This is really good news because: 1. We have two nifty new macros. The 100 is only 12 oz! And look at the size of those focusing rings, as opposed to rubber bands we have now. The focus clutch should be especially nice for macro work. And that 50 would make a nice normal lens. I'll be especially interested in build quality, since these are certainly plastic barrels.
2. The aperture rings show some commitment to back compatibility. 3. The "35 mm film circle" shows that they are planning for bigger sensors. (although I couldn't find that part about using the 8mp sensor that Canon uses.) One idle comment though: What an INTERESTING choice of lense to produce. No sexy zoomie things, but solid workhorse macros. Does anyone else find this an unexpected choice? These lenses smell of advanced amateur and not entry level. Although digital is making it harder to distinguish clean camera types anymore, I still don't think Pentax will go after the D2H/1D II markets directly. But they could make a fairly complete and compact advanced amateur system, sacrificing heft for size. I'm still interested to see what they do about the MF line, since this was their real pro line. Good news by any standard. Maybe Pentax intends to stay a real camera company after all. I have faith, however, that this list will find the dark lining of this silver cloud <g>.
