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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-04-2020, 07:02 PM
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Yeah, OK, I'll buy that... though I've also seen some reasonable prices on used 60-250s... and I'm looking forward to seeing how the upcoming 70-200 does vs the Tamron and Sigma f2.8s (though my focus is full frame)
I could go also go really cheap and break out the SMC 300mm f4 or 200mm f2.5, but I figure we'll have to draw the line somewhere :D
I think, though, that indoor "low-end" basketball with a modern body is an excellent test for any of these lenses...
If I'm lucky enough to win the KNEW in this month's drawing, I'll be happy to try it if I can borrow the requisite lenses...
In the more likely event I'm not that lucky, that's one Adam should look into...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
01-04-2020, 06:34 PM
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When I shot college basketball with my Super Program and TMAX 3200 (pushed to 12800 at times... which looks like painted gravel taped to a page...), I usually used a 135mm f2.5 or a 50mm f1.4 from edges of the court.
I only later found out the folks at the school with the better team up the street put strobes in the ceiling of their arena and fired them with radio slaves... f8 with ISO 400... I hated them after that :p
If I were going to shoot from the edges of the court with APS-C today, I'd probably do what you've suggested here and go with a 50-150 f2.8. On APS-C, that's a very handy range for basketball at close range.
If I were going to shoot with APS-C from the bleachers like a parent or grandparent, I'd want the 55-300 for the reach... and I'd expect a lot of garbage shots...
I'd do better with a monopod (if I could get it in past security), but I can't think of anything with the reach from the bleachers that is any better without costing more than $1,000...
The coming 70-200 f4 would be better than the 50-150 from the bleachers, I think, as I think the extra stop of the 50-150 probably isn't worth the zoom range from a distance on a modern body (that might be different on one of the older 16Mp bodies like your old K5), but I think the 55-300 will still be competitive because of the price.
I'll admit to looking forward to seeing how that ISO trade on modern bodies works against an aperture trade with a better, faster, shorter lens and a slower, longer lens less focused on the higher end...
I'm sure Adam will put that on his list for the eventual review :D
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
12-21-2019, 10:12 AM
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I think part of the problem with some of this discussion is a conflation of wider apertures with better image quality without including aspects like this.
If I were shooting weddings for a living, I’d probably want a f2.8 70-200 just for the improved balance of ambient light and strobe it would allow.
But I’m not :)
And it may be foolish for me to expect a 70-200 f4 to offer similar performance to the 70-200 f2.8 where they share apertures, but that’s what I’m expecting... along with a weight savings and usability with a teleconverter (and a teleconverter to do that with would be nice...)
But while I don’t need f2.8 in this range, I totally understand the people who do, and I understand why they got ‘their lens’ first...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
11-03-2019, 05:24 AM
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I would see the 70-200 f4 serving as a lower cost alternative to the DFA 70-200 f2.8 but also as a faster-focusing alternative to the DA*60-250 for APS shooters.
It seems there is a demand, as the lens is on the roadmap and has been acknowledged as being in work but delayed, so I still expect it before any of the wides...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-29-2019, 10:22 AM
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If Ricoh wants to send me a preproduction copy of the new 70-200f4, I will happily compare it to the old F70-210, the A200f4, the K45-125, and anything else I have around the house. :)
I’ll settle it once and for all... or until something else comes up...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-27-2019, 11:15 AM
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If the 70-200f4 were destined to be a * lens, I would have expected it to show up that way on the roadmap.
That said, I expect it to be in the same neighborhood as the Canon...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-26-2019, 03:09 PM
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25 years ago or so, I came across a good deal on a 500c kit.
I called my wife and told her I wanted to buy it and the price.
Without even a pause, she said sure. I was amazed, but I bought it.
I got home that night and told her how surprised I’d been that she had said OK to a $720 camera.
$720?! I thought you said $120...
She let me keep it...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-20-2019, 03:07 AM
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There was (is?) a full-frame compatible tele-zoom on the roadmap.
There's some uncertainty of the range... is it 55-300 or 70-300 or something else?
The consensus at the time it was shown (February?) was that it would be similar in scope to the 28-105, so not optically fast but hopefully a quick-focusing, high quality, consumer zoom.
It's distinct from the 70-200 f4, but we don't really know anything else about it...
I've been hoping it fell into the "we won't announce it, we'll just start selling it" category some time this year.
