Originally posted by robthebloke *Casts an eye over to my KM and K2*
Nope! It's what I've been most looking forward too...
What he said! Much as I have loved my APS-C Pentax cameras, the constraints at the "normal" and wide end have been a consistent frustration. I have counted myself extremely fortunate to have had my FA 35/2 as a fast walk-around prime, but in almost a decade of use was not able to find suitable options for wide angle.
On 35mm FF, "wide" starts somewhere around 35mm focal length* and by the time you hit 28mm you are wide enough for all but the broadest vistas and cramped internals spaces. The value proposition for relatively fast (f/2.8) 28mm lenses has traditionally been very high with the better models having a sweet combination of low distortion, flat field, and high resolution at most apertures. Oh, and I might add that most of those 28s are very compact. I have not found similar attributes at the equivalent ~19mm focal length for primes or zooms from any maker. Things are even worse (with the possible exception of the DA 15/4 Limited) for ~16mm focal length for a 24mm equivalent.
Moving up to "normal", I shot a fast 50 for over a decade as my only lens. That says something, I think.
Steve
* I was a late convert to the 35mm focal length on my 35mm film cameras. All I can say is that you have never tried it, you should do so.