[reh321]

I think the important part of the information Pentax posted about this lens has been missed. apparently it is being designed by a team of one person, in his spare time. this is not a good indication of how many people still work in the lens department at pentax.

I viewed this devotion as a good thing.
It is all an indication that this is not just job for him/her.

[biz-engineer]

I viewed this devotion as a good thing.It is all an indication that this is not just job for him/her.

Absolutely (assuming the story is true..)

---------- Post added 02-08-22 at 19:52 ----------

The current 100 macro WR has two main weaknesses. It tends to focus slowly and it has a lot of purple fringing. The slow focus is not uncommon with macro lenses

The slow focus is not really slow between infinity and half-way. I like the better focus accuracy of macro lenses, I use my 100 macro also as portrait lens, pre-focused at infinity it is fast to focus. As a portrait lens, having the lens wide open or almost wide open, purple fringing is an issue. The biggest issue I have with the dfa100 macro is the lack of aperture ring, because I can't use an basic cheap extension tube when I need more than 1:1 magnification and Ricoh doesn't offer any set of automatic extension tubes.

[Kunzite]

I think the important part of the information Pentax posted about this lens has been missed. apparently it is being designed by a team of one person, in his spare time. this is not a good indication of how many people still work in the lens department at pentax.

It's important... how exactly? Because you can make negative claims about Pentax?
Do you truly believe that one engineer did everything, including mechanical engineering, bringing the lens from an idea to pre-production? The optical design, that's important - but far from everything.

The real important part here is the passion Ricoh Imaging/Pentax engineers have for Pentax!

[catman6]

Well... the Nikkor Z MC 105mm f/2.8 macro is $1046.95, the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L macro is $1299, and the Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 macro G is $1098 - B&H (street) prices.

The Nikon z lens is superb. But expensive focus limit works well also

[Serkevan]

I don't know about you, but my mind doesn't turn off once I leave the office.
Indeed, my job lives rent-free in my head and I solve lots of problems and think up new projects on my own time frequently.
Especially because I like my work.

I can understand easily how an optical engineer who likes their job continues to think about solving problems outside of work.

I specifically left academia because it was *expected* that your job would live rent-free in your head 24/7/365.

The joke in my group was that part-time (officially all PhDs were paid for 20 h/week) was 12 h/day and full time was 24 h/day.

Now that I do R&D at a startup, I do still keep work in the back of my head from time to time or when I'm talking with my friends in the field - it's not the first time I beeline for the pilot plant because I had an idea off the clock. But it's certainly more in my own terms.

---------- Post added 08-02-22 at 11:36 AM ----------

I think the important part of the information Pentax posted about this lens has been missed. apparently it is being designed by a team of one person, in his spare time. this is not a good indication of how many people still work in the lens department at pentax.

I carry out projects more or less alone (well, communicating with my manager and the odd sanity check, obviously) until the pilot plant testing is nailed down... afterwards, it's time to get Engineering and/or Operations involved. It's perfectly possible that this engineer "just" ran the calculations for the optical design, showed it to the bosses, there was permission for a prototype, a "huh, looks great", and that's kinda it. Some projects take a fairly short time to rollout once the basics are working well.

[Kunzite]

I carry out projects more or less alone (well, communicating with my manager and the odd sanity check, obviously) until the pilot plant testing is nailed down... afterwards, it's time to get Engineering and/or Operations involved. It's perfectly possible that this engineer "just" ran the calculations for the optical design, showed it to the bosses, there was permission for a prototype, a "huh, looks great", and that's kinda it. Some projects take a fairly short time to rollout once the basics are working well.

I don't think that's perfectly possible, but most likely.
Although he might've been collaborating with his colleagues to put a prototype together. But I'm not sure it can be done without permission (as it implies a budget).

[FozzFoster]

that part-time was 12 h/day and full time was 24 h/day.

yeesh! what does overtime look like??

[Kunzite]

yeesh! what does overtime look like??

"I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed..."

[reh321]

Absolutely (assuming the story is true..)

