[normhead]

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Not sure whether someone has already noted the Canadian price.

The lens is listed at Amazon for pre-order, available 20 June 2020. CAD $2499.99. (equivalent USD $1835).

https://www.amazon.ca/FA85mmF1-4ED-New-Generation-Technologies-Extra-Sharp-h...s&sr=1-1-fkmr1

- Craig

Reinforcing my thought, only buy pro equipment if it can pay for itself. It's pretty steep for a hobby item.

[Kevin B123]

Reinforcing my thought, only buy pro equipment if it can pay for itself. It's pretty steep for a hobby item.

It's all relative. You can pay over £3K for a carbon fibre bicycle thingy and it doesn't even have pedals I doubt most buyers will be winning races to pay it off.

Giant Propel Advanced 1 Disc 2020 | Tredz Bikes

[normhead]

You can pay over £3K for a carbon fibre bicycle thingy and it doesn't even have pedals

No I can't.

[Wheatfield]

Not sure whether someone has already noted the Canadian price.

The lens is listed at Amazon for pre-order, available 20 June 2020. CAD $2499.99. (equivalent USD $1835).

HD PENTAX-D FA85mmF1.4ED SDM Prime Telephoto Lens New-Generation, Star-Series Lens Latest PENTAX Lens Coating Technologies Extra-Sharp, high-Contrast Images Free of Flare and Ghost Images: Amazon.ca: Electronics

- Craig

That's about what I was expecting. I'm sure there are people on this very forum wailing about what a waste of glass it is because they can't, or won't, afford it. They need to get used to the fact that the world is moving on, and that the new Pentax is not the old Pentax.
Pentax is no longer about decent gear at lowball prices. It's looking more and more that Pentax is top tier stuff at the top end of the price range.
We are getting better than Zeiss Otis quality at well under half the price though.

[sculptor666]

i changed the .ca to .com and voila! $1899 usd, available for preorder:

amazon.com : HD PENTAX-D FA85mmF1.4ED SDM Prime Telephoto Lens New-Generation, Star-Series Lens Latest PENTAX Lens Coating Technologies Extra-Sharp, high-Contrast Images Free of Flare and Ghost Images : Electronics?tag=pentaxforums-20&

[beholder3]

Do not forget that the exclusion of autofocus on the market has a typical discout value of -30% to -50%. So you need to slap that amount onto the Otus if you do a comparison.

For a tele lens it is more likely to be the upper end, 50%.

[Mikesul]

Interesting that the release date for Canada is June 20 but for US it is June 26. Still not available for preorder at B&H or Adorama.

[panonski]

So Pentax don't compete or try to in three major professional revenues;

- Events/Weddings
- Sport/Action
- Photojournalism

you nailed it

-

ALSO I MUST ADD

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[monochrome]

Reinforcing my thought, only buy pro equipment if it can pay for itself. It's pretty steep for a hobby item.

What’s the difference between ten $200 common manual focus lenses or six $350 DA lenses - bought over a five year time frame - and one $2,000 once-a generation lens bought on release?

[monochrome]

i changed the .ca to .com and voila! $1899 usd, available for preorder:

amazon.com : HD PENTAX-D FA85mmF1.4ED SDM Prime Telephoto Lens New-Generation, Star-Series Lens Latest PENTAX Lens Coating Technologies Extra-Sharp, high-Contrast Images Free of Flare and Ghost Images : Electronics?tag=pentaxforums-20&

Preordered.

[Serkevan]

ALSO I MUST ADD
-
this forum have so many defenders of the Pentax system.

Gee, whatever gave you that impression? Here at MILCforums we are brand-agnostic!

they're often just rude to objective criticism,

Objective criticism such as...?

I have done my fair share of criticizing and I haven't felt offended, attacked or like people were being rude.

[bertwert]

what a marveloues group of people here !

I agree. It is a great group here on the forums. Quite friendly and helpful.

[ThorSanchez]

That's about what I was expecting. I'm sure there are people on this very forum wailing about what a waste of glass it is because they can't, or won't, afford it. They need to get used to the fact that the world is moving on, and that the new Pentax is not the old Pentax.
Pentax is no longer about decent gear at lowball prices. It's looking more and more that Pentax is top tier stuff at the top end of the price range.
We are getting better than Zeiss Otis quality at well under half the price though.

I'm not going to say it's a waste, but it's a different niche. When I first bought into Pentax it was because the brand offered a lot of nice features for the money. Now it's more and more that Pentax offers a lot of nice features, but at comparable prices to other brands who also have nice features.


I'm sure they've done surveys and polls and run the math and they think this is best for the brand, and I won't pretend to know any better. But a lot of their customer base is us folks who bought K-3s and K-70s and K-30s and K-S1s, and not too many of us are going to buy $2000 FF portrait lenses. Hopefully they keep building a decent spread of equipment at different price points, like the 55-300 PLM. If they mainly want to play in the Zeiss end of the pool the user base will get pretty small pretty quickly.

[c.a.m]

Reinforcing my thought, only buy pro equipment if it can pay for itself. It's pretty steep for a hobby item.

It's all relative.

Pentax is no longer about decent gear at lowball prices. It's looking more and more that Pentax is top tier stuff at the top end of the price range.We are getting better than Zeiss Otis quality at well under half the price though.

I think we all have individual motivations for buying -- or not buying -- certain items.

While the price of the new-gen 85 might seem steep or unaffordable to some folks, others might be quite comfortable with it. Personally, I don't think I need it (or want it), because I can't imagine that I would use it a lot for my style of photography, and I'm not sure that I could exploit its strengths fully. My mint S-M-C Takumar 85/1.8 or my DA* 50-135 will probably continue to serve my needs at that focal length.

On the other hand, perhaps if I started shooting with the new 85, beautiful models would appear in front of me on every photo outing, and I would get published on the fashion covers.

Still, I'm mighty impressed by its potential for those folks who will shoot with it. Looking forward to the first images from the field.

In Canada, several other lenses also command a relatively high price at the moment:

• DA 560/5.6: CAD $5500-6000
• D FA* 70-200: $2200
• 150-450: $2700.

As an amateur photographer (keen, mind you), I ask myself:

• Would this lens dramatically affect the outcomes of my photography?
• Would I get more enjoyment out of my hobby?
• Would my skills improve?
• Or, for the same cost, would I be better off to invest in half a dozen short courses at our local photography school?

It's all relative, of course. I just acquired Affinity Photo at the amazing low price of CAD $40, and will be concentrating on improving my post-processing knowledge and skills.

- Craig

[ThorSanchez]

What’s the difference between ten $200 common manual focus lenses or six $350 DA lenses - bought over a five year time frame - and one $2,000 once-a generation lens bought on release?

It's vastly easier to convince the wife that a I need a $350 lens once or twice a year than a $2000 lens ever. I've been strategizing how to start K-new negotiations for months, and I think it involves saving my Amazon points for about 18 months so it'll only cost about what a K-3 did.