Well, The Pentax rep I had talked to has seen my quoted post of
mine (I found his card in a pile of business cards I have, and
we have been in e-mail contact). He did some research and could
come up with no reference to a 35/1.4A. So? Did I just dream
the one I thought I had in my hand? Who knows?
--Tom
Tom Rittenhouse wrote:
>
> Paal,
>
> That was me who said I had actually handled one. Also when I
> mentioned it to a rep awhile back he indicated that it existed
> but that there were very few of them. Darren Sutherland also
> said he was told by a rep that they exist.
>
> Unless it was the same rep that we both talked to that makes
> three claims that the lens was produced and sold. I also
> vaguely remember it being listed by B&H in the mid-late 80s (I
> wouldn't swear to this and even if they did, I have seen them
> list things that never hit the market).
>
> I tend to think that the 35/1.4M prototype was shown just prior
> to the introduction of the A series lenses and as Bob Walkden
> suggested a short run was produced in the A mount (that would
> have been a simple change, just a matter of putting the glass
> that may have already been ground for the M series which was
> obsolete before they were even assembled in the new mounts.
> Heck, they probably could have used parts of the M mechanical
> assembly in them. And then the A mount very quickly became
> obsolete with the introduction of the autofocus, as you
> mentioned. Another thing many may not be remembering is there
> was a world wide recession in the early eighties that may also
> have led to the production of this very
> expensive lens being abruptly cut short.
>
> The one I saw about eight years ago was used, also it was in a
> camera store here in the US. That in itself makes me disbelieve
> it was a prototype. I certainly didn't realize at the time that
> they were so rare as to be virtually nonexistent as seems to be
> the case going by the comments of the very knowledgeable folk
> here in the PDML.
> --Tom
-
This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe,
go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to
visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org.
