[Rick Clark]

The New Kit Lens for the K5 and Newer;
Pentax is losing ground in the DSLR world; build a camera system around two new lenses. 14mm-80mm f/2.2 WR all metal and rubber no plastic, and a 80mm-250mm f/3.2 WR. APS-c only no FF. Make it fit the ASP-c sensor.
The 14-80 f/2.2 would be the new KIT lens I know it is going to raise the cost of the kit, but people would be buying them so fast that the factory will have to go on line 24/7 and hire more employees for QC.
That is my next point the QC must be there 100% of the time and get rid of all the SDM problems and other things before they are released to the public. That will make people want to invest in the K5 and newer cameras as long as they can trust Pentax / Ricoh.
They have to put the time and money into building a top notch lens, if it calls for six ED lenses put them in.
The new lens should not know what the word soft means, only Sharp from edge to edge and corner to corner with 0.0% ghosting and flare throughout the entire range of 14-80mm And no CA control it 99.9%. We need a new formula for coating the lenses the old just isn’t good enough with Digital Cameras.
If Canon and Nikon can do it so can Pentax!. We should not give way to the mirror-less cameras they just don’t get the job done. Go DSLR!
The weather seals need to compliment the K5, as the K5 has so much to offer but the glass is hiding somewhere.
Pentax need to do whatever it takes to put their name at the top of the pile.
Well if you want to add to this lens and camera combo please add to it.

[Rick Clark]

I forgot the manual focus ring, it needs to be 1 inch wide and well dampened with a through of 150 degs. so you can really use it.

[eddie1960]

the 14-80 @ 2.2 and all metal and WR is not a kit lens concept, it would more than double the K5 price . It sounds cool but it would be a monster sizewise weigh a ton and to meet that build quality cost more than a DA* 16-50 2.8 by quite a bit

the 18-135 certainly works as a kit for longer reach, I think the 17-70 f4 if it was redone in WR would be the perfect k5 kit (24-105 FF equivalent and consistent aperture - not the fastest thing on earth but suitable for a kit.)
for people chasing the premium it would be better to do a rebate program on lenses with a body and favour the higher end lenses since the lower end are already kitted.
The 80 to 150 idea is already there in the 60-250. aside from speed it is pretty close to the described lens. it already weighs 1120grams and costs over $1200, the one you describe would likely cost double that and weigh closer to 2 kg. take into account that a FF 70-200 2.8 canon l (closes to the build but slower and shorter) weighs 1490 grams and costs $2500
Kit lenses in any brand are not meant to be the best on offer but enough to satisfy initial needs and for some users all they ever will need. then the better lenses are there for the people who desire the improvement and see the need. Typically the more top end cameras sell more as body only (being more likely someones second or third or more camera in the brand - starting at the best is rare) and it is the entry cameras that mostly go with lens

EDIT - BTW it's not that i'm anti those features I just think it's not doable at a profitable price . I would imagine in the next 2 years we will see ff 12-24f4,24-70f2.8,70-200 f2.8 but none of them will be kit lenses and they won't be cheap. they will be needed for a FF offering though
Actually knowing Pentax it will be more oddball numbers like 11-26 f3.5 26-85 f2.5 85-215 f2.7

[Don From The Radio]

A f/2.2 zoom would likely cost more than the K-5 itself. That's not what a kit lens is.

[bimjo]

I forgot the manual focus ring, it needs to be 1 inch wide and well dampened with a through of 150 degs. so you can really use it.

If it had those specs everybody would whine about the slow autofocus performance. Sadly, a long manual focus throw and fast autofocus performance are mutually exclusive. Maybe if they put a focus limiter on it it might work.

[RioRico]

Pentax is losing ground in the DSLR world;

Faulty precept. Pentax dSLR market share has been growing.

When we step down from large format to medium format, the next step is miniature format, the old name for 35mm full-frame (135/FF) and half-frame (135/HF) cameras. APS-C is very close in size to 135/HF. The fastest miniature format zooms now made are f/2.8. The fastest miniature format zooms EVER made were f/2.5. AFAIK nobody has EVER built a f/2.2 zoom for our SLRs. Yes, that would be quite a coup for Pentax, to build the impossible dream. A huge and hideously expensive impossible dream, alas.

