[sft]

Yes.

In my last (and final) dealing with them they ignored 2 phone calls and at least a half dozen emails over an item ordered and charged for a month prior, but never shipped; only in the end to finally respond by offering to sell me a similar, but more expensive item. (The charges were reversed.)

The order before that they sent an email saying that one item was out of stock and would take a couple weeks to get in. I responded asking them to remove that item from the order. They canceled the order entirely.

Not worth the hassle.

Sucks to hear! I'll still keep my DA*16-50 order with them unless I find a better deal with someone else reputable that may get it in quicker (likely BH will get it first and offer it at a very similar price - just cant miss it otherwise it might sell out as they dont do pre-orders!)

I have an AF540 on order from Adorama for a few days but its out of stock and I think I will cancel and try to find it in stock somewhere else - which is proving very hard! Also another reason is my girlfriend ordered this with her Canadian credit card (and thus billing address) and so I dont know if Pentax will try to screw me on the rebate - might as well order one with a US card while Im at it

[Richard Day]

21660 Pentax SMCP-DA* 50-135mm f/2.8.6 ED (IF) SDM Auto Focus Telephoto Zoom Lens

@ $830 - about $170 off the MSRP - not bad introductory prices at all. I will be skipping this one however and will eagerly be awating the DA* 60-250 f/4 next. Hopefully this will be competetivley priced too - what do you all think the MSRP on that lens will be?

Sadly, the 60-250 has slipped back to the end of the year, maybe early next (Market launch tentatively scheduled for December 2007) and there is no mention of price.

I think that the cheaper, and probably more popular, DA 17-70 and 70-300 lenses will be brought forward instead.

New roadmap due in a few days.

[Dana G]

I pre-ordered the 50-135 from Adormama, but I called B&H and spoke with the buyer.

They have the 50-135 listed, but no price yet and it's not on the Web site. I'm trying to convince them to do the same thing Adorama does with the pre-orders, but the buyer hasn't called back yet.

If I get any response from them, I'll order from them. If Adorama gets theirs first then I go with Adorama.

[sft]

Sadly, the 60-250 has slipped back to the end of the year, maybe early next (Market launch tentatively scheduled for December 2007) and there is no mention of price.

I think that the cheaper, and probably more popular, DA 17-70 and 70-300 lenses will be brought forward instead.

New roadmap due in a few days.

Yes Im looking forward to the new roadmap myself. Will the DA17-70 and 70-300 be available before the DA* 60-250 you think? I would assume they would get announced too if they were to come out before the DA*60-250 but maybe not.

I know that you heard rumors that the DA17-70 was going to be a mid-priced constant f4, SDM lens with ED glass but Im curios about the 70-300 - it will probably be a f/4~5.6. If it is to be any faster I think it would erode the DA* 60-250 f/4's sales. The 70-300 could be interesting too depending on how its priced and on its performance but I still want that DA* 60-250

What Pentax needs to do IMO is to have SDM in all new lenses - introduce it with the top-end DA*'s and then let it trickle down to the mid grade zooms (DA17-70, etc.) It would be a shame if Pentax only gives us SDM in their top end * lenses - but somehow I feel they wont

[blende8]

Prices Germany:

AC-Foto.com:
16-050 707,- EUR
50-135 787,- EUR

Sum: 1494,-

[Edwood]

I pre-ordered the 50-135 from Adormama, but I called B&H and spoke with the buyer.

They have the 50-135 listed, but no price yet and it's not on the Web site. I'm trying to convince them to do the same thing Adorama does with the pre-orders, but the buyer hasn't called back yet.

If I get any response from them, I'll order from them. If Adorama gets theirs first then I go with Adorama.

I've talked to B&H about their lack of preorder system. It's the only way to avoid overbooking and guarantee stock to those that order. So upside is that when they list an item in stock, they actually have it. And the website updates immediately when out of stock.

You can preorder, if you call in, but your card will be charged on the spot, not when it arrives and ships.

-Ed