Reply interspersed. On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 5:19 PM, Miserere <miser...@gmail.com> wrote: > As long as there are Limited lenses, bodies will support screwdrive > focus. Maybe Pentax will go the Nikon route and only offer screwdrive > support in their upper tier bodies.
Well, I respectfully disagree. As long as Limited lenses are produced you're right. But they are not going to be produced forever. If, for some reason, they are produced forever, then this whole branch of discussion has no point, but I think it does have a point. > I don't think this should be a concern for us at the moment; it's a > bit like not buying anything plastic because a plastic-eating bacteria > might appear in the next few years :-) No, not really (on both counts). Given longevity of my K10D and given Paul's comment that few more generations of Pentax DSLRs will have the screwdrive AF - it is not unreasonable to project that we'll have the tools to shoot with for the next 5 years or may be even more. However, Paul is also right pointing out that certain measures have to be taken in order to make one forward compatible, in a manner of speaking. > It makes a lot of sense to move away from screwdrive focus for new > lenses that can fit it. Leica are the only ones who can make money by > looking at the past, the rest of the companies have to look at the > future. Well, if your marketing advantage is colorful bodies and colorful lens barrels, then you're right. If you're catering for wider audience, the equation may be not that linear. > I doubt a Pentax MILC would support screwdrive AF, and I don't care. I > want new primes designed specifically for the MILC and an adapter > offering auto stop down for K mount lenses (like Sony offer). I don't want new primes. My old primes are still pretty transparent and shoot pretty damn good. In fact, I'd rather Pentax saw the backward compatibility as a strength or offered a reasonable path out. They seem to do neither having recently introduced the likes of 100/2.8 Macro WR which is screwdriven AF. Nor do they offer anything similar to FA limited lenses. Consider, Miserere, you have moderately fast moderately wide, normal and portrait lenses. I don't care about unique focal lengths or extra special build - I care about photographer tools. If you want to buy a lens wider than 35 mm and faster than 2.0 you have no options. If you want to buy a lens longer than 70 mm and faster than 2.0 you have no options. Even if you want to buy a normal lens (DA 55 being positioned specifically as FA 85/1.4 replacement) - you have no options. It is either older scredriver AF gear or third party lenses. Now, Pentax is known for their glass making, not colorful plastic, so I don't like the conclusion I am arriving at. > As for the me-too issue, I told Ned I would love a Pentax NX10--a > Samsung NX10 with a Sony sensor and Pentax imaging pipeline. He just > smiled at me :-) If Samsung is serious about it - they'll get there eventually. Presently I looked at Panasonic GH2. it seems that now the offer the trio of good lenses - 14/2.5, 20/1.7 and 45/2.8 macro. The sensor tech seems to be up to date state of art, so - there you go... Samsung keeps introducing new lenses as well, so your wishes are likely to be answered before Pentax shows their product. It seems to me that I am approaching the dead end with my gear. Boris -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
