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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
09-02-2016, 11:14 AM
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Pentax's limited lenses are sui generis, and so cost comparisons to Nikon lenses are irrelevant. (Furthermore, with a much larger user base, Nikon has the advantages related to volume selling which make price comparisons moot in any case.) The limiteds are throwback lenses that illustrate the virtues of older Pentax glass and which serve to highlight some of the company's long-standing old school views on lens design. Their screwdrive AF helps keep them small and improves the tactile aspect of their handling, which is part of their charm. To put focus motors in these lenses would involve complicated redesigns and greatly increase their costs. And it's just not really necessary with lenses that were originally designed, in part, to celebrate Pentax's heritage as a great lens manufacturer.
I suspect it's unlikely that Pentax will produce any new lenses (other than possible updates to old lenses, such as the FA Limiteds) that use screwdrive. So in that sense Pentax already has "moved on." The only question is regarding existing screwdrive lenses, and that's a question that will be determined by the market. If the screwdrive lenses continue to sell, Pentax will continue to make them, regardless of what you or I or anyone else thinks about it.
In the meantime, it's far more important for Pentax to fill out their FF and MF lens lineups then it is to replace the remaining screwdrive lenses that persist in the APS-C lineup. There are more than enough APS-C DA lenses with focus motors to satisfy those who may be screwdrive-phobic.
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
09-02-2016, 09:42 AM
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But such people constitute a small sub-section of APS-C users. The main reason (not the only reason) that APS-C persists (and, at least in terms of numbers, continues to dominate in sales over FF) is lower cost of APS-C. Moreover, the lack of quiet AF in longer lenses hardly seems like a major issue in the Pentax lineup, as all the high end DA/DFA sports/wildlife telephotos have focus motors. So where's the problem?
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
09-02-2016, 09:17 AM
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Pentax already offers more APS-C lenses than either Canon or Nikon, so this is simply not an issue. As for modern AF lenses, well, you really only need "modern" AF for sports, and nobody makes APS-C sports lenses. There's really no point in making APS-C sports lenses, since such glass tends to be fast telephotos, and there's not much in the way of cost or size savings in making such lenses APS-C.
I own 12 AF K mount lenses. Only two of those have motors (DA* 300 and DA 16-85). The fact that the other ten are screwdrive makes no difference to me. Most of these lenses aren't and never could be "sports lenses" (wrong focal length and not fast enough), nor would you gain anything (except size or cost) by putting motors in them. I get it that some photographers have a special need for "quiet" lenses (for weddings, theater photos, etc.). But for most photographers shooting in wide to normal focal lengths (where Pentax screwdrive lenses tend to proliferate), it's not that big a deal. The desire to have a fully "modern" APS-C lineup with AF motors in all lenses is largely emotional, arising out of what social psychologists call "neophilia," or an irrational belief that the latest is always the greatest (it isn't).
The primary raison d'etre for APS-C is cost savings. Screw-drive lenses are less expensive than lenses with motors. The fact that the DA 35 f2.4 and the DA 50 f1.8 are screwdrive lenses is a feature, not a bug.
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
08-18-2016, 09:05 AM
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Not happening. The K-1 is already priced quite aggressively at $1,800. Stripping it down and using a 24 MP sensor (or even making it mirrorless) won't save that much money.
Not happening. Pentax's AF technology is not there yet (and won't be any time soon), and there's not enough lenses up to snuff for high-end action work in any case. Pentax's APS-C line-up is still better geared toward travel, nature, and landscape photography. The K-1 doesn't change that.
Not happening. Would require new lenses. A K-mount mirrorless would make more sense --- but it's not clear there's really a market for such a camera.
I would expect to see most of the FF lenses on the roadmap along with a variable aperture wide-angle zoom and a variable aperture telephoto zoom (to pair with the DFA 28-105). With the possible exception of the FA Limiteds, we won't see any retreads of old legendary glass. Those were lenses designed for film. New lenses will all be designed for the demands of high resolution digital cameras.
In the short term, no. Long term, maybe.
It's on life support. Probably won't make it.
No.
Develop the ability to make comparable cameras and lenses at a lower price point than canikon. This will take some time --- there's no quick fix.
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