D FA★ 50mm F1.4 Production Delayed

Lens to be launched in summer instead of spring

By PF Staff in Product Updates on Apr 13, 2018

Ricoh Imaging has announced that due to strict quality control standards, the new Pentax D FA★ 50mm F1.4 lens will be delayed until summer: a few months later than the previously-planned spring release. Summer should also bring the new DA★ 11-18mm F2.8 premium ultra-wide zoom for APS-C cameras.

The D FA★ 50mm F1.4 is a Pentax-original design and promises to be an ultra-high performance full-frame lens built with the latest in optical technology.  It will be a perfect pairing for the Pentax K-1 II, which is now shipping (and was in fact available a couple of weeks earlier than expected in some regions).

We tested a fully-functional copy of the 50mm lens at CP+ 2018 and are looking forward to reviewing it once it's ready for prime time.

While a 2-3 month delay in the availability of the 50mm isn't much of an issue in itself, Pentax needs to regain momentum after a fairly slow release cycle in 2017.  The community is looking forward to an updated version of the Pentax K-3 II, a new medium format offering, and more lenses from the current roadmap.

Press Release

2018.04.13

Development update regarding the
HD PENTAX-D FA50mmF1.4 SDM AW (Tentative name)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your past, present and continued support of Ricoh and PENTAX products.

At this time would like to update you of the current development status of the new-generation high-performance Star-series lens, the HD PENTAX-D FA★ 50mmF1.4 SDM AW (Tentative name), for which the development was announced in October of 2017.

With the new-generation of high-performance Star-series lenses, we have implemented higher quality control standards. Currently the HD PENTAX-D FA★ 50mm F1.4 SDM AW (Tentative name), lens is in the final stages of quality control and once the quality control stage is complete the lens will be forwarded to mass production. Therefore, in order to finalize the quality control stage and shift to mass production, we have changed the launch date from the previously announced, spring of 2018 to the summer of 2018.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

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