Ricoh has just officially announced the new HD PENTAX-D FA★85mm F1.4 ED SDM AW Lens. It offers numerous special elements, a new AF motor and the build quality from high-end Pentax lenses.
The 85mm F1.4 contains a total of 12 elements, including ‘Super ED’ and aspherical glass. An HD coating is used to reduce flare and ghosting. The lens has a new ring-type SDM lens motor to drive the focusing elements, which delivers 1.3x more torque than the motor on the 50mm F1.4, according to Ricoh. The lens has a nine-blade aperture that is electronically controlled.
The US price is $1899.95 and shipping will start in mid-June 2020. You can check the available at B&H, Adorama, Amazon.
Press release:
RICOH ANNOUNCES HD PENTAX-D FA★85MM F1.4ED SDM AW FOR K-MOUNT DIGITAL SLR CAMERAS
Second fixed focal-length model added to next-generation, high-performance Star lens series
PARSIPPANY, NJ, May 27, 2020 － Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation today announced the HD PENTAX-D FA★85mm F1.4ED SDM AW lens, the second fixed focal-length lens in the new-generation PENTAX Star (★) lens series. Designed for use with PENTAX K-mount digital SLR cameras, Star-series lenses boast the highest imaging performance of all PENTAX lens lineups.
PENTAX developed a new, ring-type SDM (Supersonic Direct-drive Motor) exclusively for this new lens to enable flawless, high-speed autofocus operation, with an exterior design that assures a firm grip for manual-focus operation. The HD PENTAX-D FA★85mm F1.4ED SDM AW lens is designed not only to assure the highest imaging power currently possible, but also to optimize the joy of picture-taking.
The new lens incorporates three Super ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass optical elements to effectively minimize chromatic aberration, and a glass-molded aspherical optical element to effectively compensate for spherical and chromatic aberrations and field curvature to deliver extra-clear, high-contrast images with edge-to-edge sharpness, even at open aperture. This design also reduces distortion to nearly zero at a focusing distance of four meters to deliver well-defined, distortion-free images over the entire focusing range, from the minimum focusing distance to infinity.
The HD PENTAX-D FA★85mm F1.4ED SDM AW lens boasts an F1.4 maximum aperture, useful with many different subjects in a range of applications, including portraiture with an effectively defocused background, handheld shooting of indoor scenes and scenic photography. The extra-large aperture produces a bright, clear viewfinder image that will surely inspire photographic creativity and imagination.
Developed as an AW (All Weather) model, the new lens features dustproof, weather-resistant construction with eight special seals to prevent the intrusion of water into the lens barrel. When paired with a dustproof, weather-resistant PENTAX digital SLR camera body, it assures a durable, reliable digital imaging system that performs superbly in demanding shooting settings — even in rain or mist, or at locations prone to water splashes or spray.
| Pricing and Availability |
The HD PENTAX-D FA★85mm F1.4ED SDM AW lens will be available in mid-June at www.us.ricoh-imaging.com as well as at Ricoh Imaging-authorized retail outlets for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $1899.95.
MAIN FEATURES OF THE NEW HD PENTAX-D FA★85MM F1.4ED SDM AW
1. New-generation, high-performance Star-series lens to deliver ideal image quality
Anticipating the further advancement of SLR camera bodies in the future, PENTAX has designed this lens to deliver extra-clear, high-contrast images with edge-to-edge sharpness by compensating various aberrations to a minimum, while greatly enhancing resolving power — two factors absolutely essential in the next-generation Star series. It provides exceptionally high imaging performance even at open aperture, a beautiful bokeh (defocus) effect and outstanding image rendition at close ranges — all reasons why it produces high-quality, well-defined images. It also boasts an extra-large F1.4 maximum aperture, useful with many different subjects in a range of applications, including portraiture with an effectively defocused background, handheld shooting of indoor scenes and scenic photography. It helps the camera to produce a bright, clear viewfinder image that will inspire the photographer’s creativity and imagination.
2. State-of-the-art optical technology
This lens incorporates three Super ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass optical elements to effectively minimize chromatic aberration, and a glass-molded aspherical optical element to effectively compensate for spherical and chromatic aberrations and field curvature to deliver extra-clear, high-contrast images with edge-to-edge sharpness, even at open aperture. It also reduces distortion to nearly zero at a focusing distance of four meters to deliver well-defined, distortion-free images over the entire focusing range, from the minimum focusing distance to infinity. This lens is also treated with high-grade, multi-layer High-Definition (HD) Coating, which reduces average reflectance in the visible ray spectrum to less than 50% of conventional multi-layer coatings, effectively reducing flare and ghost images to a minimum even in demanding lighting conditions such as backlighting.
3. Newly designed, large ring-type SDM
To deliver the highest image quality possible over the entire focusing range — from the minimum focusing distance to infinity — this lens features a newly designed, large ring-type SDM to efficiently drive the focusing mechanism, which consists of a larger number of optical elements than ordinary lenses, and is required to shift heavy rear-optical-element groups in unison. Generating a torque approximately 1.3 times that of the unit installed in the HD PENTAX-D FA★50mm f1.4 SDM AW, this new SDM assures flawless, high-speed autofocus operation.
4. Dustproof, weather-resistant construction
Developed as an AW (All Weather) model, this lens features a dependable dustproof, weather-resistant construction with eight special seals to prevent the intrusion of water into the lens barrel. When paired with a dustproof, weather-resistant PENTAX digital SLR camera body, it assures a durable, reliable digital imaging system that performs superbly in demanding shooting conditions — even in rain or mist, or at locations prone to water splashes or spray.
5. Other features
- Nine-blade, round-shaped diaphragm to produce a natural, beautiful bokeh (defocus) effect up to the F2.8 aperture setting, while minimizing the streaking effect of point light sources
- Exterior design that facilitates focus-ring operation in manual-focus shooting and provides a firm hold
- Electromagnetic diaphragm-control mechanism** for flawless, high-precision exposure control during video recording
- SP (Super Protect) coating to keep the front surface free of dust and spots
