[thibs]

Maybe he'd confuse 18-250 with the planned 60-250/4 ?

[regken]

I think that putting the FA lenses back into production is actually a good idea.

Everyone likes them, they would sell well.
No R&D to do and they produce great images.
Plus the aps-c sensor is right in the lens' sweet spot.

How would it be a bad idea?

The FA lenses are great but still a niche market. If they are coming out with a 18-250 it signals a return to what made Pentax a household name with a digital twist. DSLR's for the masses, that is what made Pentax in the first place. The twist is in today's market the first time buyer wants a one lens gets it all package. Combine that lens with a well priced K100D or K10D and you have the same thing Pentax had back in the MX days. Every photographic student in the world bought a Pentax because of price and feature set.

The upgrade package would be a two zoom lens combo with something like a Sigma 17-70 and a Sigma 70-300. If this is where Hoya is leading Pentax I think it will make them very profitable and we can expect to see all kinds of new low cost accessories like flash units based on OEM parts they can buy out with very little assembly themselves.

This direction means that all of you looking for high end gear or new bodies better take a chill pill until late next year. This, IMO, is a very savvy business strategy. It will delay the upgrade path for those with a K10D or people that want to use Pentax for professional work, but it just might save Pentax as a division of Hoya.

Regards,

Ken

The FA lenses are great but still a niche market. If they are coming out with a 18-250 it signals a return to what made Pentax a household name with a digital twist. DSLR's for the masses, that is what made Pentax in the first place. The twist is in today's market the first time buyer wants a one lens gets it all package. Combine that lens with a well priced K100D or K10D and you have the same thing Pentax had back in the MX days. Every photographic student in the world bought a Pentax because of price and feature set.

The upgrade package would be a two zoom lens combo with something like a Sigma 17-70 and a Sigma 70-300. If this is where Hoya is leading Pentax I think it will make them very profitable and we can expect to see all kinds of new low cost accessories like flash units based on OEM parts they can buy out with very little assembly themselves.

This direction means that all of you looking for high end gear or new bodies better take a chill pill until late next year. This, IMO, is a very savvy business strategy. It will delay the upgrade path for those with a K10D or people that want to use Pentax for professional work, but it just might save Pentax as a division of Hoya.

Regards,

Ken

I agree with the profitable idea of selling afordable equipment althought if I am not wrong, now the Tamron is 500$ and I would not expect the Pentax version with SMC coating, SDM motor, and the Pentax name on it for less than 800$. To me a 1500 set (K100d super+"18-250kit lens") would be a little bit out of a student budget, althought it would be a really competitive kit. I also like the idea that I read some time ago in one of the threads in this forum about releasing a mini (and cheap) dslr similar to the old 110 model. I think that it would take the market by storm. Actually, I am drolling about the possibility of having that ultimate high quality pocket camera.

[regken]

I agree with the profitable idea of selling afordable equipment althought if I am not wrong, now the Tamron is 500$ and I would not expect the Pentax version with SMC coating, SDM motor, and the Pentax name on it for less than 800$. To me a 1500 set (K100d super+"18-250kit lens") would be a little bit out of a student budget, althought it would be a really competitive kit. I also like the idea that I read some time ago in one of the threads in this forum about releasing a mini (and cheap) dslr similar to the old 110 model. I think that it would take the market by storm. Actually, I am drolling about the possibility of having that ultimate high quality pocket camera.

Unless SDM can be done for pennies and the K100D cost the same as the K100D, they don't belong in this market. The K100D Super was part of the "OLD" Pentax thinking. My guess is that the new strategy is the K100D with inexpensive lenses.

Regards,

Unless SDM can be done for pennies and the K100D cost the same as the K100D, they don't belong in this market. The K100D Super was part of the "OLD" Pentax thinking. My guess is that the new strategy is the K100D with inexpensive lenses.

