Originally posted by Rondec So I'm not sure what we are arguing about. Are you saying Pentax shouldn't release a DFA *30mm lens or are you saying it won't be any better than the FA 31 or what exactly?
I thought I made it pretty clear.
Good small lenses are different than big lenses. There is less flexibility in what you can accomplish since adding more glass defeats the purpose.
What I'm saying is there are not going to be better small lenses for us compact shooters. The FA limiteds already have that covered.
What I see coming is big lenses. The FA limiteds will continue to be the best at what they are.
I'm sure the new lenses will measure better. The question will be , will anyone want them. Existing pentax users, apart from yourself and a few others like the size of the FAs. What Pentax is building is a different class of lens.
So really simply.The FA 31 will continue to be the best at what it is.
The new 30 will be whatever it is, because big fast primes are common and Pentax is late to the game.
NO one is even trying to compete in the premium small lens market these days.
Or to make it even clearer, there is some big heavy glass out there for Pentax right now. Many are not interested in it because they don't want to carry it. The Sigma 30 1.4 comes to mind. 435 grams (about a pound.)
Pentax 31 346 grams, (12 ounces)
There is no guarantee a Sigma 30 type lens ever replaces the 31 because of size and weight, even if Pentax makes a similar lens. Bigger heavier and nowhere near as good. That's just not a go. So how heavy would but have to be to be better.
There in lies the strength of the 31, 43 and 77. They do more with less, and some people will always treasure them for that. Even if you prefer better , bigger and heavier, sm will always prefer nearly as good smaller occupying less space.
Quote: There is a lot missing. Other companies are innovating. Canon may be late to the game with their new 85 1.4 but it's coming. How about tilt/shift lenses -- 3 new ones and with macro capability no less. Sony has released quite a few lenses for their e-line. More importantly Voigtlander, Zeiss, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and others have stepped in to fill gaps with modern lenses. You would be hard pressed to find a single month in the last couple of years where an important lens hasn't been issued for the E mount. In addition Fuji and Olympus have released quite a few lenses for their respective systems.
Seriously, instead of just tossing out your impressions how about some actual numbers? How many e-mount lenses released this year?
I look under Sony DSLR lenses (at henries) and I see 31 lenses. I look under Pentax I see 50. Maybe once they catch up they'll slow down their releases. But in any case how is that relevant? The problem with your accounting methods, is people are whining about having to look for older designs and second hand, when Pentax is still well out in the lead in their current catalogue. You can't have it both ways. Either you admit there's more choice with Pentax than Sony, or you go with some other argument.
Does anyone but me look at actual numbers? This whole argument that Sony or Canon or whoever is releasing better glass falls apart when you look at all the metrics. In some areas they aren't even competing.