Take it with a BIG grain of salt. According to the russian magazine Onliner (Click here) a Pentax company representative (name Anton Melnikov) commented on plans to produce mirrorless Pentax cameras. He said the first camera based on the APS-C sensor will be released in September this year. It is based on the K bayonet. The second mirrorless system is a compact camera with interchangeable lenses and the matrix 1 / 2, 33 inches.
Let’s see…
8 Responses
Not “in September”. He said: “before September” (?? ????????).
(I’m from Russia. Sorry for my English)
Well, that would get my attention. I have a collection of K-mount lenses. I’m sure their AF wouldn’t work on all but the newest ones because the original Pentax AFs used a “screwdrive” motor in the body.
While I admire Pentax’s dedication to backwards compatibility, it seems like sticking with the K-mount would be a bad thing from a new customers perspective. With the larger registration distance of the K-Mount they can’t possible make cameras as thin as the Sony NEX. On top of that, the K-mount is obviously a full frame mount; if they are going to be using APS-C sensors the diameter of the mount could be smaller. In short, I’d prefer they just use a “smart adapter” for those that want to use their k-mount auto focus Pentax lenses on the new system.
That would be even better. The newer SDM lenses could still focus wiht an adaptor that kept the eletrical contacts and, as I mentioned above, the old ones would require a motor in the body.
I used Pentax cameras and lenses for many years but think they have lost the plot ever since they went digital. My preferred 35mm lens combination was 20mm, 28mm and 50 mm f2.8 macro and the lack of equivalent lenses for the APS-C format meant that I never bothered buying a digital Pentax body. They have only recently, about 7 years after the release of the original istD camera, brought out a 50mm equivalent lens and there is still no 28mm equivalent.
Despite still having Pentax lenses I would find the idea of using them on a K mount mirrorless camera pointless, not only because of the need for an adaptor, which negates the size advantage mirrorless should provide, but because the focal length multiplcation renders the wide angle lenses redundant. (the 50mm macro is an exception, and has proved a useful lens on my M43 camera).
The smaller format mirrorless camera could be an interesting concept, especially if it was the basis for an internet connected device i.e. a camera/smartphone with interchangeable lenses.
That would certainly not be their firt priority – but with the small sensor, an equivalent 800mm opening at F/4.0 might not be entirely impossible, would it? Good for birding…
Yada yada yada.. when are they going to release a Full Frame camera or a Medium format camera with a REAL medium-format sensor?