[monochrome]

[...] the real launch date could be a month later or longer from that. Marketing terminology saves (breaks) the day once again. Have they done that in recent time though?

k-1? 70~200? (CAPS?)

[cfraz]

Sigma, in their recent CP+ interview, admitted it takes 1-2 years usually for them to develop a new lens.

That's a good point that many here may not fully appreciate. And in fact, the time is nearly twice that, if you are referring to the DPR interview:

Normally it takes about two years to develop one lens, sometimes three.

I would guess Sigma has several times the development resources that Ricoh Imaging has. Those calling for blood because Pentax doesn't have a complete suite of new FF lenses a year after the K-1 introduction may be a tad on the unrealistic side.

[luftfluss]

On an aside, it appears from the same interview, Sigma are ditching lower selling products (read: Pentax) to clear production lines and resources for the newer offerings [as they claim they take more resources (team and assembly) to come to fruition].

IIRC, when Sigma released the 18-35/1.8, it was about a year before they could get the units for Pentax and Sony out, because demand in other mounts was so high.

[RonHendriks1966]

Well it will come within the next twelve months.

[JPT]

So Ricoh should be moving towards a "full" lens lineup. This notion of a full lens lineup always puzzles me a bit.

Does a "full" lineup mean you reach the point where you decide everything is covered, and you don't produce anything except revisions of what already exists? In that case, I hope Ricoh never reaches a full lineup, because I always want to believe there's something new around the corner.

Or does "full" mean having all the lenses that the competitors have? In that case, you might turn that around and ask when Nikon are going to make their lineup full by adding a fisheye zoom or a 43mm lens. In my opinion, it speaks to the lack of imagination of Canon and Nikon that their lineups mirror each other practically lens for lens, but for some reason, this has become the only valid thing to aspire to.

Personally, I would prefer to see Pentax cameras stay on a path of their own, because following the other brands will mean they are forever X number of lenses behind. And when they release a new lens they will just be X-1 number of lenses behind. Improving AF and adding a 50mm is fine, but they also have to add to their uniqueness, so that they can answer the criticism, "Where's your 135mm F2.8?" with, "OK, but where's your Astrotracer?" In short, we don't need another Canikon because Canon and Nikon do that well enough.

[robjmitchell]

So Ricoh should be moving towards a "full" lens lineup. This notion of a full lens lineup always puzzles me a bit.

Does a "full" lineup mean you reach the point where you decide everything is covered, and you don't produce anything except revisions of what already exists? In that case, I hope Ricoh never reaches a full lineup, because I always want to believe there's something new around the corner.

Or does "full" mean having all the lenses that the competitors have? In that case, you might turn that around and ask when Nikon are going to make their lineup full by adding a fisheye zoom or a 43mm lens. In my opinion, it speaks to the lack of imagination of Canon and Nikon that their lineups mirror each other practically lens for lens, but for some reason, this has become the only valid thing to aspire to.

Personally, I would prefer to see Pentax cameras stay on a path of their own, because following the other brands will mean they are forever X number of lenses behind. And when they release a new lens they will just be X-1 number of lenses behind. Improving AF and adding a 50mm is fine, but they also have to add to their uniqueness, so that they can answer the criticism, "Where's your 135mm F2.8?" with, "OK, but where's your Astrotracer?" In short, we don't need another Canikon because Canon and Nikon do that well enough.

The standard focal lengths at F/1.4 are all about attracting people from other brands. Canon and Nikon don't have stabilisation in these lenses. Combine 5 stops of SR with Otis like quality at a competitive price point plus all the other benefits of IBIS such as Astro tracer, Selectable AA and sensor shift and you have a killer package. Pentax will produce the most popular focal lengths first as they will be the most profitiable. From a professional view point there are no holes between 15mm and 450mm. There are holes in fast aperture lenses at F1.4. Every time Ricoh releases a lens it will increase the pool of professionals that see the K1 as a viable alternative. Professional from other brands wan't the best tools, not unique products. Fortunately Pentax gives you the option of both.

[Kunzite]

So Ricoh should be moving towards a "full" lens lineup. This notion of a full lens lineup always puzzles me a bit.

