[FantasticMrFox]

I was actually about to shoot Pentax an eMail asking about the lens and at the same time just express interest, but I couldn't find contact infos. All the Ricoh Imaging Germany, US and UK websites have is a contact form for technical support.

[Des]

The DA 55-300 was a perfectly fine lens too, but then they released the HD DA 55-300 WR, then the HD DA 55-300 WR PLM The DA 12-24 is great optically, but lacks silent focusing and weather sealing.

WR would be a big plus, and DC or PLM would be nice, but there doesn't seem to me to be quite the same imperative for DC or PLM as there was for the 55-300. The screw-drive limited the focus precision on the 55-300, which really mattered for moving subjects. That's much less of an issue for an UWA lens. And of course the problem of noisy AF scaring the birds away is also less of an issue with a UWA. If you are that close to the birds, they probably aren't bothered by the noise anyway. ;-)

Personally I have not given up hope yet. The fact that it has dwelled on the roadmap for so long without materialising might well demonstrate a priority shift (getting enough lenses out for the K-1) rather than a complete abandonment, and the new 55-300 shows that Pentax still cares about APS-C. UWA is the weak area of Pentax in terms of lens coverage, with only one zoom each for APS-C and FF, and the DA 12-24 is dated in many regards. So it would be smart of them to throw something new on the market.

I agree. And I guess it would not be in Ricoh's interests to trumpet a forthcoming new APS-C UWA zoom until they have cleared stocks of the DA 12-24 (which I agree is an excellent lens optically). If they are developing one, they might not crow about it.