[Andrea K]

For me it is unexplainable that Pentax does not have, like all manufacturers, a line of full frame f4 lenses. There is in f2,8 at expense of big prices and weights (with few sales) ... there is not in f4 that would sell the triple.

Come on Pentax, make:
DFA 24-105 f4 (24! not 28!)
DFA 70-200 f4 (nay rebadge the 60-250 f4 with slight modifications)

It's so easy......

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Last edited by Andrea K; 12-14-2017 at 03:27 AM.

[ffking]

For me it is unexplainable that Pentax does not have, like all manufacturers, a line of full frame f4 lenses. There is in f2,8 at expense of big prices and weights (with few sales) ... there is not in f4 that would sell the triple.

I think the reason in part (given their small size and limited design/ manufacturing capacity) is that if they did, everybody would be asking why they don't have a range of f/2.8 zooms like everybody else does

[monochrome]

For me it is unexplainable that Pentax does not have, like all manufacturers, a line of full frame f4 lenses. There is in f2,8 at expense of big prices and weights (with few sales) ... there is not in f4 that would sell the triple.

Come on Pentax, make:
DFA 24-105 f4 (24! not 28!)
DFA 70-200 f4 (nay rebadge the 60-250 f4 with slight modifications)

It's so easy......

They have DA lenses and APSc bodies for that.

[Andrea K]

I think the reason in part (given their small size and limited design/ manufacturing capacity) is that if they did, everybody would be asking why they don't have a range of f/2.8 zooms like everybody else does

But they have f2,8 zooms.... while f4 lenses are not even in the roadmap

[Gedeon]

what is recurrent in the wishes is that pentax produces light modern lenses, with reduced dimensions & weight....everyone is tired of these big blocks, it's totally at odds with the advantage of the compactness of the k-1

[savoche]

what is recurrent in the wishes is that pentax produces light modern lenses, with reduced dimensions & weight....everyone is tired of these big blocks, it's totally at odds with the advantage of the compactness of the k-1

Well, that's definitely my view, but from what I see that's hardly the view of everyone. And I understand why Ricoh prioritises the big (and excellent!) lenses first. First of all, they have an extensive line of compact gear for APS-C. Secondly, if they hadn't started with the fast glass "everyone" would complain that they didn't make cameras for "professionals".

Yes, I would love to have compact lenses for my K-1, but I also accept that Ricoh has the APS-C line for that - if that's what they do.

Also, I have a nice collection of compact lenses. They are just not all current. That doesn't make them bad, though.

[adjutant]

I had a daydream that Pentax came up with a new small-sensor mirrorless camera that was just as small as and styled to look just like an LX w/ FA2 finder, with manual ISO, shutter, and exposure compensation dials on the top plate and aperture ring on all its lenses.

Then I snapped out of it, of course.

[Alex645]

I had a daydream that Pentax came up with a new small-sensor mirrorless camera
Then I snapped out of it, of course.

Although Pentax makes cameras without a pentaprism, just the very origin of their name would imply they wouldn't want to compete with their own pentaprism DSLRs. Straight from wikipedia:
The name "Pentax" was originally a registered trademark of the East German VEB Zeiss Ikon (from "Pentaprism" and "Contax") and acquired by the Asahi Optical company in 1957.

However, a mirrorless with the Ricoh moniker could be produced with your wish list if they projected it economically competitive and viable.

[Kunzite]

Not competing with their own DSLRs because of their name? Not necessarily; remember the Microsoft bloatware many of us are using

[monochrome]

But they have f2,8 zooms.... while f4 lenses are not even in the roadmap

You speak as if the roadmap is a complete and inclusive promise of Ricoh’s Pentax Plan, which has not historically been the case. Pentax has in the past issued a large list of lenses in rapid succession that weren’t all roadmapped. I refer to the 14 DA / DA* / DA Limited lenses released over a 15 month period that I discussed upthread.

For now they’re selling the existing FA, D FA, D FA* and roadmapped D FA* lenses, and that’s OK. I fully expect a range of quality mid-priced D FA f/2 - f/3.5 primes and f/4 zooms, plus more variable aperture zooms as stock of existing DA lenses runs out, perhaps sooner rather than later. The global economy is getting hot, and up to now Ricoh has successfully avoided building product introductions into a weak economy.

