Originally posted by ElJamoquio To 'really get something'? The DA 40mm is what, $350 or something right now? How much does a 24mm f/1.8 APS-C cost and weigh?
Well, you've hit the nerve.
The current APS-C Pentax lens line-up is grossly over-priced if FF cameras coming in at $2,000 are on the horizon.
Especially the DA Limiteds.
We already see Pentax positioning DA lenses at lower price points with the DA 40/2.8 XS, the new 50/1.8, and the 35/2.4.
But they need to go much further and drop the 21, 15, 35 macro, and 70 primes down at least 2 price points each as well.
This will be the trick with APS-C: getting prices down on much the same trajectory as the sensor price made the format dominant.
The K-30 is a very interesting camera. If it drops down to a US$650 body, its feature set and lens array is excellent. Consumer-friendly AA batteries, pro-styling, WR, and.....what really caught my eye.......a pentaprism, not a pentamirror.
That suggests a top-of-the-line APS-C K-5 "pro" model can hit the $950 price point at the outset.
A $1,000 difference between APS-C and FF on bodies is a lot of $$$ for the market. The vast majority of people cannot afford FF. But APS-C has been milking too-high lens prices, and that has to change.
I cannot see FF dropping below $2,000 right now. Makes no sense for Nikon, and the camera to do that with, the D700, has apparently been lifted from production. The resolution monster D800 cannot compete with the D600 semi-resolution monster if the price gap is too wide. I predict they will be closer in price than some of the more wild predictions. This makes more sense with the D400 also rumoured to be on the horizon. I suspect that camera is the $1,500 offer.