[mbukal]

DA 24 f2.8 plastic fantastic that happens to cover full frame

therefore you mean DFA 24/2.8 PLM WR plastic fantastic

I am an optimist for the DFA 70-320/4.5-5.6 ED PLM WR SR and there are members who are so brave that they want this written above, really we Pentaxians are "strange plant" (which need to be carefully nurtured so as not to extinct)

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Last edited by mbukal; 11-05-2022 at 12:04 PM.

[Zygonyx]

As Mistral75 said, I was pretty much expecting this. The fact that it's happening on the 23rd just means we have a few days less to wait.

In my opinion, any product release is likely to be in a normal work day, and what is shown at these events will be more like a company-related trivia, photographer appearances and some vague talk about future products.

As a reminder, at the same event last year, they covered the following
- K-3 III evolution (poll about which custom models to launch by crowdfunding)
- New firmware features (SATOBI profile and Astrotracer Type 3 beta firmware for K-3 III)
- Q&A on most commonly submitted user questions:
- Q: Future lenses, A: Apologies for the slow delivery of the roadmap and some items not on the roadmap will be released
- Q: APS-C below K-3 III, A: Pentax believes such a model is important to keep SLR photography affordable to all
- Q: K-1 II successor, A: Conducted a poll to ask what kind of model people would be interested in

So no new products were released. It was mainly user engagement. In my mind, it would be a bit strange not to follow up on any of those questions with some kind of update.

My expectations for the Nov 23 event:
- Demonstrations of the new Grad ND function (but they won't announce a global release at a Japan event)
- They may update the roadmap, which was strangely not updated when the 100mm macro appeared
- They may show a prototype of a new camera or lens. Although the K-1 III was talked about last time, it is the low-end APS-C that is most urgent because the K-70 is out of production and will only have a Clubhouse special edition produced in small quantities from now on. In the meantime, the black version is getting hard to find now in Japan. On the other hand, the K-1 II is still a main product they are marketing and I heard a few months ago that high component costs are preventing them from making a new full frame model just yet. Don't know if that has changed now.
- They may announce a second crowdfunding campaign: the likely candidates are a J-Limited wood grip for the KP and a monochrome sensor version of the K-3 III

At the J-limited event on Nov 27, they are likely to focus on the KP grip and the k-70 Clubhouse edition. I guess we may get some other random stuff. Sometime, they are likely to do a K-3 III J-Limited version, but they still have the K-1 II derived J-Limited 01 model on sale, to it's probably too early.

All my speculation, of course. Keep expectations well managed.

Agreed, with possible launch of K-70 / KP's successor that's been in the air for sometime now.

[thibs]

Mmm I admit that Jet-black in very nice but a camera with gold lettering, grip and lenses to match would also quite gorgeous 😍

[Mtathos]

I really do hope for hints on k1 mark 3 or even a k-70 replacement. It would do the brand good to get people excited about the future.

[builttospill]

They already have the 50 1.8 and 35 2.4. An 85 1.8 seems to make more sense than a 24 2.8.

[TwoUptons]

They already have the 50 1.8 and 35 2.4. An 85 1.8 seems to make more sense than a 24 2.8.

The reason I keep thinking of this in terms of the "plastic fantastic" is that it would give an inexpensive way into primes for both APS shooters (where life is more price-sensitive) and full frame (where there would be an expected but minor hit in image quality).

24mm on APS-C covers close to a 35mm on full frame, so a 24, 35, 50 DA triplet gives you an inexpensive way to get the same angle of view as you'd get from 35,50,75mm - so close to your 85mm 1.8...

That said, an 85mm f2.2 (or something weird) plastic fantastic would also be close to a 135mm field of view on full frame, and 85mm probably has no problem with covering full frame...
So I wouldn't mind that direction, either...

But something inexpensive and fun would suggest an interesting direction from Ricoh... and very different from the "high-end primes" direction from the majors...

-Eric

[reh321]

They already have the 50 1.8 and 35 2.4. An 85 1.8 seems to make more sense than a 24 2.8.

I believe they still lack an inexpensive KAF4 DA ‘standard’ lens.
It is good that they have improved the solenoids that they are currently putting into K-70’s but I’m not certain they will ever truly put the “Dark Image Syndrome” behind them until they release something like an inexpensive KAF4 18-50mm …….. all the recent lower tier camera bodies would natively allow a KAF4 lens to control the aperture itself.

[bladerunner6]

The reason I keep thinking of this in terms of the "plastic fantastic" is that it would give an inexpensive way into primes for both APS shooters (where life is more price-sensitive) and full frame (where there would be an expected but minor hit in image quality).

24mm on APS-C covers close to a 35mm on full frame, so a 24, 35, 50 DA triplet gives you an inexpensive way to get the same angle of view as you'd get from 35,50,75mm - so close to your 85mm 1.8...