Tiny cine-video formats are a different story. I have a Super-8 zoom, a B&H Filmovara 15-25mm f/1.2 that cost me just ONE BUCK! And I was given an Emdeko Reflex Zoom for some cine application; it's 9.5-32mm f/1.8. But these are totally unusable on a miniature format SLR. There are trade-offs in optical design, not magic, no matter how much pixie-dust goes into a lens.

[creampuff]

Wake up to reality! If you examine the demographics of the typical Pentax user, most can't or won't pay for such a lens. If they did have the means, they'd quite likely jumped ship and gone Canikon already.

[audiobomber]

The New Kit Lens for the K5 and Newer;
Pentax is losing ground in the DSLR world; build a camera system around two new lenses. 14mm-80mm f/2.2 WR all metal and rubber no plastic, and a 80mm-250mm f/3.2 WR. APS-c only no FF. Make it fit the ASP-c sensor.
The 14-80 f/2.2 would be the new KIT lens I know it is going to raise the cost of the kit, but people would be buying them so fast that the factory will have to go on line 24/7 and hire more employees for QC.
That is my next point the QC must be there 100% of the time and get rid of all the SDM problems and other things before they are released to the public. That will make people want to invest in the K5 and newer cameras as long as they can trust Pentax / Ricoh.
They have to put the time and money into building a top notch lens, if it calls for six ED lenses put them in.
The new lens should not know what the word soft means, only Sharp from edge to edge and corner to corner with 0.0% ghosting and flare throughout the entire range of 14-80mm And no CA control it 99.9%. We need a new formula for coating the lenses the old just isn’t good enough with Digital Cameras.
If Canon and Nikon can do it so can Pentax!. We should not give way to the mirror-less cameras they just don’t get the job done. Go DSLR!
The weather seals need to compliment the K5, as the K5 has so much to offer but the glass is hiding somewhere.
Pentax need to do whatever it takes to put their name at the top of the pile.
Well if you want to add to this lens and camera combo please add to it.

Which Canon and Nikon lenses are you referencing?

[eddie1960]

Which Canon and Nikon lenses are you referencing?

given how cr*ppy the canikon kit lenses are in many cases he can't ell you

he sees the big 2.8 lenses and thinks of them as kit's they aren't. Many of the big guns from canikon are amazing lenses but the kit lenses meh not so much

[sterretje]

When we step down from large format to medium format, the next step is miniature format, the old name for 35mm full-frame (135/FF) and half-frame (135/HF) cameras. APS-C is very close in size to 135/HF. The fastest miniature format zooms now made are f/2.8. The fastest miniature format zooms EVER made were f/2.5. AFAIK nobody has EVER built a f/2.2 zoom for our SLRs

Not for Pentax, but does this count?
ED 14-35mm f2.0
ED 35-100mm f2.0

[eddie1960]

Not for Pentax, but does this count?
ED 14-35mm f2.0
ED 35-100mm f2.0

for 43, the smaller register distance allow some designs not possible without enormous size on larger formats. also from a ff perspective these are f4.0 equivalent so pretty damn expensive given the price of FF f 4.0 lenses
As they were designed with the e3 e5 in mind they had to go to the extreme as the camera was targeted at a pro level user (and so far has been an epic fail, though the design is excellent the 43 limitations killed it IMO ) the speed is also needed because the sensor doesn't have the iso performance. you could shoot a D 700 at f 40 at higher iso with better detail for example

[Clinton]

Pentax is losing ground in the DSLR world

Really? Where are you getting that info from? As far as I can tell, the K-5 has really been turning heads in the DSLR world.

[alohadave]

14mm-80mm f/2.2 WR all metal and rubber no plastic,

That lens would weigh at least 2 pounds and cost about $1500 (minimum)

[eddie1960]

That lens would weigh at least 2 pounds and cost about $1500 (minimum)

more like $2200-2500 would be my guess

[bassek]

That lens would weigh at least 2 pounds and cost about $1500 (minimum)

It would be sized like the Sigma Bigma.

It would require a tripod collar.

Or have a built in monopod?

Seb.