New Pentax Lenses Delayed

[Benjamin Kanarek]

I just wanted to inform you that I just spoke with Pentax regarding my request for the 16-50 & 50-135 lenses as I wanted to use them for my next shoot. It seems that they have been delayed till the end of April or the beginning of May.

There has been a massive demand for those specific lenses.

I guess we will have to be patient.

Ben

[Asher Kelman]

Benjamin,

You are like a kid waiting for his present! I guess you've been spoiled with all the new lenses Pentax has been relleasing. This is so impressive. To me April is round the corner and I expect these new lenses willl be great too. How have they talked about them? Are they also reasonably compact and what class of lens would they match in the Pentax line up.

Asher

[Edward Bussa]

The lenses slated for release in March are in the DA* line - the professional line - not to be confused with the Limited line...

The Limited line puts a high value on compact, stylish, excellent optics lenses. The professional line puts emphasis on excellent optics. With the new DA* lenses, a sonic wave autofocus motor is built into the lens. In addition, if your camera body can't use the the sonic wave motor, the lens can revert to use the screw drive!

At this link there is a nice size comparison - the new lens is on the right (larger, gold band):
http://nedbunnell.blogspot.com/2007/02/16-50-vs-16-45.html

[Kyle Nagel]

I just exchanged e-mails with my contact at Pentax and was told these two lenses will now ship in June. I will probably be ordering the 16-50mm. I was going to wait and see what Ben had to say about it before getting one, but I think I'm going to want one anyway, so I'll be putting in my order before the months end.

Kyle

[Edward Bussa]

Recently, I've been trying to make my 18-55 kit lens work, but even when it's stopped down to it's sharpest, I still find it isn't as sharp as it I want it. It's not horrible, but I'm dissapointed everytime I pixel peep with it.

So, I will be looking to justify that purchase as well. Besides, the sonic motor will be Da Bomb!

[Kyle Nagel]

I had the FAJ 18-55mm kit lens, I assume you have the same lens (the FAJ series), I'll be honest, it sucked! I shot some images at a wedding with it and they were terribly soft. I went to a local dealer that had three in stock and shot test shots in the store with all three at different apertures, went home and looked at all of them. They all sucked as well. I hate that lens. I sold it the next week for $45 and vowed for about the 5th time I would never buy another zoom. I really like primes and I have never had a zoom that I thought was "excellent", I'm hoping this time it will be different with the new 16-50mm since it is a * series lens, we'll see. I do know the worst zoom I've ever owned was the Pentax FA 28-200mm macro, it was terrible, and the FAJ 18-55mm you have runs a close second. I've heard from other users the 16-45mm DA is fairly sharp, but I think I'm going for the new 16-50mm instead.

Kyle

[Benjamin Kanarek]

Benjamin,

You are like a kid waiting for his present! I guess you've been spoiled with all the new lenses Pentax has been relleasing. This is so impressive. To me April is round the corner and I expect these new lenses willl be great too. How have they talked about them? Are they also reasonably compact and what class of lens would they match in the Pentax line up.

Asher

Hello Asher;

As I am quite new to Pentax, I hope you don't mind if I compare them to the Canon line of lenses. My friends at Pentax compare the *Star lenses to the "L" series of Canon lenses. They are Ultrasonic and have their own dedicated focussing motor, which makes these very responsive. As soon as I get them I will post my comments. As for the 645D, I am hoping for early in the fall, perhaps before the Paris photo show in October of 2007.

Ben