[Klaus]

Pentax K-70 (APS-C DSLR):

http://ricoh-imaging.ca/en/products/cameras/K-70/

 

Pentax HD DA 55-300mm f/4.5-6.3 ED PLM WR RE

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.uk/en/produc...enses.html

[chrismiller]

that quiet an impressive zoom extension on the 55-300!

[JJ_SO]

You can use it as car jack, too.   The K70 has nice features.

[Klaus]

Interestingly the 55-300mm is a new design. But yes, that zoom extension is drastic.

Makes me wondering about the centering of the thing - more so because Pentax' record in that respect isn't exactly stellar in my book.

[Rover]

Electromagnetic diaphragm... now in the Pentax land as well. Welcome to 2016!

[toni-a]

Just a remark 70-300f4-5.6 wouldn't it make much more sense than 55-300f4.5-6.3 ? Knowing all those who will buy this lens already have the kit lens is the 55-70 range that important to sacrifice speed on an already slow lens?

[Guest]

I'm not impressed with the build quality of the 18-50 RE; I don't have one so I can't say anything about its reliability but that retractable mechanism looks terribly flimsy (obvious plastic-on-plastic feel). I hope the 55-300 RE will be better.

 

Regarding the electromagnetic diaphragm... I wonder, which other lenses would have it? It was included in the 55-300 RE because of the retractable design (very likely), and for smooth aperture control during video.

Nikon introduced their version also with some special lenses - 3 PC-E Nikkors; but they didn't really start with it until last year. Will Pentax do the same, would they wait a bit before large scale adoption? Or that's it, they decided to advance the K-mount in the full-electronic era?

 

If for now they're just experimenting, then the compatibility issue is at most a niggle. Pentax promised compatibility for K-70, and K-1, K-3 II, K-S2, K-S1 after a firmware update (a notable exception is the K-3... perhaps it's not identical with the K-3 II in the relevant parts).

If the new D FA primes and new APS-C lenses will use electronic aperture control, I imagine quite a few K-3 users would be annoyed.

 

Anyway... I think it's a good idea (even if I have a presumably incompatible body, a K-5 IIs). Planning is up to them, but I don't think they can afford to wait too much.

[Klaus]

Just a remark 70-300f4-5.6 wouldn't it make much more sense than 55-300f4.5-6.3 ? Knowing all those who will buy this lens already have the kit lens is the 55-70 range that important to sacrifice speed on an already slow lens?

 

Well, you have a 18-55mm kit lens so a 55-300mm makes perfect sense.

As far as the max. aperture is concerned - a third of a stop isn't really much of a deal.

[Rover]

The other lenses they released of late - specifically the full-frame quintet - did not seem to be equipped with electromagnetic diaphragm, else the company would've made a big deal out of it. At the same time, the K-1 (like a few other bodies) is reported as compatible with this system so... that doesn't add up.

 

I can understand why Nikon went for it - because there is no (effective) way of transferring mechanical aperture linkage past the tilt-shift mechanism of a PC-E lens, and leaving these lenses' aperture to be only controllable through a mechanical ring was probably deemed inappropriate for the 21st century. That was probably the reason why there are no tilt-shift lenses for Minolta/Sony and Pentax mounts - except, of course, for the fully "dumb" Samyang. Now Pentax has solved the issue, and I'm wondering if Sony is going to do the same.

[Guest]

What doesn't add up?

All it takes is a bit of planning and thinking ahead, so they'd already start adapting the cameras when they planned the development of the electromagnetic diaphragm lens.