Originally posted by PentaxScott While this lens isnt on my wish list, I dont think the pricing is quite as extreme as its made to be. That may all change when the lens reaches the hands of consumers, but as of right now, comparing it to its actual competition of prime lenses between 500mm and 600mm and f/4-f/5.6 we get the following lenses:
I do believe the lens is overpriced - and this is assuming it has excellent optical quality. However, I also agree that it's not as outrageous as some claim.
In comparing pricing to other lenses, it needs to be thought of as a 600mm f/5.6 lens (or perhaps 600mm ~f/6). All of the lenses you mention are f/4 or f/4.5, so they
should cost considerably more.
Nevertheless, the price should be below $5000. In fact, I think it should come down to $3800. This is the pricing I anticipated before it was announced, and is the price I was considering buying one at.
I must add one more thought, however. This is a Hoya-conceived product that's been on the roadmap for a while. Ricoh has recently expressed that they're very disapproving of Hoya's minimum-cost development approach. It's quite possible that the telescope design - while I believe it will still be well-executed - is really more of a "joke," as appearance would suggest. Pentax needs a longer lens, so there's no sense stopping it, but Ricoh may be developing some proper 400/500/600mm lenses as we speak, and they plan on releasing them within a couple of years or so. This would make it even more of a stop-gap than the K-5 IIs (which still has enough merit that I ordered one).