[HawaiianOnline]

The 645 lens is gone....

[Elton]

645 GONE!!! Oh no

That is a serious bummer. If it's not reappearing I'm going to be very sorry.

[gnaztee]

I hope Pentax is not that stupid to discontinue one of the greatest lenses in history: the FA 31mm. With Sony entering the FF market with their newly announced 24.8MP CMOS sensor, it makes more sense than ever for Pentax to produce their own FF sensor (with the help of Samsung's vast resources, of course). Imagine having the best of BOTH worlds: A DA* 30/f1.8(?) for your K20D's APS-C sensor or the FA 31mm/1.8 limited for your K1D's FF sensor!
I think this would be so incredible if it came to pass! It is Pentax's brilliant collaboration with Samsung that can make this fantasy a reality.

Ted

Maybe they're going to pull a Disney move and lock the FA 31 in the "vault" until they jump into the FF market

Todd

[alib99]

still no date on 300 F4

As far as know, it is already released Till summer it will be in the shops.
MRSP is 1300$

[heatherslightbox]

If the 17-70 will be weathersealed, I might be interested. Even with my collection of nice lenses that I already have now and that I want to get (i.e. 21), I'd love to have a weathersealed lens to go with the weathersealed K10 that I hope to get in the next month.
The 15 & the 30 sound good, too, but if I were to get the 17-70, then they might be somewhat redundant--I'll just have to see how everything unfolds.

Heather

[hudsong]

I just want the dang 16-50 2.8 and 21 3.2 and 55 1.4 and... uhh
LBA!

[Andrew Faires]

I really miss being able to use my gold'n'blue polarizer with an ultra-wide lens so if the 15mm is offering me some major hope. So long as it doesn't have a huge front element, I should be good!

[tux08902]

Is the 645 D project dead?

[offertonhatter]

Dont know, plenty of conflicting rumours.

There seems to be a good track with lenses by pentax inspite of the 645D.

I remember this time last year that Pentax dropped the 645D lenses from the roadmap, yet they reappeared.

[tux08902]

Maybe this is just a short-term roadmap. Who knows?

[heatherslightbox]

Maybe they're going to pull a Disney move and lock the FA 31 in the "vault" until they jump into the FF market

Todd

If they pull something like that, then I would imagine the value of the 31 will shoot through the roof. It wouldn't surprise me if a used one on Fleabay could get over $1000 if Pentax quit making new ones.

If I had one, I'd most certainly hang on to it because there's no telling what may happen.
It'll be interesting to see how everything unfolds.

Heather

[tux08902]

Actually, I'm thinking the same thing now. I doubt Pentax will discontinue the FA Limited lenses because they are completely different from the DA Limiteds. Whereas the DA Limiteds concentrate on size, the FA Limited lenses concentrate on speed. That's more than enough of a reason to buy both or a combination of both. The comparison does not mean that DA Limited lenses have poor optics. It's quite the contrary. Their Limited label just brings something else to the table.

[revolution6]

I too was really hoping for a more dramatic rectilinear wide angle lens. 10 or 8 would've been perfect. I understand the want for a smaller alternative to the 14/2.8, but I never found the 14 to be wide enough to be really interesting to me, especially when I already have the 16-50. 15mm on a film camera is spectacular, hopefully we'll get something equivalent on the next roadmap.
On another note, if the DA*55 really lives up to the * will certainly be replacing my FA 50/1.4, which is a gorgeous lens, but could use a bit of tweaking, especially under f/4

[roentarre]

On another note, if the DA*55 really lives up to the * will certainly be replacing my FA 50/1.4, which is a gorgeous lens, but could use a bit of tweaking, especially under f/4

Pentax produces stunning prime lenses. It is almost certain that Da* 55 f1.4 will be sharp. Just not to sure about its bokeh rendering and autofocus accuracy ...

[barondla]

Bummed out by the road map. We don't need more wideangles at the moment. We don't need another freakin 30ish mm choice at the moment. Pentax is already a laughing stock when compared to any other system because they have no telephotos over 300mm. They still don't. They seem to be looking for every bizarre niche to build lenses except for where they need them. Build some 300+ teles. The only good thing on the road map is the SDM teleconverter. If we have to wait as long as the 60-250 you are talking 2 years from now. Longer for things not on road map. They are trying to build a slr system like its a rangefinder system. Love wideangles but we need teles. More people ask me for teles than ever ask for wideangles. Depressed. Reminds me of a few years ago when they had aprox. 10 P&S models with only slight variations of each other ( all same 3x lens). Have watched 4 friends buy large teles for their Pentax in last 2 months. None made by Pentax. Argghh. I DON"T WANT TO BUY A SIGMA!

end of rant
thanks
barondla