[Glen]

No I have no interest in it. I shoot with a K3-II so I don't need to haul the extra weight of a full frame lens around. I would be interested in a nice DA 60.

[Rondec]

No I have no interest in it. I shoot with a K3-II so I don't need to haul the extra weight of a full frame lens around. I would be interested in a nice DA 60.

Pretty much all of the primes over 50mm are full frame lenses. The only exception is the DA 70 which is more like APS-H. What makes it big isn't really that it is a full frame lens (the FA 50 is full frame and is very small), it is the commitment to highly corrected optics with a focus on wide open performance.

I guess we will see, but even the DA *55 (which I own) gets a bit rough wider than f2. If this lens has better rendering than the DA *55 it would be worthwhile on either format (in fact I would probably prefer it on APS-C).

[Ascencio]

focus will need to be on point at 1.4 or i will probably stick to manual lenses. Possibly Irix 45mm 1.4.

[david94903]

focus will need to be on point at 1.4 or i will probably stick to manual lenses. Possibly Irix 45mm 1.4.

Good point on this subject. And now that I've been thinking about it, even though I have no plans to add another 50mm to my bevy of lenses, it makes sense that there is a new modern DFA 50mm lens for the full frame line, sooner rather than later. It's sort of expected low hanging fruit for most people's kits. And for anyone new to the Pentax line, they're not going to be interested in purchasing older K, M, A, F, or FA technology, no matter how good those lenses are. If you're getting the latest camera body, then you want the latest camera lenses.

[KDD]

Waiting for DFA* 85mm!

[cyberjunkie]

... And for anyone new to the Pentax line, they're not going to be interested in purchasing older K, M, A, F, or FA technology, no matter how good those lenses are. If you're getting the latest camera body, then you want the latest camera lenses.

Following your line of thought, the K-1 would have made no sense at all...
I remember when my posts about the need for a full frame that catered mainly to enthusiasts already in possession of film lenses (when there was no indication it would ever come) were ridiculed by a large number of royalists, who proved to be more royalist than the king himself, with the argument that there was no market nor available lenses.
Reality has proven that the K-1 has sold well, better than expected, despite very few brand switchers and the lack of new lenses.
I'm fine if Ricoh decides to release a 50mm as their first brand new FF prime. It is a focal like others.
I'm sure it won't sell well though.
There is a relatively cheap, high performance, MF alternative (Samyang), plus a good number of Pentax AF lenses that cover the format, with good to very good image quality (DA* 55mm, four different F and FA 50mm, the 43mm Limited, and the two 40mm).
If I want the extra speed, plane separation, nice blur, I have three different f/1.2, with different characters, all of them in PK mount.
What will make the new lens desirable will be its faster AF motor, not the sharpness improvement over other lenses already available in the market. The fifty by Samyang is already very, very close to the top. The new Pentax will be in the same league, hopefully a little better. A fast silent AF is what some people are waiting for, and will be the main selling point of the new 50mm.
Some people need/want it enough to spend a lot of their hard earned money.
It's not everybody, not the majority, not even the few switching from other brands... and those who do would appreciate much more the improvement on other, longer focals. Also beyond 85mm.
Of course my answer to this poll is a decise NO.

Regarding the supposed aversion of newcomers to vintage optics, I'm not convinced.
Pentax is a niche brand nowadays, with a niche market.
Considering the continuing rise of the price of clunky un-practical vintage optics, the number of blogs and Flickr groups dedicated to them, and (more important) the huge number of pictures posted online, I guess that the users of such lenses are too numerous to be called a small niche. An important number of photographers integrate new lenses with vintage ones. The phenomenon is still on the rise, and affects the choices of the best clients of camera/lens makers: those who invest good money on a substantial photographic and/or video outfit.
Not everybody shoots sports or wildlife, and those who do very likely won't buy a Pentax. They need much more than a fast in-lens motor!

Cheers

Paolo

[hadi]

i honestly dont see the point of this lens being released now.
if you look at the market, the market is OVER POPULATED with hundreds of thousands of 50mm lenses. some work better than others. some are cheaper than others. some are smaller than others. but there is something within the 50mm range from rokinon, tamron, sigma, pentax da/fa/f/m/a etc. its really not offering anything new.

if you dont have any other 50mm lens, then sure, i would recommend this lens. but if someone already has one (which i'm assuming most photographers usually get as their first prime), its a lil too little too late.

in my opinion.

[Kunzite]

This is no "other 50mm lens". This is a high end prime, and there's no alternative for it.

[Rondec]

All of this is foolish discussion. It is easy to say that you won't and no one will buy this lens -- until the images come out that look better than anything else you have. That's when LBA kicks in.

People said the same thing about the DA *55. Why get it when the FA 50 is half the price? But when nice photos started coming out from it and it was clear that it was sharper at similar apertures compared to the FA 50 and sealed to boot, people really did buy it.

Sure, if Pentax prices it at 1800 dollars and the thing focuses terribly and is useless wider than f2.8, it won't sell. But the idea that most folks will pass on this lens just because there are lenses like the manual 50s of the past on the market, or even the DA 50/FA 50 of today just tells us how out of touch we are with what really sells to everyone who doesn't live on the Pentax Forum.

[KiloHotelphoto]

This is no "other 50mm lens". This is a high end prime, and there's no alternative for it.

High end no doubt but the quality we will have to wait and see and weather thier is any alternative to it.

