Pentax Announces 100mm f/2.8 Weather Resistant Macro Lens

[Andy Stanton]

Pentax has announced the Pentax D FA Macro 100mm F/2.8 weather resistant lens designed for use with Pentax digital SLR cameras. Its weather resistance makes the new macro lens especially useful for the demands of outdoor photography.

The lens contains the following features:

• Weather resistant construction
• A high-grade, aluminum barrel
• An improved focus ring
• A completely rounded diaphragm blade to create a natural bokeh at wide apertures, while minimizing the streaking effect of point light sources
• A focal length equivalent to 153mm in the 35mm format
• A working distance of just over five inches (13 cm) for close-up photography
• The Pentax Quick-Shift focus system for instant switching to manual-focus operation after the subject is captured in focus by the camera's AF system
• An image circle to accommodate 35mm film-format camera image size
• Compatibility with the macro adapter included in the Pentax AF160FC dedicated Auto Macro Ring Flash
• Comes with a hood, case, and lens cap

The Pentax D FA Macro 100mm F/2.8 weather resistant lens will ship in January 2010 at a price of $849.95 U.S. dollars. For more information on this lens, see the Pentax website.

[Nicky2007]

The last 3 new lenses announced by Pentax seemed to be a make-over of 3 existing lenses.

Apart from the weather resistant feature & new barrel designs, the Pentax D FA 100mm F2.8 WR Macro is similar to the Pentax D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro; the DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR to the DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II & the DA 50-200mm F4-5.6 ED WR to the DA 50-200mm F4-5.6 ED.

With 2 pro-sumer cameras, the K7 & K20D in its stable, I would expect Pentax to introduce new DA Star lenses instead. After all, a camera only takes the picture, it's the lens that makes the picture.