Vote for Pentax

[oreo57]

http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-983...g=2547-1_3-0-5

[robar]

oreo57 wrote:

http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-983...g=2547-1_3-0-5

bottom line ???

pentax needs more ''modern'' lenses.. and please don't let them be DA lenses
just my 2¢

roy

[Trojansoc]

robar wrote:

pentax needs more ''modern'' lenses.. and please don't let them be DA lenses
just my 2¢

I had an interesting chat a few days ago with one of the techs at Pentax's NA headquarters in Colorado (I had a bad lenscap on my DA*50-135). I told him of my frustration at the fact Tamron and Sigma had chosen not to offer the Pentax mount on 70-200 f2.8's. His rather cryptic comment was to the effect that "maybe they know what Pentax is about to release." He wouldn't go into any detail, but said the upcoming announcements of Pentax lenses are going to be very exciting. How much was hype I don't know, but I found it an interesting conversation.

BTW....it was a refreshing experience to talk to a tech rep who actually spoke English as a first language without a heavy accent. Anyone who has experienced the norm in tech rep conversations in the last few years knows what I mean.

[bigdawg]

A renewall of the FA* line Wide aperture with HSM would be good and especially if they were at a more reasonable price.

Dawg

[Monza76]

The latest DA* lenses look promising, but they need more of the longer focal lengths soon. I am also disappointed that the DALimited lenses do not have faster apertures like the older FA Limiteds did. When I first got my DL I was more interested in the camera body announcements but now that Pentax has a decent camera line up I would like to see a fleshing out of the lens line. I do not have a large photography budget but I will try to please my LBA with one new lens a year.

Ira

[baltochef920]

It seems to me that Pentax should be able to bring back the FA* lenses or a new line of similar full-frame 35mm-size lenses w/o completely re-tooling the old production lines that were in Japan..

Dismissing for a moment, the extremism that led to the European Union & the United States to ban all items with even a trace amount of lead in them; as a former machinist it seems to me that a substitute for the lead in the lenses should be a relatively easy solution to come up with..

And, since FA lenses are still being manufactured & marketed in the USA & EU the solution appears to have already been found..

Canon, Nikon, Olympus, & Leica all seem to be selling a fair number of expensive high-end lenses, wide-angle, normal, telephoto, & extreme telephoto; so Pentax cannot claim that there is no market for bringing back the older FA* designs w/o the lead..Even if they made limited production runs for say a 5-year period of time using a deposit-only basis for ordering; it would go a long way towards appeasing the world wide demand for glass..

I agree with Ira that fast primes are what's needed the most..Both fast aperatures & fast focusing..The 20mm, 24mm, 85mm, 135mm, 200mm, 300mm, 400mm, 500mm, & 600mm focal lengths need to be represented within the next 24 months..In addition, the 200mm macro needs to be brought back..

But even more importantly then fast primes, Pentax REALLY needs to have both full-frame & APS-C sized teleconverters & extension tubes that allow for both high-speed focusing & data transfer..If they have been lacking in the lens department, then they have trully been remiss with no teleconverters & extension tubes..

If Pentax does not dissappear as a camera brand altogether, then they need to step up to the plate & start offering their loyal customer base the lenses & accessories to go along with the cameras..Otherwise, the third-party manufacturers will step in to take that piece of Pentax's business that Pentax themselves is failing to support..

Bruce

[Monza76]

baltochef920 wrote:

If Pentax does not disappear as a camera brand altogether, then they need to step up to the plate & start offering their loyal customer base the lenses & accessories to go along with the cameras..Otherwise, the third-party manufacturers will step in to take that piece of Pentax's business that Pentax themselves is failing to support..

Bruce

If Pentax does disappear ( and no other company continues the technology like SONY did with Minolta), it does not affect me in the immediate future since the cameras I now own should be good for at least the next five years, and the older FA and FA* lenses are still out there BUT... The new limited series needed faster apertures, and Bruce is right about new DA orD-FAauto-focus accessories such as teleconverters and extension tubes. Pentax primes may be super sharpbut the market puts more emphasis on the numbers, faster apertures sell better than intangibles such as ultimate image quality.

The DA* 300mm f4.5 may be a stellar performer (like its FA* forebear) but when you see faster glass from other manufacturers you may quickly lose interest in Pentax and move on (as several of our wildlife photographer members have already done, migrating to Canon or Nikon for the long fast lenses). I just keep looking for used FA* lenses in good shape at a price I can afford (no luck so far).

Pentax and Olympus both have a strange distinction, they are great innovators but they keep it very quiet. Olympus has risen out of that quiet stage since the onset of digital by making a big deal about the 4/3rds standard. They have been slow in replacing their high end model but they have developed a lens line that has some truly stellar performers. Pentax is finally in the hunt since the K-series DSLRs have hit the market, now they need to catch up in lens development. They currently have high quality lenses from 10mm to 135mm ( and 300mm when the DA* is available), I leave out the 18-250mm and the 50-200mm because these are good lenses but aimed more for the casual shooter than the professional or advanced amateur (a level I aspire to).

Sorry for the ramble but the writing muse has returned after a prolonged absense, this is a warning for many wordy posts to follow. I may even start taking pictures again.!!

Ira

[TDN]

Interesting that leica came out above Panasonic and Fuji (!)...

Leica is way too expensive for the quality of the body you get. Sure their glass is incredible, but it also renders you poor...

Panasonic scoring low I can understand, because they're really really new into the DSLR market.

But Fuji really surprises me. I would ahve expected it right under Olympus. Their sensors are really great, and since they use Nikon bodies, they have good ergonomics too.


Pentax is where I expected it to be: the best alternative

Tom

[bigdawg]

Monza76 wrote:

The latest DA* lenses look promising, but they need more of the longer focal lengths soon. I am also disappointed that the DALimited lenses do not have faster apertures like the older FA Limiteds did. When I first got my DL I was more interested in the camera body announcements but now that Pentax has a decent camera line up I would like to see a fleshing out of the lens line. I do not have a large photography budget but I will try to please my LBA with one new lens a year.

Ira

Amazing Will Power!!! I'm trying to hold the line at 10!!

Dawg

[Robert Barnett]

Well, sometimes I think people in the US go overboard. Yes, any amount of lead in kids toys should be banned. Kids put nearly everything in their mouths. Lead in lenses, come on when was the last time you saw a photographer sucking on his lens?

Lead for the most part is like anti-bacterial soaps and stuff. The only thing we are doing is panicing over nothing and making more bacteria that is resistent to what few working anti-biotics we have. The world is germie place but for some reason all the rage it to be 100% germ free. It's just dumb.

Robert