New DA lenses on their way

Pentax has updated their lens roadmap to include a DA 35mm SDM prime, and DA 17-70mm and 55-300mm zooms. No availibility info as yet.

The recently announced 18-250mm zoom is on there too, expected availability October 2007 (make that March 200.

I find it curious that these new zooms are not using SDM focussing.

I think the reason the 18-250 doesn't have SDM is it's more or less a rebadged Tamron. Tamron don't have ultrasonic motor technology, so neither does the 18-250.

It's a bit disappointing that it looks like the 55-300 wont have it though. Kind of a long focal range too, nearly 6x, I would have prefered to see something a little more modest in terms of focal ratio with good image quality throughout. Still, it remains to be seen what this lens will be capable of, and since it doesn't even have a guesstimate at availability timescale I think we'll be waiting a while.

Well on that roadmap, the DA* 60-250 is also shown, which is more modest in zoom range, is SDM, and will presumably be very good optically.

I guess they're trying to open up clear water between the DA* series and what might be aimed more at the consumer level.

I wonder what that DFA 645 55mm is doing there still, now that they've effectively cancelled the 645D.

Er... but isn't the new roadmap just the old roadmap but with the 18-250 added, and the projected release dates for the other lenses actually removed? As I remember it, the 35mm and the 17-70 were already on the last roadmap.

The DA 35 Macro was there before but I don't remember the 17-70 or 55-300 or 35 SDM being there.

not totally sure about the 55-300 or the 35mm SDM but I'm pretty sure I've seen a roadmap including the 17-70 before.

I know there is the 60-250SDM, looks likely to be a fine lens. The problem I see (and it's not just limited to Pentax) is that we're going to be stuck with a huge gap in lens prices.

Look at the current lineup for longish zooms,

you've got about 3 options new, 5 or 6 if you include second hand, in the £100-£200 bracket. These lenses are fine, but they aren't very fast (4.5-5.6) and generally get a bit soft by 300mm.

If you have tons of cash, theres the Sigma 100-300F4 and the DA* 60-250 will be along shortly (we hope), presumably at a similar price ~£750. That is, IF you can even get hold of the Sig in Pentax K.

What I would really like to see, and suspect strongly we aren't going to get, is a middle of the road ~100-300 with reasonable optical qualities all the way to 300 for something like £300-400. F4.5-5.6 is actually pretty much fast enough if the lens is good enough to be used wide open.

The only new lens on the latest roadmap is the 18-250. The 17-70 has been on the map for ages, as have the two 35s, and the 55-300 was at one time a 70-300.

G

I've obviously not being paying close enough attention as I don't recall seeing them before.

Argh! Come on, bring out the DA* 55 200 and 300!!!



I have lost interest in zoom lenses...

I never had that much interest in zooms anyway.

As far as the primes are concerned, what I would really like to see is a DA* prime around 10mm. I would like a lens that can give me the same results I get with the 15/3.5A on a film body. As far as the 55 is concerned, the 50/1.4 does well enough. For the longer lenses the 200/2.8A* and 300/4A* already cover that range. If I need AF, I can always use a slightly shorter prime with the 1.7AF convertor.

Kim

I've been looking for an A200F4 for a while but have decided against any more non-AF lenses. The FA50F1.4 is good but I'm waiting to see how the 55 is priced as SDM and weather sealing would be good for shooting outdoors.

The 10-17 Fisheye seems to be very good. Not the fastest lens but very capable, not sure a prime is needed.

I have been using the LX and a variety of 50mm primes from the original K's the the A's for 25 years outdoors without a problem.

As far as the wide is concerned, I need/want a properly corrected lens and not a fisheye. The 12-24 is not bad bur doesn't quite go wide enough and in any case the 15/3.5A lens give better results at the same focal length. This may be because it is designed for the full 35mm format and therefore you are only using the better central portion on the dSLRs. As to AF, I owuld recommend everyone to try to get hold of the 1.7AF convertor. It works well and can also be used as an extender with AF lenses. With it the 200/2.8A* becomes the equivalent of Film 500/4.5 on the K10

Kim

The 10-17 fisheye is razor sharp however it's no substitute for a 10mm prime. The Sigma 10-20mm is closer (and very sharp especially at the wide end) however it's not as fast as a prime would be.

I used to have one but got rid of it as I found I didn't use it very often. I didn't have any fast/long MF primes though so perhaps I'd have found more use for it if I did.

I first got the convertor when I first tried AF. At the time I didn't use it all that much. I was and I still am used to MF so I tended to just use a longer MF lens. However, with the difference in sensor size and the extra workflow in using non A lenses on the dSLRs, I find I use it a lot more now.

Pentax have always said that is is oonly suitable for lenses at F2.8 and faster. IMHO, this is not so and for 98% of the time, it also works well for F4 primes. It is only in fairly low light that it starts to give up. There is a very slight loss in quality but much less than I would have expected.

It wouldn't be so bad if there was a reasonable selection of longer primes in AF but those that are available tend to be difficult to get hold of and rather costly. They are difficult to find now but the convertor does offer a viable alternative.

Kim