Originally posted by clover In all the time since they were released, Pentax has not improved on the FA Limiteds. Nor will they, IMO, since their priorities have changed from producing optical excellence to increasing profits at all costs. The last gasp of their idealism and commitment to photographers was the release of the 645D which made no financial sense. But did make sense in terms of a need to preserve their honour in light of promises they had been making for years.
(Please do not mistake me. This does not mean that I think Pentax will make no more good products. Only that exemplary items like the FA Limited will enter the era of mythology. I wonder how long will it be before they stop production? At that time expect the prices to rise to two grand.)
The discussion of the Photozone tests regarding the FA Limited lenses omits one possibility, indeed a very real fact that explains the apparent contradictions in resolution figures, etc.
These tests are not capable of measuring the excellence of the FA Limited lenses, since they were specifically designed to optimise rendering quality at the expense of raw test scores. This is well known and documented. Please see previous threads and white paper of Jun Hirakawa. This will clear up the confusion.