[Barry K]

Hi, I was spending some alone time at home and reading articles on DPReview I found their lens timeline section and I wanted to see how it looks for the last ten years. I worked on this for a while and prepared this chart so here it is (The numbers in the brackets shows the company’s own productions. Plus be aware that a lens with multiple mounts show in every column, for example a Sigma with Canon, Nikon & Pentax mounts goes to all three columns. I didn’t include Samsung & Hasselblad lenses.)

I don’t know much about lenses but here is my two cents about the company’s performances:

1. Looks like there is no big two anymore, Sony definitely joined the big players club.

2. Although some people don’t trust the future of MFT system and it seems like it’s in decline for the last two years it’s a decent system with a strong lens lineup and possibly will be around for a long time.

3. Fujifilm looks like raised their game dramatically. I think they are applying the Pentax’s past strategy in a different way, an exciting feature rich APSC camera lineup along with a somehow affordable medium format system. Notice that in the last five years 50 Fuji X mount lenses produced, almost twice of Pentax K & 645 mount lenses (26).

4. I can’t tell what Pentax’s strategy anymore, it looks like they want to stay in the game but don’t know what to do. In the last four years only 15 Pentax mount lenses produced and if we just look the last five years Pentax is way behind of Fujifilm or even Leica.

Like I said I don’t know much about lens systems so I wonder what you guys think about this picture. I love my Pentax camera and want to use this system for a long time but I am not sure about the future of Pentax. I want to wait and see the upcoming APSC flagship camera, I think it’s going to be a “statement camera” for Pentax. I think they are working on a DSLR that will be revolutionary (hope so). If they come up with something like that plus with a decent K1ii upgrade (and some good glass, hopefully some wides) I will be more confident about the future of Pentax system. If they come up with a moderate K3ii upgrade and they forget FF system then it will be disappointing. I hope it’s not gonna be like that.

Thanks for reading and happy new year everybody.

Attached Images

 

[KiloHotelphoto]

What mounts did you use for Canon? They have a bunch right now, EF, EF-S, EF cinema, RF and M mounts.

[Barry K]

I included all mounts.

[bertwert]

Quality over quantity.

[kiwi_jono]

Interesting comparison.
Perhaps its not quite the whole story though as Pentax to this point has maintained backward mount compatibility and so all lenses previously made can still be used on the latest bodies. The same can't be said for all most of the other brands. Also the lenses that are available on Pentax are actually pretty good (with some significant holes like no recent FF primes 24mm or wider).

Anyway have a great new year!

[BigDave]

They have a bunch right now, EF, EF-S, EF cinema, RF and M mounts.

With 5 different mounts, that's an average of 43 lenses per mount, less than Pentax's one K mount. When yoy have variety in your systems, you must cater to it.

[James also]

Do Leica support more than one format like Canon?

[KiloHotelphoto]

Interesting comparison.
Perhaps its not quite the whole story though as Pentax to this point has maintained backward mount compatibility and so all lenses previously made can still be used on the latest bodies. The same can't be said for all most of the other brands. Also the lenses that are available on Pentax are actually pretty good (with some significant holes like no recent FF primes 24mm or wider).

Anyway have a great new year!

Canons EF Mount is over 30 years old and they have made over 130 million lenses so pretty good availability there. Nikons F mount is even older so they have good selection of older lenses also.

The K mount doesn’t help Ricoh much, look at how many people here will buy a used 30 year old 50 1.4 on eBay or the marketplace for $50 over a new DFA 50 1.4 for $1000. They can put out great new glass but if people continue to buy old used glass for brand new bodies that hurts them.

If they create a new mount like Canon and Nikon how many current Pentax users would switch to the new mount, or just stick with used K mount equipment, or would they switch brands at that point. And does Ricoh have anything to attract new users to the system?

---------- Post added 12-26-19 at 10:06 PM ----------

With 5 different mounts, that's an average of 43 lenses per mount, less than Pentax's one K mount. When yoy have variety in your systems, you must cater to it.

Yes but the M and RF don’t have that many lenses right now. The RF mount seems to be where all the R and D is going and rightfully so.

[luftfluss]

This list seems to punish Pentax for being so aggressive in creating APS-C specific lenses in the early days of DSLR. That is, great Pentax digital lenses such as the DA Limited and DA* lenses were created prior to 2010.

[luftfluss]

Do Leica support more than one format like Canon?

Yes, Leica supports rangefinder (M), APS-C, FF, and Medium Format.

[luftfluss]

Quality over quantity.

Most of the manufacturers have more "good" lenses than Pentax. The question is, does Pentax offer what you need?

[bertwert]

Most of the manufacturers have more "good" lenses than Pentax. The question is, does Pentax offer what you need?

I was just in the mood for a snarky comment


Personally, they have all I need, though I would love to see my 21 Ltd be WR. And no other brand has something comparable, with such nice to use bodies, and a decent price as a bonus!

[luftfluss]

3. Fujifilm looks like raised their game dramatically. I think they are applying the Pentax’s past strategy in a different way, an exciting feature rich APSC camera lineup along with a somehow affordable medium format system. Notice that in the last five years 50 Fuji X mount lenses produced, almost twice of Pentax K & 645 mount lenses (26).

Fuji entered the game at a very high level. They didn't start out making middling lenses; they started making excellent glass immediately.

4. I can’t tell what Pentax’s strategy anymore, it looks like they want to stay in the game but don’t know what to do. In the last four years only 15 Pentax mount lenses produced and if we just look the last five years Pentax is way behind of Fujifilm or even Leica

There are discussions all over the forum about what Pentax is doing. Companies that are prolific lens-producers (Nikon and Olympus come to mind) have been hemorrhaging cash in recent years, while Pentax, as far as anyone can tell, is not.

[luftfluss]

I was just in the mood for a snarky comment


Personally, they have all I need, though I would love to see my 21 Ltd be WR. And no other brand has something comparable, with such nice to use bodies, and a decent price as a bonus!

Unfortunately, I think when Pentax does give us a wide-ish WR prime, it's going to be large.

[DeadJohn]

Canon and Nikon undoubtedly have a more diverse selection of lenses than Pentax. A lot of the lenses are expensive specialty items, though, that are completely irrelevant for the vast majority of photographers. A quick check of the B&H website shows 39 Canon lenses priced over $5000 dollars. The most expensive is $70,000. I'm not in the market for such gear so it doesn't matter to me.


Use whatever system meets your needs. When your current system can no longer meet your needs, add a 2nd system, or sell what you have and do a full changeover. Changing too often gets expensive and prevents your from mastering the brand's quirks.

I picked Pentax because they were the "best" (for me). Today, as cameras have evolved, I think I could be equally happy with Nikon or Sony, but there's no pressing need for me to change from Pentax.


I do wish Pentax filled in some gaping holes in their full frame prime lens lineup. The 15-30 zoom is good but heavy. Their widest full frame prime is 31mm.