[cwood]

Pentax may only have 1/2 the number of lenses that Canon has but they don't have to worry about full frame lenses and they don't have to worry about stabilized lenses. Even so Pentax has ALMOST everything covered with the assortment currently available. I'm curious what people think might be missing from the lineup.

Can I just prevent ANY discussion of the 60-250? Lets just assume we will see that lens soon and move on.

What I feel is missing from the lineup right now (in order of importance to me) would be:

1. DA* 85/1.4 (I doubt they'd replace this lens but it sure would be nice for weddings)
2. DA* 135/2 (another great wedding lens)
3. Super tele of ANY SORT 400/4; 500/4... whatever
4. DA* 30/1.4 (some variation of this is on the current roadmap)
5. DA* 200-400/5.6
6. 2x teleconverter

Is anyone else missing any lenses from Pentax?

[gnaztee]

I was actually thinking about this topic today. I have two that I would like to see:

1) A consumer-grade, weather-sealed 18-125 kit lens. (If they are indeed going to sell themselves as the weather-sealed brand, this is almost a must...I'd like it as the one weather-sealed lens in my kit for those exceptionally bad weather days)

2) A DA 135/3.5 Ltd. (the M 135/3.5 is very small, and a DA Ltd version would fit well with the current assortment...this could also be a 120)

Nice to dream...

[audiobomber]

24mm F/2.0

[cwood]

I was actually thinking about this topic today. I have two that I would like to see:

1) A consumer-grade, weather-sealed 18-125 kit lens. (If they are indeed going to sell themselves as the weather-sealed brand, this is almost a must...I'd like it as the one weather-sealed lens in my kit for those exceptionally bad weather days)

2) A DA 135/3.5 Ltd. (the M 135/3.5 is very small, and a DA Ltd version would fit well with the current assortment...this could also be a 120)

Nice to dream...

I like your idea of an 18-125 kit lens. That's one of the reasons I've seen people go with Nikon (d80) - because they can get it with an 18-135 kit instead of an 18-55.

[Matthew]

I'd like to see more weather sealed lenses. Some of the current range would be relatively easily modified such as the DA14.

I would have chosen the DFA100 over the Tamron 90 if it had been weather sealed although this would be one of the most difficult to modify.

Beyond that, they need to make an f2 tele-prime around 135-150 mm range. Very useful for nocturnal wildlife shooting, particularly if it could focus reasonably close (~1m).

I would like a better fish-eye, say a prime around 10-12 mm and hopefully faster than f4 and with very close focus abilities.

I guess they are unlikely to do it but I would love to see them re-introduce macrotubes/bellows.

[audiobomber]

DA 100-500mm F4-5.8, with similar design/IQ to the 55-300mm (we may see this one?)

[kthung]

Since Pentax has committed itself to APS-C sensors, the 85mm focal length doesn't serve the same purpose as it once did. the 85mm f/1.4 was considered THE portrait lens but on a crop sensor it has a field of view of a 127.5mm. To compensate for this, Pentax is releasing the DA* 55mm f/1.4 which should fullfil the same role as the old 85mm.

Anyways, I too, would really like a 30mm f/1.4

[cwood]

Since Pentax has committed itself to APS-C sensors, the 85mm focal length doesn't serve the same purpose as it once did. the 85mm f/1.4 was considered THE portrait lens but on a crop sensor it has a field of view of a 127.5mm. To compensate for this, Pentax is releasing the DA* 55mm f/1.4 which should fullfil the same role as the old 85mm.

Anyways, I too, would really like a 30mm f/1.4

Sure the 85 fills a different purpose than it once did but that does not mean it does not fill any purpose. 135 was a popular length as well (usually at f2). My own selfish reason for wanting them to produce that lens is for shooting weddings. I would love to be able to shoot a wedding with 2 bodies. One with 16-50 and the other with 85/1.4. The 85 would be used for the extra zoom, for the low light capability, and for narrow DOF shots. i'd probably still keep the 50-135 on my hip in case I needed even more reach but I think those two lenses would be a killer combination. The 55 leaves me in a bit of a dilema. It is not wide enough to get some of the shots I need the 16-50 for and it (almost) overlaps focal lengths. I may end up with the 55 anyway for the DOF and low light but I'll have to have a tele a lot closer at hand as well in that case

[axl]

24mm F/2.0

+1 to that, it would be nice replacement of FA35 on APS-C
and I'd really like to see DA28ltd/1.7, 1.8,1.9.... as a replacement for FA43...

