Podcast: New Gear Roundup, Spring 2021

Greetings podcast team! It was fun to hear what the major camera manufacturers have been up to during this strange, dark winter. I subscribe mostly for your conversations with photographers such as Kesha Lambert—what a dream to have a concert hall as a portrait studio. I use pretty offbeat equipment for my personal and professional work, so the mainstream gear discussions don't directly relate to my photography, but it's still helpful and fun to stay informed about new offerings.



For whatever it's worth, I think it's okay to leave the Pentax discussions to other outlets. Something like "Also, there are some new lenses out from Pentax. That's not a brand we spend much time on here, but we know that some people still use Pentax gear, and they seem to like it. Now, let's talk about this new Sunstar lens from NiSi…"



If you are going to talk about Pentax gear, though, please do a bit more homework? That can be a tall order in this work-from-home world, when you folks might not have access to the showroom or factory reps. But things got a little fuzzy in the Pentax segment of the show:

• Pentax Limited Lenses are not Limited Edition. Pentax has made the 43mm FA Limited since 1996. They'll keep making them for as long as there are buyers. "Limited" signifies compact, all-metal prime lenses with low distortion and (usually) 49mm filter threads.

• The weird focal lengths are a hallmark of the Limited line. Pentax has been making the 31mm, 43mm, and 77mm Limited lenses for over 30 years, so maybe give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they're being intentional.

• FA Limited lenses also work with new Pentax digital cameras, not just with old Pentax film cameras.

• All Pentax lenses are stabilized lenses, because Pentax bodies provide sensor-based shake reduction.

• All Pentax Lenses are shift lenses, because Pentax bodies provide sensor-based shift. (No tilt, sadly.)

• Finally, even though Pentax has put weather-sealing on all of its cameras for years, none of the FA Limited lenses and only one of the DA Limited lenses is weather-sealed, as some landscape photographers learn to their dismay out in the field.



That said, you guys clearly know your stuff. Canon, Sony, Nikon, Sigma, Panasonic, Leica—these companies come out with dozens of bodies and lenses each year. Nobody expects you to ALSO keep tabs on all of the offbeat gear from niche companies. Those of us who shoot with Pentax, or Olympus, or PhaseOne systems already know we'll need to do our own digging to learn about new releases. Honestly, that's part of the fun of shooting with one of the "quirky" lines. So I hope you'll take this as the friendly correction it's meant to be. I can already see a new episode is in my feed with what looks to be an in-depth interview with a working pro, and that's the content I look forward to from you guys at B&H.