[RobA_Oz]

The point of this thread was consideration of the possible next big thing from Pentax. I took that to mean big as far as the market goes (ie something that grabs and holds the attention of people who may not otherwise have considered the brand), not big in terms of people's personal wishlists. We seem to have exhausted the possibilities, if we're talking about f4 versus f2.8 lens ranges. Those things are important in the long run, but they're not breakthrough items.

[benoitvservant]

the next big move has to be a new flagship apsc camera with better and quicker AF. With the new kaf4, and plm lens, i think this is what will come.

[pakinjapan]

Should Pentax try to compete against mirrorless cameras again?

I feel like, I am seeing more people using Sony mirrorless FF than Nikon DSLR now. I also see more and more people using Fuji in the last 8-9 months. This is not a scientific research. It is just my “feeling” when I go out shooting which I have been doing almost every weekend in Tokyo in the last … may be 5 or 6 years. Sometime 2-3 times a week if it happens to be long holiday.


IMO, Mirrorless market is getting bigger and bigger. I don’t know if Pentax is interesting in this growing market? It might be something like FF DSLR market back when Nikon and Canon enjoy making money while Pentax showed little sign of interest then.
so Yes, if they want to have a share from one of a few markets which still shows a good promise or a possibility of making big money in the world of smartphone’s camera today.
No, if their policy is just to survive. Or who know? They might want to join the mirrorless race, but they ran into a problem like... short of funding, etc.
I am sure there are a lot of variable I don't know and or understand here.

What next step would make you spend more money on Pentax?

Well build mirrorless FF or APS-C or WR limited prime or something like the upcoming 11-18 will sure make me want to spend some money for the brand.

[Glen]

In my last chat with staff at our local and very large camera store about a year ago, they basically said what pakinjapan above just said. Mirror less cameras are hot right now. Sony and Fuji are starting to get more attention than the big names from the DSLR manufacturers. When he started to show me some of the hardware that that Fuji and Olympus were selling I could see why. Small, solid and with many advanced functions. I think it was the Fuji than even offered multi stage focus bracketing for macro images. Impressive, and tough for Canon and Nikon to compete with let alone Pentax.

But that is not what my post is about. In keeping with the title of this post, The Next Big Pentax Project, I believe that it is to go back to the existing line-up and replace all of the remaining SDM lenses. Those lenses are not worthy of the star line that some of them are billed as. Pentax may have done something to reduce the incidence of failure or the time between failures but those lenses are still sold with a drive system that is known to be risky at best. How can a professional rely on equipment that has a history of sudden failures? They may be doing a wedding or on a trip to a far destination only to discover that they can't focus. Manual focus isn't the same as it was back in the day when it was the only system and the viewfinder had a split screen to aide in obtaining a sharp focus. A couple of lenses can be converted to screw drive but is that worth of the price paid and the star designation? It is ironic that some of the most expensive lenses by Pentax are also the most unreliable. I don't include the new SDMs that are made by Tamron as they are fine. Lenses like the 50-135, 16-50, 60-240, etc are still using the old generation of SDM. Some owners report no problems with these lenses but I doubt we will ever know for certain what percentage are problem free and what percentage fail. However even if they don't fail, the in-depth tests here on the Forum have shown that they are slow compared to the DC drives and especially the pulse drive system. Who puts their slowest drive on their most expensive lens? So back to the next big Pentax project, it should be to redesign all SDM lenses to convert them to a superior drive such as DC or if possible pulse. Anything less on the part of Pentax is a failure to build to a quality level that many of us still believe the names still implies.

[RobA_Oz]

I feel like, I am seeing more people using Sony mirrorless FF than Nikon DSLR now. I also see more and more people using Fuji in the last 8-9 months. This is not a scientific research. It is just my “feeling” when I go out shooting which I have been doing almost every weekend in Tokyo in the last … may be 5 or 6 years. Sometime 2-3 times a week if it happens to be long holiday.

That may be so in Japan, but on a recent holiday in Europe, travelling from Hungary to Portugal, I reckon I saw as many Pentax DSLRs as I saw Sony and Fuji (mostly Sony). Most were Canon or Nikon, and I can't definitely recall seeing a single Olympus. The majority of all (including DSLR/MILC) photography was with smart phones and tablets, of course, and the most intrusive bunch were the selfie crowd, who hogged everything to get photos (often multiples) of themselves.