I'm certainly in on this! When I finally got back into the SLR market in July 2011 (after buying high-end megazooms since 2004), I was looking at probably Canon, since my last two megazoom cameras had been Canon and I'd bought a 430DXII flash to use with them, as it would sync with them. I'd been a Pentax shooter in the 80s and 90s, but it looked like Canon or Nikon (I'd also been reading books, mostly by pros who shoot Nikon, and thus push THAT system), so I was looking at both. Almost as a lark, I decided to see what Pentax was offering, and it was only because I discovered I could use the only remaining Pentax A lens I had (an AF 135 F 2.8 that was always TACK SHARP) that I began to look seriously at the K-5. At the time, the SELLING price of the DA*16-50 was high, but "reasonable" for a flat F2.8 lens, so I got it with that (and got the "kit" lens as a backup -- actually I bought the body by itself and got the WR "kit" lens separately because I didn't trust a "kit" to include the WR version). Before too long I had the 100 DAF Macro -- wonderful lens, except it HUNTS LIKE CRAZY (at least on the K-5, still the only DSLR I own) and the 55-30... And then stuck my neck out on interest-free credit to get the Sigma "Bigma." Then I sort of let things "settle" for a few months...
I had NO IDEA I was buying the Pentax-brand lenses at a big discount off MSRP. THEN I got involved in the forums again last summer and shortly discovered prices seemed much higher -- especially on the DA* lenses. I primarily post at the Pentax forum at Digital Review, and shortly was informed of the April 1 UPP announcement. Then I started actively following prices, watching them wax and wane. I decided the only other DA* lenses I actually cared about having were the 300 F4 (which I got when it temporarily dropped back down to about $1,100) and the DA*55 F1.4, which I've yet to see drop down. Back in the 90s I had the DA 50 F 1.4. Nice lens, but it's not WR, and a bit long in the tooth (much of my kit got stolen out of my car one night during a smash-and-grab, including that lens). I also wanted a super-wide-angle, maybe even fish-eye. After much debate on this, I decided to go the cheap way, rather than pay either Pentax's OR Sigma's prices and got the Rokinon F3.5 8mm Fisheye manual focus (only manual focus lens I've bought since the early 90s). It's little bother, though. Focus is soooo easy at that focal level it's a no brainer. I decided to do this after a poster on that forum who shoots professionally in Southeast Asia posted a bunch of pics he shot with it and the K-30, I think.
But yeah, I still want the DA*55, and I MIGHT even be interested in the 55-135 IF the price were right (I have that range covered, so maybe not -- a really good 18-270, which seems to be the growing trend may just beat it, as F2.8 isn't what it used to be, although I'm certain the DA* lens must be sharper). I see NO SENSE in acquiring the DA* F2.8 200. One can get a Tamron 70-200 F2.8 for less, only without the WR. And a 60-250 F4??? Why????? I have a 300 F4 and a 55-300 F4-5.8 (which is F4 up to about 180mm). Those two lenses make the 60-250 practically superflous to anyone who's not flush with cash
All the same, Pentax has LOST ITS FREAKIN' MIND!!! Like it or not, Pentax is NOT Canon or Nikon. Pentax CANNOT dictate the market the way Canon and/or Nikon might. Even assuming Canon and/or Nikon went along with Pentax on the UPP deal, it was to THEIR competitive advantage against Pentax. Pentax can say they did this because their "brick-and-mortar" retailers were complaining nobody was buying from them because they were undersold online. Well welcome to the age of the internet! Also, bear in mind that if you go to Pentax's site and do a search for PHYSICAL locations, you can't find a total of even 100 STORES NATIONWIDE in America that still carry Pentax IN THEIR STORES...
Yeah, you can get most Pentax products from Best Buy... ONLINE ONLY (and ALWAYS at UPP only). But here where I live in Upstate South Carolina, I did a search and I approximated the NEAREST B&M store to me was roughly 500 miles away. Please note that within that 500 mile radius is ATLANTA, CHARLOTTE -- in fact ALL OF GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, HALF OF FLORIDA, MOST OF ALABAMA AND VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY,etc.... The ONLY retail locations I found (outside New York City -- about 750 miles away) east of the Mississippi, were a couple of small chain stores somewhere in Ohio. I drove my mom to see an old friend in Ohio last year, and trust me, it's almost 500 miles JUST to Cincinatti from where I live, which is the STATE LINE. And I got the impression those stores were WAYYYY north of there. A few in Idaho. A furniture mart in NEBRASKA! A small chain (Samy's) in California. Is Pentax REALLY willing to sacrifice its ENTIRE American customer base to satisfy a few B&M stores that are scattered so widely you can barely find them on a map?!?!?
Furthermore, when I bought my K-5 in 1985, and later my PZ1 circa '93, there were two camera stores here in town and BOTH carried Pentax. Big Box stores put one of those out of business. Pentax insisting the other maintain at least $50,000 of inventory (among other things), caused the other one to tell them to F*** Off! I have little wonder that's why MANY/MOST local camera stores no longer carry Pentax... Poor relations with their dealers in the 90s. Now it appears they're adding idiotic on top of stupid.
I REALLY have to say that at $699 WITH a kit lens for a 24 MP Nikon D3200, it's been QUITE TEMPTING the past few weeks to go ahead and get one and hedge my bets. I still love A LOT of things about Pentax. I've long been a fan of features such as hyper-manual. But if after 2 years all they could do with the K-5 was put a little chrome on it and take the muffler off, while raising prices on lenses that have been around for years (and have been known to have problems with their focusing motors, anyway), I'm having to wonder if maybe I really shouldn't start hedging my bets, and I'm Pentax all the way.
Jeff Hayes
Spartanburg, SC