Will Pentax bring out super long prime lenses again ?

[lesmore49]

I am a long time Pentax SLR photographer. I started with my S1a, bought new, back in '68, then got an ES11 in '74, then a K1000 in the 80's, which was actually my wife's camera and I just used after we were married. In Nov./07 I bought a Pentax K10D, of which I'm very happy. It's recharged my photo batteries as it were.

Anyway, enough personal history.

I do recall, during my long history with Pentax, that back eons ago, before digital you could get a 400, 500, 600....1000mm (am I right ?) lens. Now I think I may have seen a 500 or a 600, they were that rare. But you could get them.

I know you can get a converter for the old M42 screw mount, or just bayonet click them into your K series digital SLR.

But the biggest lens Pentax has is the 300, f2.8. Will Pentax bring out super primes again, like the old, vaunted lens of the past.

Don't get me started on the 6 X 7. Lovely, huge and first class.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

I have no answer to your question. In my mind there is other things Pentax should do before that. Just wanted to point out that "eons ago" we shot on film. Crop factor means that new DA*300/2.8 is more like a DA*450/2.8. That may influence somehow how much further they want to go...unless that much debated FF DSLR would be real.

[clawhammer]

It seems that if you've got an unlimited expense account and the patience to wait, you can order an FA* 600 f/4 from Pentax in Japan. 1000mm lenses (non-reflex) are rare for any mount, Pentax produced a k 1000 f/8 and a A* 1200 f/8, but I wouldn't bet on them ever being reintroduced.

I could see Pentax bringing out a 400 or 500 f/4 or f/5.6 (which, to their eyes, are 600 or 750mm lenses) in a year or two, depending on how well they are able to maintain/grow market share.

A quick ebay search yields a couple 400 f/5.6's for ~2000 -> ~3000. If you're desperate for long glass, there's this monster for a cool $5K.

[lesmore49]

I should of mentioned that I have a 55-300 Pentax zoom. It's a pretty good lens, converts to 35 mm equivalent of about 450 mm. I'm happy with it.

I have used it for birds, mostly Pelicans, Ducks a few small birds. Pix are quite clear as long as I'm able to get a good focus lock on the eyes of the subject.

I doubt if I would ever go beyond the 55-300 (450) as for me it does the job for action shots in bright sunlight and it's light. And affordable.

I was wondering about the re-introduction or introduction of super long lens from Pentax as to whether it will happen again .

I don't know if Pentax ever plans to match Canon or Nikon with additional lenses. Just wondering.