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07-13-2007, 02:04 PM   #1
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Upcoming lenses per Pentax CS

Apologies if this is old news, but just in case . . .

For fun, I decided to call Pentax U.S. Customer Support directly to ask for some help making distinctions between a couple items.

The person tried to help and we ended up having a nice chat. I lamented the lack of availability of lenses and the Pentax person exclaimed, "Oh, we've got LOTS of lenses coming." "Oh, you mean the 16-50 and 50-135?" I ventured.

"Oh, not just those, we've got a bunch more!"

"Really? Like what?"

Pentax person rummages about and finds a list and reads off the following:

200mm and 300mm fixed focal lengths supposedly coming in September.

These are "due around December":

35mm macro

55mm DFA

17-70

55-300

60-250

Oddly enough the list didn't mention aperture ranges (yes, I did ask and express surprise). All are 'digital' lenses in that Pentax will no longer make lenses compatible with film bodies.

FWIW/Scottax1

07-13-2007, 02:07 PM   #2
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well if no one wonts ther "film" body lenes i will take them lol
07-13-2007, 02:27 PM   #3
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Probably looking at this chart as all the focal lengths match up The chart does mention aperture as well.



Even says the target availability of September 2007. But then again, the two DA* everyone's been talking about has been held back for a while now.
07-13-2007, 03:45 PM   #4
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I agree it sounds like the Pentax guy you spoke to was just reading off the "Road map" posted by Avant, rather than going off any real information from Japan on availability. Of course it's possible that after the latest delay of the two DA* lenses we will suddenly see all the others turning up as well... just seems unlikely.

As for Pentax not making any more lenses that are compatible with film, this is expected, but if there are to be no more at all ever then the two "D-FA" macro lenses seem like a bit of a strange exception. Anyway the next year or so should be very interesting.

07-13-2007, 04:43 PM   #5
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There a re a few details that are a bit disturbing. First: where the heck is the new DA 35/x SDM? That's the one I'm interested in, together with the DA* 55/1.4 SDM. DFA 55??

strange,
07-13-2007, 05:52 PM   #6
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Well the 35mm is there (the 35mm f/2.8 Macro), as is the 55mm f/1.4... there are just no dates for them yet.

I wouldn't consider it all that strange or disturbing that they are not coming soon - IMO it makes sense that a 55mm should be the least of Pentax's priorities... since you can currently get your hands on a 50mm f/1.4 FA. A 35mm f/2 FA is also available in the form of its "Samsung" version. Meanwhile the macro aspect is already covered by the two D-FA lenses. It makes sense that Pentax would first focus on releasing lenses that cover needs not currently addressed, like the faster and longer telephotos on that roadmap.

As for why the 35mm and 50mm are not listed as SDM... bear in mind it's only a "road map" and subject to changes, so by their release they may have SDM... but even if they don't, it is not a great loss since even with a standard camera-driven mechanism these lenses will probably focus very fast, as the 35mm FA does.
07-13-2007, 06:19 PM   #7
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Hi Mr B

I know what a roadmap is. I can whine about it without blushing: The roadmap is published by Pentax as an advertising thing, someting that is presented to customers as a future to come. This is clearly done to make people interested in buying into the Pentax system.

I don't care about a 35/2.8 macro. I care about a DA 35/x SDM. They are both on the roadmap and supposed to be here by now, or at least pretty soon. To me the new fast, silently focusing (with quickshift) normal lens was advertised to be here now, not in a year or so.

[/whining]

regards,

07-13-2007, 06:23 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by ZaphodB Quote
As for why the 35mm and 50mm are not listed as SDM... bear in mind it's only a "road map" and subject to changes, so by their release they may have SDM...
But 35 is listed as SDM. Look closer, there are two 35s one macro and one SDM (only a dot now), but everyone expects it to be optically the same as FA 35mm F2 AL, perhaps with 8 aperture blades.

However, the "missing" lens IMO is DA*22mm F2 SDM to complement DA*55mm F1.4 SDM. A pair of high-quality and fast moderate wide and moderate telephoto lenses should be everything most photographers would ever need.
07-13-2007, 06:59 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jonas B Quote
Hi Mr B

I know what a roadmap is. I can whine about it without blushing: The roadmap is published by Pentax as an advertising thing, someting that is presented to customers as a future to come. This is clearly done to make people interested in buying into the Pentax system.

