|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-13-2019, 03:19 PM
|
| |
If you read the review, it clearly says that the DFA 50 macro was tested on a K5 IIs. The assumption has to be that the edges will be worse on a K-1 than reported here.
But in a sense you are right, you shouldn't buy a DFA *50 to shoot it mainly at f11. It shines at wide apertures.
I'll say again. I have a DA *55 and it is fine for my purposes. I don't need excellent sharpness at f1.4. But I also think we need to be honest that there aren't many other lenses out there that give this sort of border sharpness at similar apertures.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-13-2019, 02:02 PM
|
| |
Well, I think the big issue with film era lenses is that they are quite prone to purple fringing. And every one of the FA limiteds is a culprit.
As far as the 50 macro outperforming the DFA 50 f1.4, it is difficult for me to say when it can't shoot at f1.4 to f2.8. On the other hand, if you need flat field and macro ability, the DFA *50 isn't going meet those needs either.
Ephotozine tested both lenses: Pentax SMC P-D FA 50mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Review and HD Pentax-D FA 50mm f/1.4 SDM AW Lens Review Bearing in mind that the DFA 50 macro was tested on APS-C and the DFA *50 on a K-1, I do think the edge performance of the DFA *50 is considerably better than the macro.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-10-2019, 07:05 AM
|
| |
We are probably making too much about a small difference in resolution. The issue with shooting the DFA *50 at f1.4 isn't going to be that there isn't enough border resolution, it is simply that there won't be enough depth of field for many subjects.
This is the reason that folks who shoot macro shots do focus stacking. Because even if your macro lens is brutally sharp at f2.8, your subject probably won't be because you need more depth of field than it offers there.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-08-2019, 03:04 PM
|
| |
That's fine. I'm really not arguing that this lens has no purpose. Clearly many want/need it. Just as clearly, I can see the difference with the other options out there. I just don't personally need a lens that is sharp with minimal vignetting at f1.4, because I don't shoot there a whole lot.
(although maybe I would more if I owned this lens).
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-08-2019, 01:11 PM
|
| |
I think the one thing I would say in this respect is that I would not photograph most buildings at f1.4. You probably need to be stopped down quite a bit for most buildings, meaning that edge sharpness at f1.4 is probably immaterial.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-08-2019, 11:57 AM
|
| |
The point of the DFA *50 is two-fold. One is simply to be a bench mark lens that Pentax can point to as proof that they can still design top end lenses. The second thing is for people who believe (rightly or wrongly) that they need edge to edge sharpness wide open.
I can clearly see the differences between the DFA *50's performance and older designs, even than the DA *55. That isn't to say that I will get this lens, as I am pretty happy with the DA *55, even though it does have soft-ish corners wide open, but I am glad that Pentax has made the effort to release another top end lens.
We complain about the lack of lenses like the A *135 and FA *200 macro, but honestly, to me, this is one of those lenses -- a lens that not everyone needs, but that stands above most of the other options on the market.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-07-2019, 12:03 PM
|
| |
I think the Sigma 50 f1.4 is 810 grams and the Pentax DFA *50 is 910 grams, so 100 grams difference...
(B and H numbers).
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-04-2018, 02:52 AM
|
| |
Not all mirrorless ILCs are tiny. As long as the specifications are there, the ergonomics are good, and the camera is relatively compact, it would be fine. I think the K-P is proof that small size alone doesn't sell (many) cameras.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-30-2018, 07:34 AM
|
| |
It is a bit off topic.
I would just say a couple of things (a) the main point of the K-1 II is the accelerator. If you aren't interested in it then there is probably little point in the K-1 II as a camera. (b) If you disable the accelerator, the improvement in auto focus and certainly the dynamic pixel shift may go away. There is not telling what things have been off loaded to the accelerator to allow for some tweaks to tracking auto focus. People have acted as though Pentax could just port the dynamic pixel shift and auto focus improvements to the original K-1, but my guess is that those things require the accelerator in order that the whole thing doesn't gring to a halt.
