On 13/10/06, John Francis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't think so, Shel - I suspect any new refinements to the K-mount > will be digital, not mechanical. From a mechanical standpoint I think > the full KAF2 mount, with all the mechanical aperture couplings, the > digital signal pin, and the power contacts is as complex as it gets. > So in other words I don't think the aperture simulator coupling was > removed for purely mechanical reasons to do with the mount. Either > it was a marketing-driven conspiracy solely for the purpose of making > us buy new lenses, or it was a cost-cutting measure (and not just in > the cost of the materials and manufacture; any design simplification > saves money in testing, repair and education as well).
I agree and the significance of the cost savings is minimal as compared to some of the new "features" that have been added so that argument seems highly dubious to me, I'm far more inclined to believe that lens sales was the catalyst for it's removal. > My guess would be that we'll begin to see new lenses that communicate > far more information over the digital signal pin (such as, say, the > actual aperture the lens is set to; far more accurate than relying > on the position of a mechanical actuator). After that, and in-lens > motors for focussing, maybe we'll even see lenses with some other > features implemented internally; perhaps an in-lens motor to drive > the aperture diaphragm; perhaps even an in-lens shutter mechanism. > Not just a leaf shutter, either; perhaps we'll see some electronic > device that can switch between opaque and transparent very fast (or > even translucent - a sort of electronically-controlled ND filter). > > Of course if Pentax do introduce electronic aperture control then > we know what will happen 25 years from now when they eventually > stop supporting mechanically-actuated iris diaphragms :-) Yes but they don't have to, electronic aperture control could be implemented without modifying the current mount physically. -- Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC(GMT) +10 Hours [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.swiftdsl.com.au/~distudio//publications/ Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998 -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
