I don't think it will be a huge issue as long as the USM lenses are
full-on pro lenses for the first few years. The rate of obsolescence and
upgrading with DSLR's is such that most of the current bodies will be
out of use in 3-4 years. If I were Pentax, I'd bring out the f2.8 zooms
first, then USM versions of the 18-55 and 50-200 (Along with normal
versions of the kit zooms) when USM support appears in the replacements
for the current low-end bodies. Fill in the rest of the line as needed,
starting with updating the long primes to D-FA status.
-Adam
John Francis wrote:
Thanks - I forgot about the FA-Js.
I think Pentax have more to lose by introducing lenses that don't
auto-focus with old bodies (especially since I doubt if we'll ever
see another film body from Pentax).
But we'll see - we don't even *know* that the new lenses have USM.
On Mon, Mar 20, 2006 at 06:27:45PM -0500, Adam Maas wrote:
All FA-J lenses lack an aperture ring. There's 3-4 of that type, some
really low-end zooms and the 18-35.
I'm expecting the Nikon solution. AF-I and AF-S lenses are fully
compatible, they just don't AF on a body that lacks the extra contacts
necessary (Which means all the early AF bodies except the F4 and
possibly the N2020, which get AF because they support the F3AF lenses,
which use the same protocol as AF-I and AF-S lenses)
-Adam
John Francis wrote:
I bought my Super Program in 1983, together with my first "A" lens.
But it wan't until I bought a PZ-1p (in 1995) that I first had a camera
that allowed me to set the aperture without using the lens aperture ring.
So, for the first ten years or so, I still needed those aperture rings
(as I did, some years later, with the MZ-S, and other MZ-series owners
did with their cameras).
The digital cameras are a special case, because the DA lenses aren't meant
for use on film bodies. But, apart from DA lenses, have Pentax dropped
the aperture ring from any lenses yet? I don't believe so, despite the
fact that it's been some time since they last offered a body that needed
the aperture ring (I think the MZ-S was the last to rely on it).
[Of course they've just dropped a whole lot of the lenses, so there aren't
all that many lenses still being sold with aperture rings. And I believe
the only 'new' lenses with aperture rings are the D-FA macro lenses.]
I'd expect DA lenses to retain mechanical focus systems for at least 10
years. But I'd also expect all new bodies to offer both electronic and
mechanical operation of focus (and/or aperture) from now on. So in 10
years time the only bodies that won't be able to use hypothetical lenses
without mechanical focus would be the current *ist-D range. Just how many
of those will still be in operation 10 years from now? And, rather more
to the point, how many people who are still using ten-year-old cameras
will be considering buying new lenses?
