Originally posted by Ash Seems to be an awful lot to ask for when the DA 10-17 is already very good, the 31 ltd is only half a stop slower than your requested 30/1.4, and DFAs are not quite as relevant now as when Pentax releases their FF camera.
Something longer than 300mm is a good request IMO, whether zoom or prime, but a fast wide angle - where would you need that kind of speed?
Yes, the DA10-17 is good and uniquue, but I'd like to see an even wider fish eye prime. I know there are 3rd party alternatives, but there is no real reason why Pentax could not have their own. They used to have. In the FA's they had both a fixed FE and a FE-zoom.
The 31ltd is not a SDM and weatherprotected DA*. Besides, it is not my idea, but Pentax.
I called them DFA only because they would be based on older designs and therefore happen to cover full frame, like the DFA50 and DFA100 macro's. (I think actually Pentax to be consistent should have called also the DA200 and DA300 for DFA lenses since they appear to cover FF)
Of course they could base a 85mm and a 135mm on entirely new designs, but if they can tweak the excellent existing designs for digital that would save time and money. I want a 85mm because it roughly correspond to old times 135mm and a 135mm because it roughly corresponds to a 200mm.
Fast wide angle: street shooting at low light (I live at almost 60N so we have low light a large fraction of the year), low light shooting in pub/concert/theater etc environments... I don't need it for landscapes...I love the DA15/4ltd, my current favorite lense, but at a certain point it gets too dark to use even at 1600ISO, and I don't find the 3200ISO really usefull.
But I don't expect Pentax do make these lenses unless they have a profit to base it on. But I do what I can to give them that profit
But if they can, each of these lenses would improve their lens line, and even if I would only buy a few of them, in fact some of them like a DFA200 macro, would cost an arm and a leg, but they would give Pentax respect and bring in more users, even professionals.