[VoiceOfReason]

No releases from Sigma for years now, VoR, only discontinuings.

I should say newer. The ART 18-35 and ART 35. I am sure those are still current lenses.

[pres589]

Hello All,
In the past 4 months, I have brought into the Pentax K-1...
Regards
Geoff

You've said enough. Sell me the K-1. I will only pay a small amount for it so that you won't have to feel guilty. Send me a private message on this urgent rescue I will be performing for you and we can hash out the details.

Thx,
pres589

[clackers]

I should say newer. The ART 18-35 and ART 35. I am sure those are still current lenses.

That was some time ago.

I think sales of the Pentax version of the 18-35 were so poor the 50-100 and 24-35 were not converted.

I have the excellent 35 Art, but again, so few Pentaxians own it that they've never released the later 14, 50, 85 or 135mm lenses.

[pres589]

The thing about recent Sigma lenses is how crazy heavy they are. A number of their recent offerings have AF issues. Corner sharpness seems to be an afterthought on many of them with primes included. And the pricing isn't all that awesome. I'd rather have OEM offerings that perform well and spend a little more.

This situation may change after the remaining new Tamron and Sigma lenses leave vendors and are only available used.

[lytrytyr]

I'm surprised the latest offerings from Sigma / Tamron et al are not available in the K mount.

No surprise with Tamron, as their lenses like the 15-30 are re-engineered as Pentax offerings, with a little secret sauce:

HD Pentax-D FA 15-30mm F2.8 ED SDM WR Reviews - D FA Zoom Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

[monochrome]

These four well-regarded lenses give you uninterrupted access to every focal length from 15 to 450mm, with 15 to 200mm at an acceptably-fast f/2.8:

D FA 15-30 f/2.8
D FA 24-70 f/2.8
D FA 70-200 f/2.8
D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6

If you need a nice walk-around lens, there's the D FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6.

Here's how the echo chamber works: People say - that's all.

• People who want and can afford the 4-zoom kit say K-1 lacks something faster.
• People who want K-1 and affordable zooms say the lens catalog lacks something slower.
• People who want the FA Limiteds say the lenses lack something modern.
• People who want Pentax legacy lenses say the cameras lack something historical.
• People who want low-priced FF kit gear say Pentax lacks something cheaper.
• People who want video say Pentax cameras lack (list some things).
• People who want mirrorless say Pentax is dead man walking or something.

I say Pentax should just keep making great cameras and lenses and turning a profit for Ricoh.

[E-man]

This is also a product of a contraction in the overall camera market. Camera sales across all brands are a shadow of what they were even five or ten years ago. Smart phones have gutted the market and many people find a camera of any sort to be more of a hassle than it's worth for their needs, while the second hand market becomes increasingly glutted. The 35mm glory days of the '70s and '80s have all but completely receded in the rear view mirror and what we're facing even in the immediate future is unclear.

[felixkh]

No releases from Sigma for years now, VoR, only discontinuings.

The new Sigma 35mm F1.4 ART is in K mount. We have it being old here in sunny Singapore.

[Sunburn]

You've said enough. Sell me the K-1. I will only pay a small amount for it so that you won't have to feel guilty. Send me a private message on this urgent rescue I will be performing for you and we can hash out the details.

Thx,
pres589

Ha. I'm in no rush to sell

[EssJayEff]

is anyone else a little concerned about the future lens offering on the K mount for the otherwise amazing K-1?

Anyone? Sure! Me . . . not really. I shot for years during the film era with only a Hasselblad and a normal 80mm lens. There are many people who live by the one-camera-one-lens work ethic. Currently I am almost exclusively shooting with the K-1 and the D FA 100mm f/2.8 WR Macro for non-macro purposes. It's not for everyone, but then again neither is Pentax—and I don't mean that in a snobbish way because I would not be shooting Pentax if I was a sports photographer.

In some ways I select my digital cameras like I use to select my film. I remember when I bought my first Pentax, the K-5. I had been shooting Canon so I purchased the 7D. I had so much buyer's remorse because I didn't like the images I had been seeing made by the camera, but I was reluctant to buy the Pentax without holding it. I returned the Canon the next day without ever opening the box and ordered the K-5 online. I've never looked back . . .

[pathdoc]

Currently I am almost exclusively shooting with the K-1 and the D FA 100mm f/2.8 WR Macro for non-macro purposes.

Provided you have the room to back up into, that's not a bad combination (as I am currently finding out; it's my Lens of the Month for the Single in April "competition"). I bought it for macro at work, but I found the field of view too narrow in my particular lab environment (no criticism of the lens; all that's on me). I held on to it more out of inertia than anything else until now, because for a while it was my only WR lens to put on the K-5, but on the K-1 it seems to be doing very interesting things and I'm glad I kept it.

People who want and can afford the 4-zoom kit say K-1 lacks something faster.
People who want K-1 and affordable zooms say the lens catalog lacks something slower.
People who want the FA Limiteds say the lenses lack something modern.
People who want Pentax legacy lenses say the cameras lack something historical.
People who want low-priced FF kit gear say Pentax lacks something cheaper.
People who want video say Pentax cameras lack (list some things).
People who want mirrorless say Pentax is dead man walking or something.