My personal interpretation of a full lens lineup is when people wouldn't be able to say "but they don't have this focal range covered" and have to get into specifics, e.g. "but this is 35mm instead of 31" or "the 1968-era optics were much smaller than this"

[mee]

k-1? 70~200? (CAPS?)

K-1 was a supply issue (possibly due to earthquake?)

70-200 it appears they caught design flaws at a late stage in development and delayed to resolve those

I wouldn't call either of those marketing tactics to play on release date

[lithedreamer]

From a professional view point there are no holes between 15mm and 450mm. There are holes in fast aperture lenses at F1.4.

From a professional viewpoint, what about a nice weathersealed tilt-shift lens in that range?

[monochrome]

K-1 was a supply issue (possibly due to earthquake?)

70-200 it appears they caught design flaws at a late stage in development and delayed to resolve those

I wouldn't call either of those marketing tactics to play on release date

K-1 was both offered and released well before the earthquakes (early 1Q2016) with a liberal pre-order period (6 weeks IIRC). 70-200 was rumored by asahi man but not announced and offered until K-1, with a similar, liberal pre-order period. Tamron clones just dropped from the sky.

[HopelessTogger]

From a professional viewpoint, what about a nice weathersealed tilt-shift lens in that range?

Perhaps one that works in unison with SR based composition adjustment.

[Mistral75]

K-1 was both offered and released well before the earthquakes (early 1Q2016) with a liberal pre-order period (6 weeks IIRC). 70-200 was rumored by asahi man but not announced and offered until K-1, with a similar, liberal pre-order period. Tamron clones just dropped from the sky.

A mock-up of D FA★ 70-200mm f/2.8 was shown at Pjhotokina 2014 and the lens was announced just before CP+ 2015 for an availability in March. On 28 March 2015 Ricoh Imaging announced an unspecified delay. On 11 June 2015 the lens was said to be delayed until Autumn 2015. On 13 November 2015 Ricoh Imaging announced a further delay and promised to communicate on a revised deadline in December. On 17 December 2015 Ricoh Imaging indicated the lens would be available in April 2016. On 23 February 2016 Ricoh Imaging announced that the lens would be available on 18 March 2016. This last deadline was eventually met.

[RonHendriks1966]

A mock-up of D FA★ 70-200mm f/2.8 was shown at Pjhotokina 2014 and the lens was announced just before CP+ 2015 for an availability in March. On 28 March 2015 Ricoh Imaging announced an unspecified delay. On 11 June 2015 the lens was said to be delayed until Autumn 2015. On 13 November 2015 Ricoh Imaging announced a further delay and promised to communicate on a revised deadline in December. On 17 December 2015 Ricoh Imaging indicated the lens would be available in April 2016. On 23 February 2016 Ricoh Imaging announced that the lens would be available on 18 March 2016. This last deadline was eventually met.

People forget these facts.

[robbiec]

A mock-up of D FA★ 70-200mm f/2.8 was shown at Pjhotokina 2014 and the lens was announced just before CP+ 2015 for an availability in March. On 28 March 2015 Ricoh Imaging announced an unspecified delay. On 11 June 2015 the lens was said to be delayed until Autumn 2015. On 13 November 2015 Ricoh Imaging announced a further delay and promised to communicate on a revised deadline in December. On 17 December 2015 Ricoh Imaging indicated the lens would be available in April 2016. On 23 February 2016 Ricoh Imaging announced that the lens would be available on 18 March 2016. This last deadline was eventually met.

People forget these facts.

And would you prefer a lens released on time with deficiencies or one kept back until it was correct? Ricoh did the right thing and said stuff the deadlines, it will be ready when it is ready, that Ladies and Gentlemen takes something called confidence.

[Uluru]

People forget these facts.

Those are not facts — that was a timeline of an incident. But the incident does not reveal the facts or reasons.

I have explained it in another post, that goes into details on DFA 70-200 design with the new motor, and then current DSLRs from the Pentax line (K5, K3, K50).

In short, lenses and design choices that went into DFA 70-200 and similar lenses required redesign of all subsequent cameras, and that is why we have all new form K1, KP, and the next updated K3.

So what on surface was waiting for a lens, in reality was hard work behind the scene to overhaul entire camera line.