Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
In a video published to the Pentax Photography YouTube channel, Ricoh has revealed some more details on its upcoming new flagship APS-C DSLR. It’s the second part of a series by Pentax (Part 1 is lower down in this post) to “reinforce its commitment to DSLR photography“.
It might seem a little mad to cling onto DSLRs when the rest of the world is going mirrorless, but it seems that Pentax might be looking to capture the segment of the market that just doesn’t want to ditch the mirror.
It’s been long-awaited and after a development announcement in March, Pentax has now officially announced the HD PENTAX-D FA★ 85mm F1.4 SDM AW, ahead of its original “late 2020” target. This is the second fixed focal length lens added in Pentax’s newest “Star” lens series, adding to the 50mm f/1.4 released in 2018.
There was some speculation that the Pentax 85mm was simply a rehoused Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art, but now that the optical formula for the new 85mm f/1.4 has been released, I think it’s a pretty safe bet to say that it isn’t.
A recent tweet from Japanese photographer Kimio Tanaka, a regular source of Ricoh/Pentax insider info, states that they have no plans to introduce a mirrorless camera in either 35mm or 645 medium formats. This time, it isn’t just a rumour leak. Tanaka says that in this case he is speaking on behalf of Ricoh and is not merely expressing an opinion.
Pentax has today officially announced the development of the new HD PENTAX-D FA★85mm F1.4 ED SDM AW K mount lens for Pentax. At the moment, this is just a development announcement, but some of the lens specs have been released, along with a single photo. And this one doesn’t appear to simply be a rebranded Tokina.
Pentax just announced the HD PENTAX-D FA 70–210mm F4 ED SDM WR Pentax K-mount lens. For Pentax APS-C cameras that is equivalent to 107–322mm. The lens will start shipping mid-March with a price tag of $1100.
Pentax informs us that this is a compact, lightweight and weather-resistant telephoto zoom lens for use with 35mm-format full-frame digital SLR providing great portability.
So, we don’t know what it’s called, but it will be a Pentax K mount DSLR, it will have an APS-C sized sensor and it will be released at some point in 2020. That’s pretty much all that Pentax has announced so far, other than the picture above. It doesn’t even have a name.
Perhaps some more info will appear in the coming days, though, as Ricoh say that it will be shown off at the “Pentax Meeting 100th Anniversary Special” event, scheduled to be held in Japan from September 21st.
Well, this is bad news for Pentax shooters. Sigma had already stopped creating Pentax versions of their newer Art, Sports and Contemporary series lenses, but was continuing to make the ones that had already been developed. Now, though, it seems they’ve finally ditched production of K-mount lenses completely, including the older ones.
According to a statement posted on the Czech Sigma Facebook page, the reason is to be able to focus on mirrorless systems, which is where Sigma sees the future of photography heading.
There has been a rumor going around that Ricoh will stop using Pentax brand name because it will lose the right to it. However, Ricoh has denied the rumor, saying that it will continue to use the Pentax brand when it comes to the camera business.
Imaging Resource recently published their interview with Ricoh execs at the CP+ trade show in Tokyo. They spoke about Ricoh’s plans for Pentax. But in amongst the conversation was Ricoh’s thoughts on the whole mirrorless vs DSLR debate. And, apparently, they think that the people who have switched to mirrorless will switch back to DSLRs within a couple of years.
The two new lenses from Pentax, the HD Pentax-FA 35mm f/2 and HD Pentax DA* 11-18mm f/2.8 ED DC AW leaked yesterday, are now official. People have been waiting a long time for that 11-18mm f/2.8, although the 35mm f/2 has been something of a surprise for Pentax shooters. Here are the full specs and prices, and now both lenses are available to pre-order.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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