But we don't know, do we? You assume that you are looking at a stack of blocks and you could just take these two items away from the base and nothing would happen, but it is possible that the whole thing falls down if you take one of those away.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-30-2018, 04:21 AM
|
| |
Personally, I believe the reports of smoothing are way over blown. They aren't "fake news," but they are relatively unimportant in every day shooting. At the same time they pop up in just about every thread, even ones where the K-1 II isn't really the point of the discussion. I own both the K-1 and K-1 II and the K-1 II has less noise at high iso, but otherwise you would have a hard time telling their output apart at normal viewing and printing sizes. To me, the question is if you take your camera to a museum or to your kid's play and have to shoot at iso 12K, can you do it? The answer is that the K-1 II makes such an iso much more usable and that's enough.
As far as DP Review sinking Pentax's ship, I doubt that highly. And I don't think that Ricoh feels that this is a big deal because folks, like yourself, who are upset over the K-1 II's smoothing of RAW images just will buy a K-1, if they were ever interested in Pentax in the first place. At the same time, strangely a lot of folks seem to be actually purchasing a K-1 II and upgrading their K-1s, meaning that they do see some benefit from the upgrade.
In the end, Ricoh will make money on the K-1 II -- it is a relatively minor upgrade, but one that boosts what were probably flagging K-1 sales. It helps with funds for R and D going forward. As to whether or not they have compulsory smoothing on cameras going forward, I have no idea, but my guess is that they'll do the best they can to satisfy everyone, meaning I suppose, that no one will truly be happy.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-30-2018, 02:40 AM
|
| |
DP Review was never going to give the K-1 II a good score unless it was a Sony NEX clone. They want high end video (it wasn't coming with this camera), faster frame rates (once again not possible with this sensor), and smaller body size. The K-1 II is a tweak of the K-1 body, nothing more or less. It does indicate that Ricoh is committed to the K mount and certainly you will be able to use the DFA 50 on the K-1 -- there will even be a firmware update to include a lens profile for it -- although that is probably unimportant to most folks as it is only usable for jpeg shots.
I wouldn't worry about Pentax. There is enough of a road map to indicate that Pentax (the k mount) is going to be around for quite awhile.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-25-2018, 02:43 AM
|
| |
For me, a Pentaxian is one who uses Pentax gear to the best of their ability and enjoys both it and the process of photography and shares what information and skill they have with others. Plenty of Pentaxians use other gear as well, but it is more the attitude that they have and the appreciations they have for both Pentax's history and its present situation.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
06-23-2018, 03:06 AM
|
| |
Maybe Adam needs to make a Tinder section of the Forum.
Maybe a bit tough since I believe the ratio of men to women here is something like 6 or 7 to 1.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-23-2018, 02:57 AM
|
| |
I would just say that MJKoski has very high expectations of his gear. He uses it in extreme situations (truthfully, outside of manufacturer's specifications) and is trying to get every bit of detail and sharpness out of an image.
The hard part is that his needs are actually pretty different from most of ours. It feels a bit to me like a Formula One driver complaining because a Subaru Outback doesn't have the acceleration and cornering that he has come to expect in his vehicles. Very true, but the people looking at Subarus don't generally have that level of expectation. A lot of us are hobby photographers and even those who shoot weddings and portrait sessions aren't generally pushing our gear to the levels that MJ does.
I still feel like Pentax makes camera bodies and lenses that are exceptional -- at the price. I expect the DFA 50 to be the same, although there is no perfect lens and I'm sure it will have some flaws, minor though they may be.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-20-2018, 03:08 AM
|
| |
Pentax needs a variety of lenses -- some of them more expensive and some of them cheap. The DFA *50 is clearly going to be on the expensive side, the question is whether it lives up to that cost.
Spending money on glass, to me, is better than spending it on a new camera body. Glass isn't really forever -- particularly not if it has in lens motors -- but it does last a long time and if you buy good glass, you are inclined to continue shooting with it. There are plenty of folks on here still shooting with the FA * lenses which were every bit as expensive (or more so) at the time of their release. Prorated over 15 years a 1350 cost doesn't seem so bad.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-18-2018, 01:29 PM
|
| |
I'm afraid that the price is going to be north of 1000 dollars. Based on other lenses with similar specs, that's probably reasonable. It remains to see where Tokina prices theirs. I imagine it will be a little cheaper than the Pentax offering, but not much (it is a third party lens, after all).
