a nice transition.

Autofocus
- It generates less noise (ie.e sound) than SDM.
- They tested it in AF-C and it was more than capable of anything they threw at it.

The conclusion was that regardless of what genre of photography you do, the lens is going to satisfy you. If you are a K-3 III user, you are going to want this lens. Basically, no downsides were mentioned, unless you consider it oversized.