New roadmap?

Some photos and info taken from the Dutch forum.










DFA645 25/2.8
DFA645 55/2.8

DFA*50/1.0 SDM
DA135/2.8 LIMITED
DFA*20/2.8 SDM
DA*400/4 ED (IF) SDM

I'm really questioning how real this is to behonest.
DFA* lenses for which camera, there is no FF with SDM or are pentax also busy with a fullframe.
Also on the previous roadmap there was the DA*30mm that would have the same design as the DA*55mm but no news on that here.

Ah well it's nice to throw some rumors on the forum

Not according to this.

What do you mean Peter, that's the current one.
The photos & info I'm showing is suggest that they are from the upcoming roadmap but like I said I find it very questionable how real this must be.

With the DFA645 25/2.8 & DFA645 55/2.8 I don't have a problem, one is even on the current roadmap. The DA*30mm was on the roadmap before the current one with the 1.4x TC SDM, Pentax has said that those will come at a later date if I remeber correctly.

the 135 and 400 seem the most plausible to me as they fill a gap (135)and extend the range (400).

It is the 50 that I find most strange as a DA it so close to the 55 that it would seem to make no sense. Reports are that the 55 does not show signifcant vigneetting on a 35mm body and may well be suitable for full frame, but I heard reports that it was not selling too well.

Steve

The problem is that Pentax say that DA are designed for digital so for fullframe to need to rename those lenses that will work on fullframe.
But then comes the question why aren't the DA*55 and the DA*60-250 named DFA* in the first place?

I don't want to start the FF debate again. The point I would make is there is a difference between working on FF and being designed for FF. There may well be IQ drop off at the edges.

I think it is true to say that all of the later DA's show significantly less vignetting than the 18 -55 Mk1 kit lens and DA 50-200.

Going back to your original post I hope there is a DA 135 announced

Steve

You've a fair point there Steve, about designed and working.

Only the wide angles are a big problem with vignetting the rest work surprisingly well on 35mm film.

I already have the DA*50-135 so DA135 f/2.8 LIMITED is not on my wanting list to be honest but for some it might be a very tempting lens to get indeed, also the DA*400 f/4 would be a very welcome lens in the comunity.
I was more hoping for a nice zoom along the DA*60-250, maybe a redesinged FA*250-600 f/5.6 for all the wild life photographers out there.
If they would come with these lenses certainly the longer ones the lens line should be quite solid for Pentax, they are really lacking with the tele range at the moment.

A good range of primes adds kudos, plays to a traditional Pentax strength and maypull in some extra lens sales.

In the past I usually had 5 and at times 6 primes to cover the 28 - 200 range and a couple of zooms 28 -70 and 70 - 210 when travelling light.
With the the introduction of CAD and improved manufacturing the difference in IQ between primes and zooms has narrowed considerably, which is maybe not such a good thing if you make most of your profits through lens sales.

Steve

DFA lenses have an aperture ring

I don't think that is a must have for a DFA lens, this what I found on the UK site of pentax.

smc-DFA
This designation is used for lenses that are optimized for digital photography but can also be used with 35mm SLR cameras.

So in a sense most DA lenses can be qualified as DFA lenses.

I have to agree with Brian on that one; certain DA lenses may cover a 35mm frame but only the D-FA's have an aperture ring - this is quite significant! For instance, the DA200 won't vignette on film but neither will it work on older film cameras (like my MX) because there's no way of controlling the aperture. The D-FA lenses on the other hand will work on every K-mount camera ever made without a problem.

If Pentax introduce new D-FA lenses it doesn't neccessarily mean there's a new camera in the works; it could mean that they have a nice new lens and they want it to appeal to all Pentax users, not just the digital ones...

I think there are maybe only two Pentax 35mm film bodies that can use lenses with no aperture ring, the MZ-6 (ZX-L in the US) and the *ist. If there are any others they'll be late in the MZ/ZX series. Even the flagship MZ-S can't set an aperture from the body and so can't use the aperture ring-less lenses.

D-FA50/1.0 + LX sounds kinda nice...

I didn't knew that the amount of film cameras that can set aperture was so limited, so it makes a lot of sense that the DFA have an aperture ring in that case.
Still if it works with two Pentax film cameras, you can't say they doesn't work on a SLR right?

Hopefully the DFA* wouldn't be KAF3 mount though

I have used my DA*50-135 on my MZ5n with no problems. Just can't use aperture priority, Auto or Shutter Priority only. In fact any camera compatible with PKA lenses will be able to operate DA lenses, just not in Aperture Priority mode.