New Lens Info!!

Hi everyone,

Just had some new info I thought i'd share (some of you will probably know this already, I'm sure) - annoyingly, no prices as yet but I shall keep you all informed!

DA* 16-50/2.8 ED AL (IF) - Available March
DA* 50-135/2.8 ED (IF) - Available March
DA* 60-250/4 ED (IF) - Available April/May

Others that may not have been mentioned yet....

DA 35/2 (Sept)
DA 55/? (October)
D-FA 200/2.8 (Sept)
D-FA 300/4 (Sept)
DA 70-300/? (November)

More to follow apparently...

Happy New Year to you all, thanks for all of your support and as ever feel free to mail/call me if you need any info.

Thanks,

Chris

I feel.... the.... LBA kicking in.... must resist

NOOOOOOOOOOO

Bad timing this, I'm so dissapointed in Pentax, delivering when they said they would, bad enough that they delvered the K10D on time but this.......don't they realise that I've got a wedding to pay for this year.

My sentiments exactly, buying the Bigma with my K10D has put my spending on hold for quite some time, plus I really need to invest in a tripod strong enough to hold this beast of a lens.
I dont have a wedding to pay for (my sincere condolences to your wallet) but I do have to cough up for the wifes 50th birthday bash next month (Hmm, I wonder if she fancies a tripod?), plus we definately intend to try and get to New England this Autumn, all in all not a very good year to catch the dreaded LBA.

D-FA for those two big primes eh? That could well kick the full frame debate off again................................

My LBA is getting itchy as I've been waiting on a the DA*'s to find a digitally optimised standard zoom to replace my Sigma 24-70 2.8 EX - might find a quick cure in the price tags tho!

Will

Mmm. I too would like a Pentax replacement for my Sigma 24-70 2.8 EX but I've got a wedding in April, son number 2, (having helped son number 1 pay for his wedding in Oct 2005 I have to do the same for number 2) and I have recently paid for my own 50th birthday bash. Still no expensive holidays this year so that's some money in the Pentax pot

mmmm interesting, note the lack of *s on the primes, perhaps they will even be vaguely affordable, that really would cause LBA problems.

particularly interested in the 35/2, might soon be time to retire my beloved Zeiss 35/2.4

It's nice to know they are confirming the Spring delivery dates for the fast zooms. I suggest we all rush to place pre-orders. The more Pentax think they can sell, the lower thay can price them.

G

Ok, so if you had to limit yourselves to just one of the above which would it be?

Yeah I know, hard task!

If I had to buy one it will be:

The Sigma 100-300 was bought mainly for all the other cameras, but this DA* will go on the eventual K10D/K1D purchase.

money no object it would be the 60-250/4 DA*, but considering the price that lens has got to be the D-FA300/4 is much more likely

I am very keen to find a standard zoom for the K10D so I guess it'll be the DA* 16-50/2.8 ED AL (IF) that I'm looking at...

My only hope is that it's not silly money - it was the cost of a fast Pentax zoom some 5-6 years ago that lead me down the path of running the Sigma EX's I have...

Will

I'm saving up for the 16-50. I already have good longish glass in the shape of the FA 200 2.8 and F 300 4.5, and I don't imagine that the new versions will be significantly better optically, if at all. It's the wide lenses that benefit most from "digital" tweaking, and which can be made smaller. These new lenses will probably be much the same size as the existing versions.

HOWEVER, the new ones will have focus motors. That could be a killer argument.

G

any news on how many and which of these lenses will have the new focus motors?

I suspect they wont all have them right away, since focus motor equipped lenses are unlikely to AF on the K100D and earlier cameras and that will seriously limit sales and seriously P*** off a lot of people who recently bought K100Ds as the latest model.

The K100D is quite a cheap camera, and those who bought it knew (or could have known if they had enquired) that a much more serious camera was on the way.

Pentax will have calculated that people who can't afford a K10D are not going to buy a sonic motor lens, which is likely to be rather more expensive.

And in most cases, they would be right.

G