New Lens Info!!

A lens without an aperture ring, * or not, would be severly limited (if not unusable) on say, an MZ-S, which is an AF body but has no means of setting the aperture other than by the lens ring. There is another, not so old, model which has the same aperture ring requirement. MZ-7 I think but not certain. Neither of these bodies could really be described as old . . . can they?

I wonder about that too I suspect that they're doing power-assisted focus - probably mechanically linked. Maybe they will work... just have to wait and see
Matt

Aside from aperure rings, sonic motors etc, are they weatherproof? Surely just as, if not more important for K10D owners?

Peter
It isnt the MZ7, the lens can be set on A and aperture controled via the body, I think the only MZ bodies that needed aperture rings were the m, 5, 5n 3 and S, the others could be set from the body and/or were "Crippled" as Dimitrov puts it.

Page 208 of the K10D manual indicates that the camera supports Power Zoom.

Back again.

Just had a look at Dimtrovs website, I didnt realise but the K100D and K110D also have the KAF2 mount, but Dimitrov states they will NOT support sonic motor lenses, there must be more to it than just using the power zoom contacts, which is a shame, I could have sold my MZ5n as sonic motor compatable!

Personally I think there is going to be a shift in Pentax's strategy towards backward compatability. To survive Pentax needs to make money, to make money they have to sell NEW products therefore I reckon with the introduction of the K10D and subsequent higher spec bodies the higher end users will be pushed to purchasing the new SSM only lenses to make use of all the new advanced features, I say only SSM because Pentax will be pushing a price point with the new D-FA/* lenses to make them affordable to the end user, think advanced Joe Bloggs. To put both SSM and a clutched gearbox in the new designs would not be cost effective, in fact it would be a bloody difficult and expensive engineering excercise.

I tend to agree with George, we will most likely see three distinct lens ranges, consumer, amature and advanced amatur/pro, I don't have a problem with this senario, if you want it you wil get it come rain hail or snow.

I don't think so. Earlier cameras will have no way to transmit the instructions to the lens on how to focus.

G

What makes you think it's compatible? The sonic lenses need both power and instructions. No body prior to the K10D is capable of the latter.

G

It provides minimal functionality, similar to the MZ-S.

G

I really don't think Pentax is going to bend over backwards to provide lens compatibility with film cameras.

Most serious photographers now use digital, and people who bought an MZ-S had plenty of opportunity to buy lenses at the time. They can still do so, second-hand, or from third-parties.

The whole point of the new lenses is the new focussing system. They will be wasted on bodies without the ability to use it.

G

I'm not so sure about that. As long as Kodachrome is available, I'll still keep my MX bodies in good repair. I might want to use one of the new DFA lenses on the MX, they cover the full frame, after all.

Yes, a few photographers are still using film, and a few are still using old manual focus bodies. But they do not constitiute a big enough market to warrant building extra complexity into sophisticated new lenses. That would just push the cost up more, and encourage people to buy third party lenses.

G

I agree from Pentax's point of view it would make little sense to make backwards compatibility with old film cameras a priority when they need to get people other than existing Pentax users to buy into their system. I know I'd rather have to have separate lenses for my film and digital SLRs than see Pentax go under because of a quixotic strategy of catering to manual focus film users. But just because I understand and respect the necessity that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Here I disagree. I bought a 50mm f/1.4 FA lens which works very nicely on my K100d. Because it has an aperture ring, it also works very nicely on my old P30. Of course the effective field of view is different but I can still take the one lens and use it on both cameras. The alternative (if the FA lens had no aperture ring) would be if I wanted a 50mm f/1.4 on film and a 50mm f/1.4 on digital then I would have to buy two 50mm f/1.4s - used or not, that's not an insignificant amount of money. I regularly take a film body along with my K100d, whether as a backup or simply because I like shooting film, and there is the answer: one would pay for an AF lens when using an old manual focus film camera, if one is using an old manual focus film camera and a new AF camera, and doesn't want to buy and carry separate lenses for the same focal length.