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Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Breaking News! Specifications of the New DA 40mm F2.8 XS Lens Leaked!!

Right before the official announcement when is still about 1.5 days to happen, our Blog reader and contributor OGL has just posted some detailed specs of the lens right here and here it is:-

smc PENTAX-DA 40mmF2.8 XS Specification:

Lens Mount: PENTAX KAF Mount
Focal Length: 40mm (Equivalent to 61mm in 35mm format) (My Note: That is, a K-mount mirrorless system with an APS-C sized sensor!)
Aperture: F2.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Lens Construction: 5 elements in 4 groups
Angle of View: 39° (with PENTAX D-SLR camera body)
Minimum Focusing Distance: 0.4m
Maximum Magnification: 0.13x
Number of Diaphragm Blades: 9
Filter Diameter: 27mm
Maximum Diameter & Minimum Length: 62.9mm x 9.2mm
Weight: 52g

1. Exterior design by Marc Newson
Together with the PENTAX K-01 camera body, the exterior of this lens has been designed by Marc Newson. Mounting this lens on the K-01 results in a highly stylish imaging tool.

2. Easy-to-use, super-thin lens for everyday use
This unifocal standard lens offers a focal length equivalent to 61mm in the 35mm format, and measures a mere 9.2 millimeters in length, making it the world’s thinnest interchangeable lens. Thanks to its super-thin design, it is highly portable and easy to store and carry. Its optics were designed based on those of the acclaimed smc PENTAX-DA 40mm F2.8 Limited lens. Its maximum aperture of F2.8 produces sharp, bright images in a wide range of applications, including snapshots, scenic photos, portraits, and even incident-light indoor shooting.

3. Exceptional image-description
In addition to numerical evaluations made by various testing machines, PENTAX has also conducted an image-quality evaluation of hundreds of images actually taken with this lens. As a result, it not only offers outstanding specifications, but also demonstrates exceptional image descriptive power and an image rendition unique to this lens. It features a round-shaped diaphragm, which produces a smooth, natural bokeh (out-of-focus) effect in the background.

4. SP coating to block dirt and dust
The front surface of this lens is treated with SP (Super Protect) coating, which applies an exclusive fluorine compound to the lens surface through a vapor deposition process. This SP coating not only repels dust, water and grease, but also makes it easy to wipe off oily stains such as fingerprints and cosmetics.

It is further noted in another reply comment of his that the new K-01 will not have any viewfinder, no EVF nor OVF neither.

P.S. I believe that the above information is real and accurate.

Comments (17)

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So, you see now, what is the real cost of DA "Ltds": overpriced mediocre optics and nothing more.
2 replies · active 681 weeks ago
But actually we still know nothing about the marketing price of the new XS lens! Maybe it is as dear or close to? :-)

Btw, I don't agree that all DA limited are with poor optical quality. E.g., the optical quality of my DA70 lens is actually quite good on APS-C! (Not so for the cleanness of mine out of the factory, as reported.) And, the most valuable thing is that it still works on films and thus is more future proof - when a Pentax FF digital body really comes!
Mediocre optics? What are you basing that on? Photozone for example does not agree with that statement nor SLRgear. Objectively or subjectively the limiteds are well regarded.
Barbarosa's avatar

Barbarosa · 681 weeks ago

limiteds are fantastic lens by rendering and colors, also very good in sharpness but who can conclude that form photozone charts and we all know that good internet photo expert read photozone charts as main source of decisions so limiteds on internet are bad.
In real life and with real photographers they seams much better.
1 reply · active 681 weeks ago
How about the judgements from those who are both "internet photo experts" and "real photographers" by themselves? ;-D
Nothing impressive so far. This is the 3-rd release of the same lens (ok, minor tweaks added) but still, not quite a useful one. I'm happy with my Da40 as it is, but, no wr & odd focal lenght on apsc - I'm honestly hoping for the last years rumored Da*28 f2...
4 replies · active 681 weeks ago
Agree with you in general. But I think otherwise that least is better than none! Yet we could see that Pentax is not yet dead!
### Pentax is not yet dead ### - yes. every pentaxian should feel happy about this.
"Pentax haters" would feel the different way! ;->
Troll of Bifrost's avatar

Troll of Bifrost · 681 weeks ago

Or someone paid by the big two to bash every other brands in existence.
Assuming that it can produce excellent quality, it is still not a great lens, and more like a compromised one made for the sake of portability. The focal length is awkward for use on an APS-C camera, just too long for general shooting and not long enough for portrait head shots. Even for portability's sake, something like a 24mm would have been much better. As for the camera, big disappointment that it does not have any viewfinder.
3 replies · active 681 weeks ago
I shoot portraits with a DA 35 so I know a 40mm is long enough. I also spend a lot of time with my Tamron 17-50 and Lightroom tells me a lot of those shots are near 40mm.
Sure, you can shoot portratis with superwide too, but the fact is the distance for most flattering portraits is generally from about 6ft or more. I would rather use a 200mm or even 300mm equiv than a 60mm for tight head shots than 60mm. I suppose you either take mainly head and shoulder shots or smaller, crop a lot for closer shots and therefore lose quality, or you have your special reasons.
I agree that as a *standard* prime the Angle of View is just too tight.

They should make a DA28/2.8 XS instead and then the AoV will be perfect!
As for me, K-01 40 kit is comfortable as second camera for travel. I use FA43 with my K-5 appox. 60-70% of my photo time.
I don't like EVF. Low resolution EVF is bad, high resolution is expensive. I'm good with LV.
Based on Pentax recent history, I predict the next lens to be released after this should be 35mm focal length. <sarcasm>
27mm filter size is something new

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