Originally posted by hjoseph7 Sorry but I'm very disappointed at Pentax/Ricoh new lens line up. I know I'm going to get a lot of heat for this, but common now these new lenses are HUGE to say the least... I mean the 24-70mm also the 70-200mm
Yes, they're big and heavy, but what else would you expect for fast, constant-aperture, full-frame glass? It's just not physically possible to design such an instrument with small dimensions and light weight. You can maybe decrease the weight a little, but that would entail a simpler optical design (fewer elements, resulting in potentially lower optical correction & quality) - or use cheaper, thinner materials for the lens barrel and enclosure (but then people would complain about the poor build quality).
Originally posted by hjoseph7 Maybe zoom lenses are a lot harder to build and all the yada, yada, yada, but they sure did a good job with the 20-40mm. I would sacrifice convenience of an all purpose zoom for lenses such as these.
The DA20-40 is a lovely little lens, but its image circle only covers the APS-C sensor and it doesn't offer constant aperture, slowing to a maximum of f/4 at the long end - plus, of course, it has a very limited zoom range. Those design compromises allow it to be small and light. 24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8 lenses are viewed (rightly or wrongly) as cornerstone lenses for full frame, as together they cover a vast range of shooting situations (I have them for my own non-Pentax full frame camera, and they get quite plenty of use - especially the 70-200). Ricoh / Pentax would have been roundly criticised - and rightly so - had it not offered these two key lenses. And, as I said earlier, high quality, fast, constant-aperture, full frame glass is big and heavy - it can't be any other way, unfortunately.