Pentax K-01

Now that Pentax has announced the Pentax K-01, a strange little hybrid photo camera using the K-mount lenses inherited from the DSLR range (K-5 or K-r cameras), it becomes once again important to see what Pentax is planning for the future of this range of lenses.

In the past, the question of survivability of the K-mount cameras was clearly open: Recurrent rumors of obsolescence for the K-mount were rampant in the rumors web sites, because of the possible (sometimes observed) announcement of the end-of-life of DSLR Pentax cameras. But now, with the K-01 (even if it is quite far from a pro or expert design), the promise of new DSLR (including a possible new Full Frame reflex in the end of 2012, according to sites like PhotoRumors), and the influx of new money from Ricoh, everything becomes possible again.

Pentax specifically presented a roadmap for this range of lenses.

Pentax roadmap for K-mount lenses

What is really important here (read the roadmap for the details) seems to be:

• A very long telephoto prime lens: 560mm seems to be more than adequate for the smaller sensors. if this is a lens for the Full Frame, it will be a big pro lens. If it is a lens for the hybrid, it may have a relatively small aperture (f/8) to offer a very long focal length at a (relatively) reasonable cost. However, if you notice the existence of a focal 1.4x multiplier, I would say: A 560mm f/5.6. Mark my words.
• The two wide-angle zooms are obviously here for the Full Frame camera and seem to confirm that the rumor of availability in 2012 (see above) is unfounded and that the new Pentax K-full will only arrive in early 2013.

Some things are not mere rumors, but just a correct analysis of the available information…

Pentax K-5 SILVER

Back to tradition?

Three nice lenses will also received the SILVER treatment:

• SMC PENTAX-DA 21mm f/3.2 AL Limited Silver
• SMC PENTAX-DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited Silver
• SMC PENTAX-DA 70mm f/2.4 Limited Silver

Available in April 2011, you will certainly have to disburse $1699.95 (or probably around 1700€) to put your hand on it.

Pentax K-mount

Manual focus lenses for the Pentax K mount manufactured and sold by Cosina under the Carl Zeiss and Voigtländer brands are coming to an end: Cosina announced it ceased manufacturing them.

Today, I updated it with a major addition. Pentax Forums just made it to the list because they now have an exhaustive and comprehensive list of reviews: ALL Pentax lenses ever produced. It’s built by contributing users, but it’s well worth mentioning there.

And everybody else can keep a bookmark on the list itself, of course.

Complementary announcement from Pentax, a prime lens which could well become the lens standard for the expert photographer: a 35mm focal length (equiv. 53,5 mm) to be more or less the exact equivalent of a more traditional 50 mm from our dear memories, an f/2.4 aperture (just enough to be better than the reference f/2.8).

The SMC PENTAX-DA 35mm F2.4 AL will be available from mid October 2010 for 199€ or £179.99.

photo credit: davidgsteadman

When buying a photo camera, we often research in order to decide if this is the best camera, if its features will be goo enough, but will it be robust enough? Will it be useful or necessary to purchase a warranty contract extension? Will it fail very soon?

When somebody asks me these questions (and it happens quite often since I consider myself some kind of photography expert), I am usually without good answers; Nobody really speaks about this dirty little secret: Reliability of photo cameras is a taboo issue. In most cases, talking only happens for very extreme situations (I will not mention any pro camera events in the past few years). But on a daily basis, will my camera follow me everywhere? will it survive the bad treatment I will apply? Or will it fail at the sight of the first cloud (of dust or rain)? Preferably just a couple of days after the end of the warranty period?

photo credit: Orin Zebest

So, I decided to collect more than the usual information to try and answer these questions with more than: Entry-level cameras are too cheap to be robust, are less protected than pro cameras; And, mechanics fail more than electronics.

And, I found a few interesting articles with adequate documentation. Of course, they are the rightful product of the business of some shops repairing or renting equipment and accepting to share their data with us.

And I found interesting data. For example, there is nearly no information on photo cameras, or camera bodies. But SquareTrade published rather detailed report about the repairs they did in the recent years (though mostly on point-n-shoot cameras) with some frightfully clear conclusions, like:

• More than 10% of the cameras failed before 2 years
• The statistical projection tells that there are/will-be more than 15% failure within 3 years
• Accidents are a major cause for failure: 40% of cameras were broken in such a way; We are rougher than our cameras!
• The more expensive, the more robust
• For SLR cameras, Canon and Nikon go hand-in-hand

And to think that the failure rate of major brands is around 4% within two years for a camera whose price is nearing 1000€…

But, look at the graph below:

Reliability of cameras between $300 and $500, by manufacturer

I would like to believe that you can extend these figures out of point-n-shoots and into the SLR market, but my own professional experience with quality and reliability management (in the automotive world, if you want to know) tells me that we should not even try.

On the opposite, I found additional data about interchangeable lenses to plug into our SLR cameras. Two studies from LensPlay and LensRentals bring some more light to the issue.

From LensPlay, hundreds of lenses and users have been analyzed: among the voluntary answers provided for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta/Sony, Tamron, Tokina and Sigma, only Minolta/Sony produced less than 200 answers (a pretty nice representation of the market).

LensRental gives us a finer status because they go down to a model-by-model level. So, it’s no longer necessary to compare brands, but you can get a good idea of which glass piece is more fragile or more sturdy than others, forgetting about the good (or bad) fames.

We also appreciate a lot some of the additional comments like:

• The super tele prime lenses (300mm f/2.8, 400mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4, 600mm f/4) from either Canon or Nikon are among the more reliable lenses (their simplicity is probably a good reason for such a score).
• The Sigma 120-400mm & 150-500mm had a 45% repair rate (as long as they were included in the LensRentals catalog of products).
• The Canon 50mm f/1.2 and Sigma 100-300mm are well under 10% (which is considered a good level in LensRentals)

Of course, these raw figures must be taken with a grain of salt: Rentals are often more mis-handled than bought parts, but the relative results are quite certainly representative of the underlying reality. And for example, the Canon 100-400mm seems to have an unfair bad fame about the reliability of its stabilization mechanism.

All in all, many reasons to treat your photo hardware with some care…

Sources:

• PetaPixel
• LensPlay
• LensRentals

But, apart from the rare occasions when you really need it, it’s too expensive for you and me. Why not build it yourself? Instructables does the demonstration with a Nikon D90, but it could be done with any other camera.

How to make a fish eye lens for a Nikon D-90 Digital SLR for $16

Tamron - Lens Comparison Tool (based on focal length)

But you can also find a similar tool at Olympus (and it takes into account the specificities of 4/3 sensor format, of course): Perfect Lens finder.

Olympus Perfect Lens Finder

SMC PENTAX DA 18-55MM F3.5-5.6 AL WR

SMC PENTAX DA 18-55MM F3.5-5.6 AL WR

SMC PENTAX DA 50-200MM F4-5.6 ED WR

SMC PENTAX DA 50-200MM F4-5.6 ED WR