[TwoUptons]

With regards to automatically creating a sequence of shots with slowly shifting focus:
That is easy to do today with any lens, as the IT2 software shows. They have the option to move the focus "a tiny increment" (whatever that is).
So they could easily add a firmware option where the camera automatically does N shots with the focus plane being shifted by M increments forward and waiting O seconds between each shot (for example to reload the flash).
And this obviously would be raw/JPG agnostic. It works with all lenses, even screwdrive. With screwdrive users simply have to tolerate that the first few shots might not see a lot of shifting due to mechanical tolerances (same as would show if you would change backward versus forward in the middle).


Combining images in camera is a pretty huge processing task and is unrealistic for anything that has higher quality standards. So that has to happen on a PC anyhow.

Yes. This...

I've imagined the camera would have a suggestion for N to provide a margin for error based on the aperture selected, but that it could be overridden by the user...

Depending on how it is implemented, it could be not just raw/jpeg agnostic, but flash status agnostic. If the flash is on, the camera can wait until it is ready before firing the next shot for P-TTL flashes (or even older dedicated flashes).
You would only need the time delay for "dumb strobes", but that could also work...

I think there's something of an expectation for some level of combining in-camera.... The phones are all doing it now...
I'd be happy with my end result being a stack of raws/jpegs and a quick jpeg proof of the estimated final result just to make sure I got it... then I'd recombine when I got home on the computer...

-Eric

I bought the new HD DFA Macro Lens and i get it on November 4th.
I will share my experiences with you.

The release date is much later. :-(

[Sandy Hancock]

The release date is much later. :-(

I was told late November....

[Mistral75]

November the 28th 18th in Japan for the black version.

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Last edited by Mistral75; 11-04-2022 at 07:21 AM. Reason: Correction of typo

[sculptor666]

November the 28th in Japan for the black version.

18th

https://ricohimagingstore.com/pentax-hddfamacro100edaw-bk-s0020320.html

thanks for the info !

[Wheatfield]

November the 28th in Japan for the black version.

My pusher just said late November for when I can expect delivery of mine. I don't have the same pull that I did with Pentax pre Hoya when I was routinely given pre release stuff to try out and would generally get gear a few days ahead of the official release, so I'm not expecting an early delivery.

[JPT]

Here is a two-part report from Yaotomi Camera, in Japanese but with plenty of samples

Part 1: ?????? HD PENTAX-D FA MACRO 100mmF2.8ED AW with PENTAX K-1II????? ??? ??? ??????????? 2022 - ????
Part 2: ?????? HD PENTAX-D FA MACRO 100mmF2.8ED AW with PENTAX K-3III???? ? ??? ??? ??????????? 2022 - ????

And one more from Map Camera
814: ??????PENTAX HD D FA MACRO 100mm F2.8 ED AW? ??????| KASYAPA

[JPT]

Here's another report from Kitamura Camera.
HD PENTAX?D FA MACRO 100mmF2.8ED AW???????????100???????? | ShaSha

[LennyBloke]

Thank you JPT - there are some sample images in those reports that would be prone to purple fringing without post-processing, if we can assume these images haven't been "tweaked" then the results do look superb!

[JPT]

Thank you JPT - there are some sample images in those reports that would be prone to purple fringing without post-processing, if we can assume these images haven't been "tweaked" then the results do look superb!

I think it's important to understand that these reports are from retailers that ultimately want to reinforce the viewer's intention to buy, so they are not going to be looking to highlight flaws that much.

Having said that, the Kitamura one does include a section on reduced purple fringing, and this image is part of that explanation. I don't think it had been tweaked with any post processing and it is taken as an OOC JPEG.

[JensE]

The Map Camera set is most useful to me: The hamster(?) shows the level of remaining CA fairly well and the engraver and fish give me some hope that my least favorite property of the 100WR has also improved: Foreground blur near 1:1 appears to look a bit better, specular/point highlights in the foreground seem to show a less pronounced rim, resulting in a more defined, less mushy appearance. I'm eager to see weather this holds true in further examples, as it would be the decisive factor for an upgrade of my 100WR.

[house]

Part 2: ?????? HD PENTAX-D FA MACRO 100mmF2.8ED AW with PENTAX K-3III???? ? ??? ??? ??????????? 2022 - ????

That one had a lot of fringe provoking images. Hard to tell what's been done processing wise though.

[Tad1952]

The SMC Pentax FA Macro 100mm f2.8 was certainly quite prone to purple fringing. I took this at f 2.8. I look forward to getting the new lens.

[JPT]

Pentax put up a Youtube video of an interview with the photographer Takashi Namiki today. You can use the auto translated captions if you like, but they don't work very well.

You Tube

You Tube

At around 2:40 he starts talking about the improvement in PF compared to the old one. This was achieved without increasing the size of the lens. He also gos on to talk about the advantage of the hood design for adding elements of front bokeh at minimum focus distance and the excellent balance of crispness and bokeh quality.