Ken wrote:
Remember the "high performance zoom" shown in the 1st version of the lens
roadmap (I do not have it now, but thought it was DFA50-200 or something)
which was dropped from the latest roadmap.
Apparently Pentax confirmed in PIE 2006 in Japan it is still on but was
simply deferred to the next year. They also said that the roadmap was
intended to show the plan for this year only.
So, looks like DFA programme is still ongoing. Perhaps they are too busy on
the new D2 and the lenses to go with it for now. Looking forward to 2007
roadmap :-).
REPLY:
Rumors (whose reliablity is unknown to me) has it that the lens is postponed
due to modification of the AF performance of the lens. What this means is
unclear, but it could be that Pentax upgraded it from plain D FA to a D FA
with USM. My guess is that this full frame lens was originally also targeted
at users of older cameras with full backward compatibility. However, they
may have decided that it is better idea to make it technically up to date
and more future proof. If USM is included it means that it won't AF on older
bodies.
Sources in Pentax have previously said that longer telephoto lenses will
full frame D FA lenses. In light of this it is almost certain that there
will be a fleet of full frame lenses that will occupy the higher-end
segment, possibly a replacement for the FA* lenses. I'm sure there will be a
full frame DSLR from Pentax in due course...
Pål
