Pentax new 100mm weather resist Macro

Not sure if this has been posted here yet?

link

NOTE: It is also designed for FF, watch this space......

A specialised Pentax lens that will also work with their new FF DSLR, "The games afoot, Watson".

Regards

It has, and was commonly believed to be a fake since it first appeared on a russian site.

49mm filter thread? Are they sure?

Yes it is 49mm...

link

So the KGB had it up first?

Regards

It does seem hard to believe.. but looking at my SMC-A 100mm F4 macro, which does have a 49mm filter ring, the actual hole in the front isn't that big:

[IMG]http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/chris5gd/Technical/IMGP0344-crsmsh.jpg[/IMG]

So maybe they can achieve F2.8 by having more glass at the front, even with the same filter size.

Further discussion here

Actually, the current D-FA 100mm Macro lens is only 49mm as well. The older F & FA models have 58mm filter threads.

100mm/2.8 = 35.7mm

Even my SMC F 135mm/2.8 has 49mm filter thread. So 100/2.8 should not be a problem with 49mm filter thread.

Welcome to the forum Jyrki

Hi All,

This lens will be available late December / early January and has an RRP of £679.

Chris

It really is a new lens ...




and the press release is at:

http://www.pentax.jp/english/news/2009/200919.html

People, don't get all excited about DFA... As someone at dpreview pointed out, it could be well be a remake with WR of the alrady existing macro...
Either way, good move Pentax, now do it for FA*, bring the price of those used beauties down and make me a happy man (whenever I get money for them, that is...)
One can wish...

The press release describes it as "Inheriting the high-performance optics of the renowned smc PENTAX-D FA MACRO 100mmF2.8 lens" so it is the same basic lens except for the diaphragm:
"The PENTAX-D FA MACRO 100mmF2.8 WR is the first PENTAX interchangeable macro lens featuring a completely rounded diaphragm blade. This creates a natural, beautiful bokeh, while minimizing the streaking effect of point light sources."

That sounds very interesting. I've seen very old lenses with incredible diaphragm construction of many blades (didn't count them) and that gives a much more circular opening. Shaping the blades as well sounds a great idea.

It seems lately there has been much more attention paid to the effect the diaphragm shape has on the character of the image.

Any idea on a 'Street Price' yet?

You could make it a 'New store opening' special price!

It looks, how shall I say? "Rather sexy"?

RRP is actually slightly less than the existing D-FA 100, which is a good move (£679 v £699).

So I guess it should sell from SRS (after the intro period :lol for around £500+, which considering it's WS and Limited construction is appealing, but still not exactly a low cost item, but it's a great indication where Pentax are going, maybe they will redo some of their other lenses in the same way, i.e. WS and Limited?