Originally posted by Serkevan they don't have a lot of inexpensive full frame lenses and seem to be aiming at the top shelf lately.
It was a stated company directive. Pursue high return on investment, not market share.
I'm always curious about folks who insist they need lenses a few mm apart from what's available and can't cover it with zooms.
I'm also still quite curious about folks who have to have 1.4 lenses. IMHO they are curiosities which hold my interest for about a week after I buy them, but I rarely use mine wide open, and they become just another lens. (Albeit a really big one.)
A woman acquaintance who knew I was a Pentax shooter (and also worked at the closest to me camera store) once put a D800 with the Nikon 85 1.4 in my hands to try and sell me a Nikon. It was an attempt to leverage this "no modern 85 1.4 in K mount" thing.
They are definitely a niche product. However, because of the forces in marketing that emphasize the availability of the niche markets, Pentax was losing reputation by not having them.
To a certain extent, people want what they can't have, until they find out how much what they want costs, then they don't want it anymore.
Pentax seems to make their lenses in order of popularity in on-line polls. A lot of people apparently asked for an 85 1.4. I hope they were all saving their pennies.