1) To these I would say "The D-FA 50*1.4 and D-FA* 85/1.4 are coming; be patient."
2) If I want an "affordable modern 70-210(300)/4-5.6 zoom" for the K-1, it's not because the F or FA series (or their third-party equivalents) aren't good enough; it's because none of them are weather-sealed. I think something like that is on its way, though; so those whinings will soon be at an end. Until then, the whiners can mount a 50-200 DA L WR and either shoot it in crop or crop it in post. If you really seriously need all thirty-six megapixels, you can justify a D-FA*70-200. Start saving.
3) If the FA Limiteds need anything modern it's weather sealing and quick shift (but can you weather-seal a lens with an aperture ring?). Otherwise no; the thing they are prized most for is their optics/subjective rendering, and if you even change the coatings to HD you might upset all that.
4) That something historical is called "the aperture coupler", or perhaps "analogue TTL protocol" - yeah, I do want both of those back, but getting the first would probably cost us shake reduction (or a significant increase in the size of the body), and getting the second... hmm, I would like to think this can be done in firmware, reading off the sensor, but we shall see what the future of P-TTL brings.
5) If you want a full-frame DSLR for the price of a mid-range APS-C body, you won't find it new and you won't find it from Pentax. Not for a while, anyway.
6) People who want high quality video should IMNSHO go out and get themselves a proper (insert bad adjective here) video camera.
7) Do not ask for whom the bell tolls; right now, it tolls for Panasonic.

Tamron makes plenty of lenses for Pentax - under Pentax contract.

OP, if you've bought into a dead ecosystem then so have I - and much more recently than you. The difference is that I sat on my decision to get a K-1 for TWELVE MONTHS, sorting out what it would or would not offer me before I plonked down that huge amount of cash. I have no full frame lenses for it that aren't at least seven years old. Some of them are at least FORTY-seven years old, and one or two might be pushing sixty.

I can't wait to shoot with them.

[mattb123]

I wouldn't say dying, but definitely less active.
With new OEM lenses appearing now and then and new bodies coming out regularly, the brand seems to be moving forward in a cautious way. That is how they roll.
Tamron is making lenses for them but they are making some of the new OEM lenses (like the 15-30 which is great). I'm hoping they might release some of their own on K mount again but maybe they have an agreement not to so they don't cannibalize their Pentax OEM lens production.
The smaller third party brands like Rokinon and Irix are putting out new lenses for our cameras and those little guys seem to be on the way to being bigger guys so there's more possibilities there too.

It just isn't the brand to use if you want a big selection of new stuff constantly coming out. While that can be exciting, I buy cameras for taking photos and ours still seem to do that very well.

[btnapa]

Have I brought into a dead Eco System

Dead? No. Dying? Maybe.

I came from Canon land. Grass is always greener on the other side. My prediction is that even Canon and Nikon are in jeopardy. Sony, Fuji and Panasonic are where the action is. I own the K1 and just bought some "cheapo" Panasonic gear for 4K video work. If you want kick-ass stills K1 has no equal. At least for the money. If I had to make a complete system switch it will not be back to Canon or even Nikon. Hopping systems is costly. If you have the money, the pain may not be bad but for most of us it is not practical.

[CarlJF]

Would I like Pentax launched more lenses ? Sure. Would I like to see then entire line up of lenses from third party manufacturer in K-mount ? Sure. Would I actually buy any of those lenses if they were available ? No. So, I'm not concerned if they're not available in K-mount.

In fact, even if I was equiped with Canon or Nikon, I would have a very similar lenses line up than what I have right now in K-mount, but with a different tag (and the DA70 ltd would be dearly missed). Thus, I don't really care about lenses in a catalogue I wouldn't buy anyway.

For me, it's like looking at a menu in a restaurant. I care about things I like and willing to eat. I'm not concerned about what isn't on the menu, even less for things I would not order anyway. And certainly couldn't care less about those unwanted items bieng available in another restaurant.

[normhead]

Would I like Pentax launched more lenses ? Sure. Would I like to see then entire line up of lenses from third party manufacturer in K-mount ? Sure. Would I actually buy any of those lenses if they were available ? No. So, I'm not concerned if they're not available in K-mount.

In fact, even if I was equiped with Canon or Nikon, I would have a very similar lenses line up than what I have right now in K-mount, but with a different tag (and the DA70 ltd would be dearly missed). Thus, I don't really care about lenses in a catalogue I wouldn't buy anyway.

For me, it's like looking at a menu in a restaurant. I care about things I like and willing to eat. I'm not concerned about what isn't on the menu, even less for things I would not order anyway. And certainly couldn't care less about those unwanted items bieng available in another restaurant.

I read this and I understand why I could care less about 3rd party manufacturers. If Pentax just continues to license lens designs from Tamron where needed and make them better with better build quality and water resistance that'll work for me. With the exception of an ƒ4-5.6 UWA for my K-1, everything is covered.