FTF: I think a 85mm should wait a bit, until other improvements are made.
I work with a Sigma 85mm 1.4 DG HSM lens, and i am satisfied. very satisfied.
the FA 77mm LTD. is also an excellent portrait tele and already available.
thing in Pentaxland still is the AF... that is where improvement should go. afterwards OK.
Originally posted by cyberjunkie I totally agree, to the last word, but maybe you didn't get my point.
Of course professionals would go for industry standards,....Let's forget them.
It seems you may forgot that some professionals
still use Pentax and would give a dime or the other for having a "foot in the door" at sports etc.
Furthermore, it seems, you are also falsely assuming, that you are part of a big hive that builds nearly 100% of the PENTAX-userbase, and that they are all amateurs...
this is as wrong as can get, sorry to disappoint you.
Lots of professional photographers that use 645Z for instance would really love to see something worthy and fast to invest into in the FF world, because they like the build quality and "handling feel" of their 645ers and assume it with the brand.
A Mamiya photographer i know, said that even the build quality of a good APS-C Pentax feels better in hands, than a new hasselblad...(compared to what they charge)... and hes not the only one and that means something, and i stand to my oppinion, that Ricoh would drop a big chance, if they would go on as usual with the AF in its new flagship. The Autofocus really needs improvement!
There has to be a big bang with an APS-C that brings improvements in its AF System, that makes users of other brands(except Sony i guess) go "WOW" and keep their mouths wide open.
PLUS 2 capable zooms, that can hold on to the speed of the cameras AF and then the brand is back. PERIOD.
I guess only a handful of (professional!!) 645ers have their eyes on a K-1 (which is more of a studio DSLR than anything else in the K-mount lineup) because they already own a 645 and evidently, looking at its Autofocus-System the K-1(despite its sealings) is more tied to the studio, than it is to the wild side.
The market
is there, and those features are also very welcome in the world of amateurs
(even if you feel like the amateur of amateurs you are not entitled to speak for every other amateur - i know i am doing nearly the same here, but man do we miss counterpunchs to opportunism on PF)
I feel, what PENTAX really would need, would be a competitive camera, like the K-5II was at its time(very competitive to the Canon 7D)
but competitive to nowadays touchstones. -- A6500, Nikon D500, Panasonic GH5, Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark II
So if any Rep reads this, I want you to know, that I personally think, that it would be worth the risk investing big, because if you want to succeed you will have to deliver something that is outstanding compared to other makers products... (especially, when there are smartphones that could easily beat an ILC - if they could have interchangeable optics and bigger sensors.)
You saw that risky ideas work out --> the Theta... and you will see that it will work if you take a risk in the ILC market.
...and: take a heart. do some marketing. it will succeed if the product advertised means a change or brings big features, that others cant hold up to.