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-17-2019, 04:05 AM
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Thanks for filling in some of the holes.
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-16-2019, 05:12 PM
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But there’s a link to Twitter and a bunch of writing in a language I don’t read... how much more legitimate can something get on the internet? :)
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-16-2019, 04:47 PM
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Suspended... I don’t like that word...
Delayed is bad, suspended is even worse...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-09-2019, 11:17 AM
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I thought the length was its mirrorless magic trick.
Because of something you can only do with a huge mount right next to the sensor, the lens can be made unexpectedly compact.
But, yeah, we’ll know when we know...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-09-2019, 01:18 AM
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I’d be completely happy with a revised DFA*60-250 f4, even if it was the same price, as long as the focus speed was improved.
That said, I don’t think that’s what we’ll get.
The 70-200 f4 has never been advertised as a “*” lens, so I expect it to not be as good as the DA*60-250 is on APS (though, again, the 60-250 optically is apparently capable of decent FF coverage with the baffle removed).
A challenge is how to sell a DFA70-200 against the DA* without ending sales of the latter... unless that’s the intent... and it will functionally replace the 60-250...
I’d like it to be a lightweight travel lens, with WR and good image quality- a partner for the 28-105 in terms of capability and price.
I hope we find out soon :)
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-08-2019, 12:56 AM
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I’ll be relegating my F70-210 to film use, though I hope the 70-200 f4 will work on the K-01 and K10...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-05-2019, 10:08 PM
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I wonder...
Some of the DPR folks also seem tired of optical excellence at the expense of all else.
Maybe that’s our niche...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-05-2019, 12:30 AM
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I think every camera manufacturer is in the same situation...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-04-2019, 01:08 PM
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The 28-105 isn’t a pro lens...
And it needs a telephoto friend...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-03-2019, 04:11 PM
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I agree, but they’re good enough that they prevent some people from becoming enthusiasts...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-03-2019, 03:56 PM
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Don’t let’s get that mess started again :)
Yes, 70-200...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
10-03-2019, 02:50 PM
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In terms of full frame telephoto zoom lenses there are the 70-210 f2.8, the 150-450, and that’s it, right? So two?
Add the 28-105 as something that touches telephoto and that’s still pretty thin... I’m not going to count the 24-70...
I think the proposed 70-200 f4 and 55-300-ish zoom fill that in nicely.
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-28-2019, 12:01 PM
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So with the "Unnamed top-end APS-C" camera being previewed at public events, has anyone heard anything about the 70-200 f4?
I would have expected folks to be asking about it and the 85mm, if nothing else (and there's always something else).
I tried to shoot my daughter's soccer match today with a panasonic P&S, and all that resulted in was profanity (under my breath, as she's six...)
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
09-11-2019, 03:00 PM
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I'm just going to guess that if Pentax went mirrorless tomorrow and released the K1-01 full frame body with 42Mp sensor and 4k video, Sigma still wouldn't make lenses for it.
Unless it used a Nikon, Canon, or Leica mount...
SLR or mirrorless, the volumes from Pentax aren't there, and until they are, the big third-party lens makers won't be doing anything for Pentax...
This isn't the 1990s, where there was enough lens volume from everyone to make keeping up with autofocus electronics worth it...
That said, I'm hoping Ricoh is still planning on releasing the 70-200 f4... Football season has started again, and I was hoping to have something better than my F70-210...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-27-2019, 03:52 PM
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That would be weird to sell as a DFA... is it *quality at the edges on FF?
It also seems weird from a customer satisfaction perspective to sell a lens that requires a service in order to work on the flagship...
And would they rework it as a DFA 60-250 with a revised baffle? Other changes? That might be expensive, especially if development of the 70-200 is done, so there wouldn’t be as much cost savings...
There was also a rumor the 70-200 was going to be compact, which is a different thing from the 60-250 and would even offer something to the APS crowd...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-21-2019, 11:50 AM
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I think this is the problem... the 70-200 f4 is going to be a premium consumer lens (not a * or a limited), so it won’t be cheap.
If it costs too much, the value proposition will fail vs. the 70-210 f2.8 and the 60-250 f4 DA*.
If it costs too little, they won’t make any money and they’ll kill sales of the 60-250, which is presumably profitable at this point.
And that’s assuming it’s basically done... never mind any potential technical issues...
-Eric
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
08-21-2019, 08:20 AM
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Exactly what I was thinking :)
-Eric
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