I don't care about a 35/2.8 macro. I care about a DA 35/x SDM. They are both on the roadmap and supposed to be here by now, or at least pretty soon. To me the new fast, silently focusing (with quickshift) normal lens was advertised to be here now, not in a year or so.

[/whining]

regards,
Hey I won't try to stop you whining. Check some of my recent posts and you'll find I can be a fairly prolific whiner myself

Now having said that... I can see why a 35mm f/2 (which is what I assume the X to be) would be preferable to an f/2.8... I can't see why the SDM would be such a massive benefit though... a fast 35mm without SDM will still have very fast autofocus because it is a fast 35mm, and being a DA lens it will also have the clutch AF/MF system. As for noise, personally I don't find non-silent AF such a bad thing (because AFAIK the DSLR shutters aren't silent yet)... my main point though is that it is already possible to buy a fast AF 35mm for a Pentax dSLR. It's not a DA and doesn't have SDM but it is there... sure it would be nice if we could now have a 35mm f/2.8 and 35mm SDM to go along with the 35mm f/2, but then there would be a choice of at least 3 fast 35mm lenses - not forgetting that 35mm will be covered by the (fast) 16-50mm! That's potentially four ways to get a fast 35mm... meanwhile there is no currently available fast telephoto zoom from either Pentax or any third-party. That's why IMO that end of things is being (and should be) prioritised by Pentax.

As for when the 35mm lenses are supposed to be here... to be fair to Pentax, that roadmap gives no dates at all for them or even "Near Future", and in the case of the SDM it doesn't even give a max aperture, so in this case they haven't failed to deliver, because in this case they didn't actually say when (or in one case what) they would deliver... unlike in the case of the 16-50 and 50-135 however where the roadmap clearly says "Available in the near future", and shops were told when the lenses should be available... which proved to be "optimistic".

QuoteOriginally posted by Ivan Glisin Quote
However, the "missing" lens IMO is DA*22mm F2 SDM to complement DA*55mm F1.4 SDM. A pair of high-quality and fast moderate wide and moderate telephoto lenses should be everything most photographers would ever need.
Thanks for pointing out the two 35mms. First things first, let's not forget that all of the lenses on the roadmap are "missing" right now in the sense that none of us can actually use them as of yet. As for a 22mm f/2... well we all have our own ideas of what would make the system more complete... for you it's a 22mm, for me its a 70-200... but I'll say this: You won't get very far trying to tell most photographers that they only need a moderate wide and a moderate telephoto lens just look at all the people who buy expensive dSLRs only to stick 14x zooms on the end of them... please don't misunderstand, sometimes I am happy to walk around all day with a single prime lens or two, but it's far from everything I'll ever need, and any company will have a hard time persuading most consumers that it's all they need either.
07-14-2007, 07:47 PM   #10
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200 macro...

...is still the lens I want. Isn't even on a road map yet.
Also want new teleconverter that AFs. Also a 400 or bigger that is under $2000. Guess I like the extremes. Already have the 10-17.
thanks
barondla
07-15-2007, 12:32 PM   #11
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Baron... I'd like a 200mm macro too but one that already exists... namely the f/4 A ED... fair warning to all, I intend to track down and rob one so lock yours up safely
08-29-2007, 05:00 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jonas B Quote
There a re a few details that are a bit disturbing. First: where the heck is the new DA 35/x SDM? That's the one I'm interested in, together with the DA* 55/1.4 SDM. DFA 55??

strange,
Are you referring to the D FA 55 in the Roadmap? It says D FA 645 D 55mm 2.8
What the hell!! Isn't the 645D dropped? (as many Pentaxians believe)
08-29-2007, 05:21 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by ZaphodB Quote
As for Pentax not making any more lenses that are compatible with film, this is expected, but if there are to be no more at all ever then the two "D-FA" macro lenses seem like a bit of a strange exception. Anyway the next year or so should be very interesting.
To be expected yes, but also lamented. I wish they were making all their new lenses as "D-FA" that way should they ever decide to produce a FF camera like Nikon/Camera then there would be ens support without further inflating the price of used FA lenses.
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