If you are talking about the whole lens line, then I am sure your fear that it will all go sonic is completely groundless.

As for the aperture ring, the only Pentax AF cameras I have used seriously have been the Z1-P, the *ist D and the K10D, all of which have hyper-manual, which provides an even faster way of going into either Av or Tv mode.

I concede that if you don't have the two wheel system the aperture ring may confer a slight advantage.

G

I can't really see the point in an AF lens with an aperture ring. They aren't needed on any AF body, and why would one pay for an AF lens at all if one is using a very old film camera with manual focus? After all, there are second hand MF lenses available.

G

Coming back to this, I predict that sonic motors will only appear in the new * lenses and long D-FA lenses, and I think it is unlikely that they will be compatible with older cameras.

So the new lens line up will fall into three categories, as it always used to.

Cheap "consumer" zooms, often sold as kit lenses
Good mainstream lenses
Premium lenses with sonic motors,some being * lenses, and some being long D-FA lenses.

So far we have seen two * 2.8 zooms, two long D-FA primes (200mm and 300mm) and a long * zoom (250-600) on the road map.

If the long lenses sell well, I would expect Pentax to bring out another one or two D-FA teles between 400mm and 600mm.

Apart from that, I wouldn't expect any more sonic motors within, say, three years.

I also think it is highly probable that the 200m and 300mm will acquire stars by the time they are released.

G

I think you are being a bit over-dramatic, Mongoose. We are only talking about a handful of expensive lenses, not the whole lens line.

The vast majority of lenses will still work on the K100D, and, indeed, on almost all bodies sold in the last twenty odd years.

The fact is, most people who are in the market for these lenses will be more than happy (and able) to acquire a K10D, if they haven't already done so. At £600, the K10D costs about the same in real terms as the Super A when it was new.

Basically, the K10D is perhaps the best bargain ever seen since SLR cameras were invented. Never, that I can remember, has so much quality and functionality been built into a camera at such a low price. Any photographer who can beg or borrow £600 should buy one. They really are that good.

To be brutally blunt, if you can't afford a K10D, you can't afford a sonic motor lens. And if you CAN afford a sonic motor lens, you will want to match it with a camera body worthy of its quality.

If the K10D was priced at £2,000, then you might have grounds for complaint. But it's not.

G

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

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

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

"It was given to me but I dont use Pentax so its not any good for me. "

Pull the other one, matey. Back of a lorry I reckon.

G

If this is a genuine first-time seller, then he probably doesn't understand the rules and practicalities of Ebay usage.

If he does pull it before the end of the auction he will miss the high snipers.

Ah, well. One lives, and sometimes one learns.

G

[quote="Gwyn"]That's just a clever ploy to put us off the scent.

Hang on, we're talking about Pete.

G