[jatrax]

But the idea that most folks will pass on this lens just because there are lenses like the manual 50s of the past on the market, or even the DA 50/FA 50 of today just tells us how out of touch we are with what really sells to everyone who doesn't live on the Pentax Forum.

People will pass on this lens because only an extremely small subset of photographers buy ANY prime lens. I suspect a significant percentage to not even know what a prime lens is.

[cyberjunkie]

People will pass on this lens because only an extremely small subset of photographers buy ANY prime lens. I suspect a significant percentage to not even know what a prime lens is.

Sorry, I don't agree.
Probably most people do, not those who went to great length to buy a camera that is nowhere to be seen where i live (Thailand... but in most other countries it's the same), and absent from more than 90% of the camera shops worldwide.
Those who choose PENTAX know what a prime is. Almost all of them.
Most are not willing to buy an expensive prime, but this is an entirely different matter.
Zooms are easy, in many ways, and their optical quality has improved so much in the last three decades that a good modern zoom equals the performance (at the same aperture, and same focal) of most vintage primes, and some very good zooms, like the DFA 15-30 for example, do even better than that.
I'm shooting FF most of the times, and while i own a very good zoom (Sigma HSM 24-70) that covers the focal, I still prefer to use a prime, rarely a macro and the other times an f/1.2, because it gives me what i like, and works well in low light, which is the kind of photography I enjoy shooting.
I am aware that many people would not like, or maybe even see, what i treasure of such kind of lenses.
Pentax users are less likely to be completely ignorant about non-mainstream possibilities, though.
If you consider the brands that make primes for PK, like Samyang, Laowa and Irix, it seems they are thriving, and for sure releasing some great objectives. So i think there is hope...
In general, I'm with you.
Modern time photographers are for the most part a lazy bunch with scarce technical knowledge.
The ease of use and the incredible quality of modern photographic tools has negatively affected, instead of enhancing, the only thing that really matters: the output.
I don't want to generalize, but if we look at the AVERAGE iconographic quality (or "value", if you prefer) of the pictures shot, and even published/posted(!) by modern time amateurs, it's easy to see that a good number of times the photo was shot from the most comfortable position, standing, and composing with the zoom ring.
If we go back 100 years (1917), even amateurs shooting family pictures with Kodak "we do the rest" small format film did much, much better.
If we go back 50 more years, in 1867, most amateurs had to be very knowledgeable, do almost everything by themselves, and spend a huge amount of money. If you had to dedicate so much effort to basic learning, and spend so much time (and money!) on it, if you had to go to such lengths, read books and journals, order hard to find chemicals, etc etc, well... I'm sure you'd dedicated a minimum of time to find the right spot, bend your back, walk back and forth, set your tripod, give a good thought to everything... and then give a go to the shutter (or use your hat because there is no shutter at all!).
Sincerely i feel a tad ashamed. Their tools had so many shortcomings, but most of the times the pictures are great. Even family photos shot by unknown amateurs of the early 20th century, the kind of pictures that were common sight in flea markets till not long ago, were usually beautiful.

Sorry for going very much off topic.
I want to conclude with a note of optimism.
Pentaxians are for the most part not as consumeristic as other photographic communities. It's probably easier for us, cause Ricoh seems to spend zero on paid reviews, events and other similar stuff, and close to zero in advertising
I'm totally fine with all that, as long as the PK mount survives, I'm practically fine with everything. I'm a tolerant fellow
Being italian, which is the nationality Japanese people believe to be at the polar opposite from them, behaviorally and culturally *, I'd take a few courageous steps at zero cost, which IMHO would get a lot of Internet coverage, and change in some way the perception of the brand, but I'm sure it would be too un-japanese to ever happen.
The chances of seeing a Japanese CEO taking innovative steps towards openness, even at no cost, are close to zero

* I am too lazy to quote it properly, but I'm positively sure I read a sociologic research which reported that of all nationalities, Italians were believed to be the most different from the Japanese.
When asked to elaborate about that, the citizens of the rising sun that suffered the disgrace of being interviewed, answered that they both despise and envy italians, which of course bodes well with the old cliche of Italy as the country of Poets, Saints and Navigators (and of course of smart do-nothing fellows who only like to make love, play a mandolin and eat a pizza; the order of the events is undisclosed but I guess it must have some relevance ).

cheers

Paolo

[Cerebum]

I also think this lens will sell, Initially because it is the newest kid on the block and we all like the cutting edge, high end stuff, even when it does not offer us a massive step up in quality. I do also feel the purchase will be vindicated with beautiful images. The question as to whether it is better than what went before will have to wait until we have enough evidence. As for me, once it stops raining I am off to capture something with a nice, manual, vintage prime where success or, As is more common, abject failure is totally down to me.

Footnote: the Japanese are wrong, Italians are cool

[Rondec]

People will pass on this lens because only an extremely small subset of photographers buy ANY prime lens. I suspect a significant percentage to not even know what a prime lens is.

I do think there are more Pentaxians who know what a prime is and actually use one. It is just the higher the price, the less likely folks will add it to their lens line up.

I expect it to be priced similarly to the FA 31 limited, probably a little higher. That's an expensive lens and probably the limited that fewest own (due to the price), but there are still lots of folks who own it.

[Scorpio71GR]

If I did not have the DA*55 I would definitely consider this new lens. Looking at the images from the only DFA* lens, the 70-200, I can not wait to see images from the new 50. Who knows maybe I will end up selling the DA*55.