<2nd attempt to post, please forgive if there are duplicate postings>
This is my first post to the PDML so I thought I'd make a splash and jump into the compatibility discussion/argument/fight straightaway. By way of introducing myself, I am an enthusiastic amateur with frighteningly limited financial resources. My Pentax gear consists exclusively of a K1000 with the M-50 f/2, M-135 f/3.5 and much maligned Takumar-A 28-80. I probably shoot 70% of the time with the 135, wish I had a wide-angle but my one experience in buying on e-bay resulted in a fungus-y FD-mount lens. Ah, life. I've been following the 'crippled' lens mount discussion and have a question. It appears that the K/M lenses won't work on these cameras because the camera won't stop down the lens because they don't have the contacts indicating the lens is an A-series or later lens set to A. The camera must stop down the lens diaphragm according to its electronic instructions from the meter or the user through the body. Since these cameras have electronic DOF preview I assume that they will only release the diaphragm actuator on the lense the distance it takes to stop down to the aperture set by the camera. Is this correct? If I have an FA lens with an aperture ring set off A on one of these bodies, will the camera behave as if the lens were a K/M lens? Assuming yes: it seems to me the K/M lens on this body is rendered useless exclusively because it has the diaphragm actuator. It has been said that most screw-mount lenses will work on these bodies (assuming the body allows you to trip the shutter at all) in stop down mode. I assume this is because the camera can't hold the aperture open. If this is true then it seems like it would only take a little bit of programming to tell the camera to depress the diaphragm actuation lever on the lens fully when DOF preview is activated with a non-A lense mounted. As long as metering could take place and the shutter could be tripped while DOFp is active that would go a good distance to solving the compatibility problem without requiring Pentax to put the stop-down coupler on every body. It would mean manual diaphragm control and stop-down metering but it's a small price to pay to retain some backwards compatibility. Am I on the right track here? Please tell me if I've gone astray anywhere here. I have a hard time believing that Pentax would completely dump the stop-down coupler across the board. Since (nearly) every K-whatever lens must be stopped down using the built-in mechanical lever, every Pentax body must still physically interact with the lens. I can't think of any good reason for Pentax to go one step at a time down the road towards a fully electronic mount. I really think the extra expense that Pentax would incur by including full compatability on their highest level bodies could be successfully passed to the consumer. If you're already spending $1000 plus on such specialized equipment, a few more dollars aren't going be the straw that breaks the high-end consumer's back, even if the consumer doesn't know or care what the difference means. In my opinion, of course. Thanks for reading. An ironic aside: it was my fiancee's purchase of a Canon Powershot S30 which reinvigorated me for photography. After playing with the S30 for a few weeks I dusted off my K1000 and, as they say, 'fell in love all over again'. I'm sure by the standards set by the PUG I've got a vast amount to learn, but I enjoy taking pictures like nothing else. Michael __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com