That said, an 85mm f2.2 (or something weird) plastic fantastic would also be close to a 135mm field of view on full frame, and 85mm probably has no problem with covering full frame...
So I wouldn't mind that direction, either...

But something inexpensive and fun would suggest an interesting direction from Ricoh... and very different from the "high-end primes" direction from the majors...

-Eric

A $2000 85mm lens makes them way more than four times the money selling four $500 85mm lenses. Ricoh would have to have a huge seller in an 85mm plastic fantastic to justify what would be at least a few lost sales of the 85 Star lens.

I don’t see that happening. In this vastly depressed market for camera gear having a huge array of lenses isn’t viable.

[reh321]

A $2000 85mm lens makes them way more than four times the money selling four $500 85mm lenses. Ricoh would have to have a huge seller in an 85mm plastic fantastic to justify what would be at least a few lost sales of the 85 Star lens.

I don’t see that happening. In this vastly depressed market for camera gear having a huge array of lenses isn’t viable.

I don’t know how the demand for 85mm ‘plastic fantastic’ lenses would compare to the demand for 85mm ‘star’ lenses. We would need more information to make a definitive statement. Even in a depressed market, the demand for particular products matters - facts rather than opinions, matter.

[builttospill]

A $2000 85mm lens makes them way more than four times the money selling four $500 85mm lenses.

Actually, each of your scenarios above make them the same amount of money.

Pentax knows certain customers need the 85 1.4 and certain customers will only buy a 1.8. If this wasn't true they wouldn't have a 50 in 1.4 and 1.8. They wouldn't have a 70-200 2.8 and a 70-210 4.

[luftfluss]

Why even consider a "cheap" 85mm when there is already a 77/1.8 and 70/2.4? Pentax's very limited resources could surely be used elsewhere.

[builttospill]

Why even consider a "cheap" 85mm when there is already a 77/1.8 and 70/2.4? Pentax's very limited resources could surely be used elsewhere.

You make a very good point. Although the 70 and 77 lenses are much less expensive than the 85 1.4, they aren't cheap. Pentax knows their customers much better than we do, but they must sell enough of the 31 Limited, HD 35, 35 Macro, 35 2.4, 40 Limited, and 40 XS to keep producing each one.

[bladerunner6]

Actually, each of your scenarios above make them the same amount of money.

Pentax knows certain customers need the 85 1.4 and certain customers will only buy a 1.8. If this wasn't true they wouldn't have a 50 in 1.4 and 1.8. They wouldn't have a 70-200 2.8 and a 70-210 4.

Higher priced items generally have higher margins.

For example: a Nissan Versa is about 20k. There is a lot more profit in a single 40k pickup than in two Versas.

I certainly agree they need different items at different price points but I really don’t see them introducing many if any budget lenses.

The last real budget lens was 55-300 RE in June of 2016.

[TwoUptons]

I keep forgetting about the 70mm... though the existence of the 77 is part of why I think a 24mm is more likely as a DA "plastic fantastic" than something like an 85mm.

An inexpensive lens <30mm is something that doesn't currently exist for us...
We have the 31mm, three 35mm lenses, two 40mm lenses, a 43mm, two 50mm f1.4s, the 50mm f1.8, and the 55mm (is it officially gone yet?), but no 28mm or 24mm... that just seems weird...

We do have two 21mm lenses, and one is relatively affordable (but still 3x the price of the 50mm f1.8), but the reviews say it's nowhere near covering full frame...

And I get that margins are generally higher on more expensive items, but that only works if you can sell them... margins on the DA560 were probably vastly higher than on the 50mm f1.8, for example...

I also think the high-end, high-margin lenses are most likely to show up on roadmaps years before they're seen.
The less-expensive lenses and the refreshes seem more likely to just "appear" with little warning... so I'm hoping we'll see something new at the end of the month...

And 28mm on APS has about the same field of view as a 43mm Limited on full frame, while 24mm on APS has about the same as 35mm.
The first is a Pentax tradition of 25 years, the second goes back more than 60... (so a 24mm f2.3 maybe? to echo the original 35mm)
And both are classic focal lengths on full frame if the coverage is reasonable.

-Eric

[thibs]

Sure, but from RI point of view, there's more to be done from an FF range PoV : the 3 35mm just aren't : there's the HD FA 35/2 and that's it.
The 35 Limited is APS and the DA35/2.4 is APS too.
We all know the DA35 isn't that bad on FF since based on a FF optical formula but that's not the point : it is considered APS lenses by RI AFAICT.
The 40s are all APS of course and the DA50 and DA55 are APS too.

So, the list is like this on FF : DFA21, 31 Limited, HD FA35, 43 Limited, FA50 and DFA50. That's it + 77 Limited and DFA85 of course.

Fast modern DFA35 would be a nice standard on APS too which is missing since, well , decades...
Fast modern DFA24 would indeed make a nice 35mm-like on APS but 28mm would be nice too.