I remember a time {when I was working for a defense contractor}, when we ran into a problem just before a three-day federal holiday. I came up with a simpler version of the problem {this was a C++ language issue, so my problem didn’t impinge on security issues}, so I took my laptop with me as we traveled, and by the time Tuesday arrived, I understood what was going on. Engineers are like that - there is absolutely no reason to question the story ….. if you question the story, I question your self-applied pseudonym.

[reh321]

yeesh! what does overtime look like??

In the U.S., many engineering jobs are “exempt” - overtime is what we are exempt from. As one of my colleagues said, “You can work as much as you want to.”

[Owltown]

Looks like the roadmap was just updated to include a new 100mm Macro.


https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/japan/products/lens/images/K_Mount_Lens.pdf

---------- Post added 07-31-22 at 09:17 PM ----------

Features:
New optical design using expensive glass material
HD coating
Much less purple fringing than the current lens
Same size as the current lens – compactness was a design priority
Slightly more expensive than the current lens
To be released in 2022.


source:
New HD Pentax-D FA 100mm f/2.8 macro lens is coming - Pentax Rumors

Good news. Any clues as to what kind of autofocus drive this lens will have?

---------- Post added 08-02-22 at 03:23 PM ----------

Absolutely (assuming the story is true..)

---------- Post added 02-08-22 at 19:52 ----------


The slow focus is not really slow between infinity and half-way. I like the better focus accuracy of macro lenses, I use my 100 macro also as portrait lens, pre-focused at infinity it is fast to focus. As a portrait lens, having the lens wide open or almost wide open, purple fringing is an issue. The biggest issue I have with the dfa100 macro is the lack of aperture ring, because I can't use an basic cheap extension tube when I need more than 1:1 magnification and Ricoh doesn't offer any set of automatic extension tubes.

The current 50 and 100 macros both tend to hunt like mad, most noticeably when pointing an infinity-focus lens at a subject very close - or vice versa. I've learned to switch off AF when making such a transition. Saves time as well as wear.

[TER-OR]

Looks like the roadmap was just updated to include a new 100mm Macro.


https://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/japan/products/lens/images/K_Mount_Lens.pdf

---------- Post added 07-31-22 at 09:17 PM ----------

Features:
New optical design using expensive glass material
HD coating
Much less purple fringing than the current lens
Same size as the current lens – compactness was a design priority
Slightly more expensive than the current lens
To be released in 2022.


source:
New HD Pentax-D FA 100mm f/2.8 macro lens is coming - Pentax Rumors

I'd love to see this lens formula with the modern focus motors.
I use an FA100 f2.8 - I know it's old but it's good. It could be better.

[biz-engineer]

The real important part here is the passion Ricoh Imaging/Pentax engineers have for Pentax!

I think the real important part for a photographer is to have suitable equipment to take pictures.

---------- Post added 02-08-22 at 22:12 ----------

The current 50 and 100 macros both tend to hunt like mad, most noticeably when pointing an infinity-focus lens at a subject very close - or vice versa.

I experience hunting with live view AF, but that's not surprising, not having AF hunting issues with phase detect AF.

[Mistral75]

Any clues as to what kind of autofocus drive this lens will have?

None.

(...) They had the current one and new one in their hands and the new kens has the same shape. The markings were hidden so we can't see what kind of AF mechanism is used.

(...)

[Serkevan]

In the U.S., many engineering jobs are “exempt” - overtime is what we are exempt from. As one of my colleagues said, “You can work as much as you want to.”

"As long as it's above 60 a week"
(Yes, I'm jaded).

---------- Post added 08-02-22 at 01:39 PM ----------

I don't think that's perfectly possible, but most likely.
Although he might've been collaborating with his colleagues to put a prototype together. But I'm not sure it can be done without permission (as it implies a budget).

No, I mean the only "on his free time" part might have been running whatever software to come up with a workable formula, just a proof of concept. Anything physical would most likely require approval for prototype expense (well, that's assuming that Pentax R&D doesn't have the capability to make a batch of glass elements in-house... AFAIK they buy all of it).
Personally, I think the most likely story is that a passionate engineer did some extra groundwork on the side, got management on board with a good idea for a cracking lens, and then it stopped being a "free time" project already pretty early on.