Originally posted by redpigeons GoldenWreckedAngle
... the do have the best glass around thou and that is why I love them
They do hold there own with lenses but I don't think this statement is as cut and dry as it may have once been. There are some amazing tubes of glass on the market from just about everyone these days. I suspect we will see other manufacturers beginning to pull away in the future if Pentax stays its present course.
Full frame bodies demand a higher grade of lens and even Ned Bunell doesn't feel that Pentax glass is up to full frame standards. To quote from
this post on his blog,
"In our case, if we developed a full frame camera, it's likely that very few of our recent DA lenses (those designed for APS-C) would be able to properly fill the viewing area of this new sensor. And although we have some wonderful FA lenses, like my favorite FA 31mm Limited, I'm not sure even this lens would be up to the optical challenge."
From everything I've read that 31mm is about as good as it gets in Pentax glass but the professional standard has moved. I hate to say it but the third party full frame lens manufacturers are likely to currently be out-resolving many of the best offerings of a company primarily focused on cropped sensor technology. That's not a given, but Pentax is marketing themselves as best bang for the buck, not necessarily the best you can buy, and in my mind that applies to their lenses as well.
I love Pentax, because they offer the biggest bang for the buck but Canon, Nikon and a couple of others are the pro brands right now and it's because of their products, not just their brand loyal fans. I'll be shooting Pentax at least for the remainder of this year but I do entertain the idea from time-to-time of spending a lot more money for a little more bang. We'll see how the wind is blowing when the time comes to set my next sail. I've heard the siren song of full frame bodies telling me I will drop off the edge of the earth if I try to sail too far with Pentax but I might just continue to push my luck. No limiteds for me though, I'm hedging my bets with full frame K-mounts from third party manufacturers.