TBA: HD PENTAX-DA 20-40mm F2.8-4 ED Limited DC WR

http://digicame-info.com/2013/10/hd-pentax-da-20-40mm-f28-4-ed.html

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52435798

Shame it's not 2.8 all the way through

It's a little odd-looking but I like the Takumar-styled zoom ring.

Assuming performance is good wide open, this could be a useful little lens. Of course, having a ltd zoom that at 20mm is f/2.8 further undermines the 21mm ltd that's only f/3.2. I can see the possibility of my 21mm being replaced by this in the future, but we'll wait to see the price. Given the prices of the new ltd primes, a zoom like this could be 700 quid.

The focus markings go from infinity straight to 1.5m, which suggests that focus will be very sensitive a la 35 ltd, which is bad news for manual focusing.

Should have been a 200-400mm rather than a 20-40mm (IMO)

Shame it's not f1.8 all the way for that matter, a la Sigma 18-35.

Still, it's nice to have a small classic looking zoom. Should be lightning fast auto focus given the short distance from min to infinity on the focusing scale.

Maybe they'll release a paired 10x TC (jk)

Shame it's not FREE!

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That would be bigger than the lens itself

It's an unusual choice of focal lengths, a 35mm-equivalent of 30-60mm, but if the quality is there, the wide aperture is there and it's compact as well it would potentially replace quite a few Limited primes.

Could be good for travel?

I know the lens designation is wrong, that would possibly give the game away, but might this be a 'full frame' lens? The focal length range would seem to make more sense if that were the case.

I have not checked, but I wonder how does the optical construction compare with the DA 16-45. That lens is known to have been 'slugged' from F2.8 down to F4 at the wide end and it is full frame from around 20mm.

Regards - Steve

Thinking about it, this actually might be the lens I've wanting from Pentax. 2.8 is actually a big improvement on the 3.2 of the 21ltd. 20mm is great for going 'walkabout' plus you get a little extra length for flexibility. 1.8 would have been great but you could argue that you would have been stopping down a little anyway a lot of the time just to improve your focus hit rate.

I've been checking Google everyday to see if the Sigma has been released for our mount however there are 2 things now to consider:

i. this lens is going to be a lot smaller and lighter, the Sigma is a beast and while offering creative possibilities it's not exactly handy and discrete
ii. It's WR! You wanna walk around with your WR Pentax body then this lens is it!

Looking forward to the reviews.... but not the price

Also in the camp of thinking this migh be quite a useful walk around lens for much of what I do. I'm curious to find out more.

I'd argue that if you wanted the Sigma f1.8, you'd buy it specifically because want to be using the f1.8!

Agreed... it's great to have the choice. Two very different lens propositions. There's currently a bit of a trend for small DSLRs/CSCs that look a bit like classic camera bodies, and this lens will help create that look and feel on current Pentax bodies.

Trying to gauge, is this around the same size as a 31? A street shooters zoom