Regards,

I think that Pentax is somehow trying to follow the 1-2 strategy that Nikon used to lead the dslr market. First they "buy" some market share by releasing cheap-good equipment and adding some high-end features and then they will calm the anxiety of the oldest users by releasing some high end bodies in one year from now. I only see two problems to that strategy:
a) They need to acomplish the lens promises to look like they are for real. I think that this is can be done in part if the rebadging strategy is true. Some can find that way sloopy but how many of you would not buy a rebadged 17-50 2.8Tamron for less than 500$ rather than a 16-50 2.8 for 900$. I think this strategy is also good since they can win some time before they can release the real pentax staff without taking again the risk of releasing lens without the right QC
b) Unfortunately, they cannot invest in R&D as much as Nikon. Although I think that Pentax-Hoya-Samsung would be able to release a product good enough to make some pro-like people happy without any shame. Whether or not Pentax can be as big as Nikon or Canon or Sony is another story.

Regards

[rvannatta]

I think that putting the FA lenses back into production is actually a good idea.

Everyone likes them, they would sell well.
No R&D to do and they produce great images.
Plus the aps-c sensor is right in the lens' sweet spot.

How would it be a bad idea?

I think the good idea would be to rename them and make trivial cosmetic changes and sell them as a 'new product'.

[clawhammer]

I disagree with the thinking that this rebadging is a new strategy- isn't this what Pentax did with the FA 28-200 (also a new super-zoom from Tamron) and the DA 12-24? I think it's a great way to get product without spending massive amounts of money into R&D, satisfying the low and mid-end market thus freeing up resources to develop truly unique products like the DA*s and new bodies.

[Tom Lusk]

I wonder if Pentax even has the capabilities any more to produce FA* lenses?

There was obviously great craftmanship and attention to detail involved in producing them - something their current production facilities have not apparently been able to match...

[anomaly]

I forgot that they sold the old factory..

Shoulda sold the headquarters first, lol.

[clawhammer]

I wonder if Pentax even has the capabilities any more to produce FA* lenses?

There was obviously great craftmanship and attention to detail involved in producing them - something their current production facilities have not apparently been able to match...

What about the limited series?

[thibs]

I disagree with the thinking that this rebadging is a new strategy- isn't this what Pentax did with the FA 28-200 (also a new super-zoom from Tamron) and the DA 12-24? I think it's a great way to get product without spending massive amounts of money into R&D, satisfying the low and mid-end market thus freeing up resources to develop truly unique products like the DA*s and new bodies.

No, the 12-24 is not a simple rebadge, it has had the same treatment as other collaboration lenses between Tokina/Pentax.
The optical blueprint of this one comes from Tokina and that is all.

[rvannatta]

No, the 12-24 is not a simple rebadge, it has had the same treatment as other collaboration lenses between Tokina/Pentax.
The optical blueprint of this one comes from Tokina and that is all.

I didn't intend to imply that I though rebadging was a new idea.

Reinventing the optical wheel is nonsense. I think there are more optical manufacturers than really good ways to make various lenses.

I don't enjoy paying R & D expenses rolled into lens costs for the purpose of reiventing things that have already be invented.

[clawhammer]

So, I just checked our electronic stockbook at work today (I work at a Ritz camera) and they have the 18-250 on order for 499.99. For what it's worth, it's listed as having ED glass, Aspheric elements, and being an internal focusing (IF) design.

[clawhammer]

Thar she blows!

Pentax Imaging: smc DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ED AL(IF) - DA - Zoom - Digital & 35mm - Lenses - Cameras by Pentax

You can tell it's based off the Tamron- check out the zoom lock.

[regken]

Thar she blows!

Pentax Imaging: smc DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ED AL(IF) - DA - Zoom - Digital & 35mm - Lenses - Cameras by Pentax

You can tell it's based off the Tamron- check out the zoom lock.

I think it's a very smart marketing move. Looks like Hoya is sticking their nose in and giving the Pentax team some direction. Now let's see if the bodies follow next month and what they do about new bodies. I'm just glad to see some action.

Regards,