Do we really need/want updated DA★ lenses?

PocketPixels wrote:

Phil A Martin wrote:

bob5050 wrote:

Phil A Martin wrote:

I guess I think so, and for me star bursts are an irritating hindrance and smoother bokeh an improvement. If people want cheesy starbursts, buy some cokin filters or similar.

I think we'd be hard-pressed to find ANY distortion or limitation that some proportion doesn't consider a feature. I admit to being a fan of B&W occasionally, for example, though that, too, could be described as cheesy--giving a sense of 'stark' realism while obviously departing from any definition of 'photo-accurate' realism. And the Ltds as a group were always promoted as having 'distinct qualities' or 'personalities.'

I'm a fan of soft bokeh on portrait lenses and macro lenses. I've never felt that bokeh adds much to landscape or architecture lenses, but to each his own.

Cheesy starbursts come from cheesy cross-hatch filters. The aperture-blade starburst abilities of the wide-angle SMC DA 15mm and SMC DA 21mm Limiteds are unique and distinctive. My understanding is that Pentax designs the Limited lenses to have unique, even idiosyncratic, features—how many other 21mm or 43mm lenses are there?—so updating these lenses to follow the "bokeh or bust" trend always puzzled me.

I have miserable luck (or skill) at posting flickr photos to these threads, but as I do own both the "green" DA 15 and the "red" HD DA 15 Limiteds, I took some sample shots to show what was lost and what was gained in the update.

But returning to the main topic, my understanding is that rounded aperture blades have been standard on all DA★ lenses from jump, so a "quickie" update to them might involve just adding HD coatings. I have no idea, none, if adding HD coatings to an existing lens design is a trivial or onerous task.

Original DA 15mm Limited lens with green band, ƒ/13

Updated HD DA 15mm Limited lens with red band, ƒ/13

I'm afraid I don't like the effect in either image.