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-18-2018, 07:54 AM
|
| |
It certainly would be an interesting button, the "add CA" button, but I don't know how much use I would find for it.
Maybe better to have a button that just outlines all objects with purple.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
05-17-2018, 02:41 AM
|
| |
And you, Sir, are a barrel of positivity! Love your cheery posts here... :lol:
A lens is a piece of glass. Some are better than others. More important to me than wide open performance are things like contrast, flare resistance, and micro contrast and my guess is that this lens will do pretty well in all those areas except maybe flare resistance. But in the end, it is more about the photographer than the glass and I imagine someone with skill would be able to make this lens shine, even if it is an overcorrected, dull prime that doesn't give motivation to shoot.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-18-2018, 12:47 PM
|
| |
SDM is a designation that tells you next to nothing. It is clearly a group of motors that have little to do with each other. The SDM designation is used for all of the DA * primes (55, 200, 300), DA * zooms (16-50, 50-135, 60-250), and the Tamron manufactured DFA zooms (15-30, 24-70). A couple of those lenses have had real issues over time with their in lens motors, most don't. I don't know that changing the designation would do much in this situation.
Even now, it feels as though most SDM problems are focused on the 16-50 and 50-135 with occasional outliers popping up here and there.
The reality is that any time you have an in lens motor you can have issues with in lens motor failures, they just shouldn't be a high percentage of the lenses released that fail quickly. But given enough time, even high quality ring motors will fail if used enough.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-18-2018, 02:39 AM
|
| |
Exactly. The issue apparently is getting enough copies assembled to release it onto the market. I have no idea what their first run is going to be. A few thousand copies? Anyway, everyone wants the lens to be out there yesterday and ready to buy (I don't have money for it now so not as big a deal to me). The important thing is that there is a high level of quality control. The last thing you want is sites like DP Review saying (as I believe they did with the DA *55) that they tested three copies and everyone had decentering issues -- or whatever else could affect the production process.
I do hope that they iron these things out and further releases for the DFA * line up down the road go smoother.
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-17-2018, 08:04 AM
|
| |
I believe that Saruman was a Pentaxian in the beginning, but was seduced by Fuji. So sad...
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-17-2018, 03:05 AM
|
| |
Is this DFA *50 the "One lens to rule them all and in the darkness bind them?"
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-17-2018, 02:44 AM
|
| |
Isn't the enemy of good "better?" It is easy to resist the urge of a new lens until folks starting shooting with it and then suddenly you get this uncomfortable feeling that you too could be producing great works of art if only you had the right piece of glass. And it starts calling you name. And then one day you come home to a package from B and H and open it to find a new DFA *50 in your possession. :lol:
The sad thing is that the end of the story is that while you take a bunch of photos with the new lens, they actually look amazingly similar to the photos you were taking before...
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-14-2018, 03:17 AM
|
| |
First of all, the DFA *50 does exist -- there are plenty of photos of it and from it that prove that it is out there. The issue is for Pentax making sure that they can turn out high quality copies in sufficient volumes to satisfy the demand. This is not a bad thing. I remember huge problems with decentered DA * 16-50s when they were first released and SDM problems. Better to wait a few months and have everything go off perfectly, than to have poor copies end up on the market and sour people on the brand.
Second, as others have mentioned, there are a lot of 50-ish lenses out there right now that can be used on a K-1 -- the DA 50, FA 50, DA *55, and FA 43 all come to mind (plus all of the manual focus 50s). If you desperately need a 50-ish lens for the next three months, get one of those and enjoy it and then sell it when the DFA 50 is finally released.
It really isn't the end of the world (although it's close)...
|
|
Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
04-13-2018, 02:46 AM
|
| |
Obviously we don't know anything specific, but my guess is that this has little to do with the teams designing new lenses and everything to do with production and insuring quality of the end product. Assuming that the processes are put into place to insure that for the DFA * 50, they should already be there for subsequent lenses which follow like the DFA *85, DFA 70-200 f4, etc.
It is clear that Pentax could use more resources and that 2 to 3 top end, new lenses a year is about their max, but i do think that once they get production issues ironed out that other DFA * lenses will have a smoother release.
|