[soccerjoe5]

I'm for a fast and wide prime too. A 24ish-mm f/2 would be AWESOME.

[soccerjoe5]

Oh and a sealed DA* 11-16 would be SWEEEEEEET.

[wavecurrent]

+1 to that, it would be nice replacement of FA35 on APS-C
and I'd really like to see DA28ltd/1.7, 1.8,1.9.... as a replacement for FA43...

I'm for a fast and wide prime too. A 24ish-mm f/2 would be AWESOME.

I couldn’t agree more, a sharp 24mm F2 would be perfect replacement for the FA35 in the “APS-C” world. The 35mm used to be one of my favourite lenses during film days.

Mike

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Many good ideas in thís thread. Some comments:

Fish-eye prime: Yes I would like that, but the existance of the nice DA10-17 places it further down Pentax priority list.

Fast 1.4ish wide angle and APS-C normal (~30mm): Also would like to see that. But with better and better high iso the old reasons to build fast lenses are fading away, many argues DOF is not strong enough reason, but then on the other hand Pentax is conservatively releasing the DA*55/1.4, so maybe there will be more 1.4ish lenses comming.

~85mm: The DA*55 replace the need for a fast portrait lens in APS-C. As for 85mm for replacement of old 135mm lenses, it is not likely because of the 70 and 77ltds and because the DA50-135mm is at its best performance around 85mm. I know it's not a full replacement of the A*135/1.8, but they have to prioritise.

~135mm: There is obviously a whole in between the 77ltd and the DA*200, and I like very much the idea of a compact DA135/3.5ltd to complete the DA ltd's. It might happen. A fast 135mm is probably less likely, but would also be nice. But how many would they realy sell? And I think they might think they have released enough zoom lenses covering this range? But the DA*50-135 is not so good at 135mm. Please Pentax put some prime in between 77 and 200.

Super tele >=400mm: It's not for me, but I understand it would be needed.

Extension tubes and bellows: At least SDM tubes would be nice. Weather sealed as well (wont take more than some rubber rings). The DA*55 is gonna be weather sealed, right. Think weather sealed tubes on the DA*55 and the DA*50-135 and you won't need to bring any other macro lenses out there. Also simple A coupled tubes would be good. DA35ltd macro is realy interresting on tubes (I've got some A coupled, but they are hard to get, and it is realy strange that not even a 3rd party manufacturer sell some). Bellows with screw drive auto focus would be a mechanical challenge, and SDM wont work on such extension distances that you would need a tube for (too much light loss), but at least some A coupled bellows would be nice (have still not figured out how to modify my bellows for A contacts).

2x converter: Won't work with SDM, too much light loss. Will Pentax sell a s screw drive focus only 2x converter? Probably not. Does anyone out there have a converter with screw drive autfocus that work on any lens with both screwdrive and SDM connections? Looks like the screw drive focused is turned off by default as soon as a SDM lens is mounted.

[Nesster]

AF extension tube

[Marc Sabatella]

~135mm: There is obviously a whole in between the 77ltd and the DA*200, and I like very much the idea of a compact DA135/3.5ltd to complete the DA ltd's.

There is the DFA100 macro, but I agree, there's quite a bit of room for more options between 77 and 200.

I think the things that are most obvious "holes" in the lineup are the places where come in with expectations. For folks new to the SLR/DSLR world, expectations will be based on comparison to other consumer-grade lenses available for the others - and this means more general purpose zooms. 18-125 being the most obvious missing link. For folks coming in with specific notions of what they want, there are all sorts of possibilities. And extreme telephoto is an obvious one.

But I keep coming back to the fact that so many film shooters had three lenses: a fast 50 and a semi-fast (f/2.8) 28 & 135. And none of these were especially expensive as far as I know. Whether those are *ideal* fields of view on film is another matter but they are expectation-setters. Given there is an FA35/2, that kind of fits the bill for a fast 50 equivalent, although I think the upcoming DA*30 would be more useful if only it would be cheap, which I'm sure it won't.

So anyhow, aside from the 18-125 and "something really long", my two top picks for Pentax's sake would be a relatively inexpensive 18/2.8 and 90/2.8. I think updated (DA) versions of the FA20/2.8 and M100/2.8 packaged in a DA body might be good enough - but they'd have to be cheaper than the existing DA21 and DFA100 macro (and probably bigger than the former but smaller than the latter).