I just realized the MAJOR signifigance of my earlier posting shown below, if its indeed true ( no one has argued that it isnt - at least yet and I have posted it twice in two days ) then what that means is the current PENTAX DSLRS DO NOT SUPPORT OPEN APERTURE METERING or ANY AE MODES with the majority of PENTAX lenses in existance that fit it! (MOST PENTAX bayonet mount lenses lose key lens features on these cameras due to lack of the cam sensors in the bodies).
THAT'S NOT a minor issue. Its not just the simple K/M lens "age" thing , it's the percentage of lenses that arent supported anymore and the majority of them are not being supported...If K/M lenses were old rare seldom seen items at this point it would be one thing to abandon full support of the them, but if the majority of all bayonet PENTAX lenses ever made are K/M then it doesn't makes sense to abandon support of key features on them yet IMHO especially when the CUSTOMER cost of full support on them is so damn cheap to maintain.... As many of you have posted repeatedly the K/M lenses are still capable of excellent photography and are many are still repeatedly recommending K/M lenses for certain lens purchase requirements, then if most PENTAX lenses are K/M lenses, how does it make any sense to abandon the dirt cheap basic support on these lenses? (EXCEPT other than pentax attempting to force them into obsolescence via disabling their basic features and selling you a replacement IN SOME CASES where they might even have an equivilant replacement). JCO ============================================================================ JCO WROTE: Regarding millions of lenses I think that it's often forgotten that SLRS used to be much more popular mainstream photo items before the advent of advanced P&S cameras that followed them in the 80's. So back in the K/M era which was ALL THEY MADE from 1975 thru 1983 not only were there many more lens buyers, at that time PENTAX had much more market share too. (years earlier PENTAX made the most popular SLR in the world the spotmatic, boy times have changed) the pentax M cameras in particular were very popular cameras... Those two factors combine to mean that millions of K/M lenses were made and sold during those years. I made the statement before that no one questioned which totally surprised me but I wouldn't be surprised if there are MORE K/M lenses in existance than ALL OTHER LATER SERIES COMBINED because by the time A/F/ and FA lenses came out SLR popularity had waned substatially in general and at the same time PENTAX lost a lot of market share on top of that. The A lenses are far rarer than K/M lenses and in my experience so are the rest. Both Minolta and canon had AF well before Pentax did and that may have a major reason why pentax lost market share, I don't know, but that's why I said millions of K/M lenses.....Now if anybody wants to argue that matter BRING IT ON because I would love to see some real production data or more info on it but I do know what my long time experiences have told me and that's that there are a lot more of K/M lenses in general compared to the other series...
