No New Products: Instead, Great Deals!

Save big on Pentax during Black Friday Week (for once)

By PF Staff in Deals and Savings on Nov 22, 2011

The last few months have been very slow for Pentax and the Pentax community.  Apart from the launch of the mildly-disappointing Pentax Q, there has been no major product news, and no new items for the K-mount (DSLR) linuep have been announced. The community waits in anticipation of rumors, let alone an official statement, about what the future might hold.

Despite this stagnation, we have some good news for you for Black Friday week and the upcoming holiday season: prices on many Pentax lenses have fallen, and most items that have been on back-order over the past months are now once again readily available, including the legendary 31mm F1.8 limited lens and the M42 to K mount lens adapter!  We don't normally see price drops this big on Pentax lenses, so this is some very exciting news!  On the other hand, this was the least Pentax could do.  Among other deals is $100 off the Pentax DA* 16-50mm.

Special Deals: Gear That's Cheap

• Pentax 16-50mm F2.8: $100 instant rebate ($749)*
• Pentax 50mm F1.4: $90 price drop ($359)
• Pentax DA* 60-250mm: $100 price drop ($1249)
• Tamron 70-200mm F2.8: $70 price drop ($699)
• Tamron 17-50mm: $10 price drop ($424)**
• Pentax 35mm F2.4: $30 price drop ($169)
• Transcend 32GB Class 10 SD Card ($39)
• Pentax K-5: $300 instant rebate through January ($1099 on amazon)

*This week only, available exclusively at B&H photo.
**See also our in-depth comparison of the Tamron 17-50mm and Pentax 16-50mm

Gear That's Back

• Pentax FA 31mm Limited ($989)
• M42 to K mount lens adapter ($24)
• Almost every other genuine Pentax lens

That's right- shipments of just about every Pentax lens have hit the shelves, so if there's something you really want, chances are you can get it.

Gear That We Wish Were Available

• Pentax 12-24mm F4

Yes, unfortunately,the Pentax 12-24mm is still on back-order just about anywhere you look.  As no official discontinuation announcements have been made, we can only hope that next batch of these lens will make it in time for Christmas.

Other Deals

If you use Photoshop or Lightroom and would like to extend your editing capabilities, Topaz Labs, developer of powerful photo-editing plugins, is offering a 30% discount on all their products through the end of the month.  See also our in-depth review of thier latest plugin, Topaz Adjust 5.

Deals are likely to change through this week, so stay tuned to our Price Watch Forum for the latest in online and local deals!

Finally, if you want to save even more, why buy new?  Our Pentax Marketplace contains hundreds of classified ad listings from our members, some of which are even for very rare legacy items! Furthermore, if you're looking for something that's not already listed, you can use our Marketplace Watch List to get a notification once an item becomes available. It's worth a look if you haven't seen it already. 

Free Stuff- Your Favorite!

This holiday season, we're making things very easy for you.  Write the best blog post about something you are passionate about and you will win $500-$1000 in store credit at B&H, or one of 7 gift cards totalling $500.  One evening spent writing could get you the camera or lens you've been dreaming of this year...or some other cool accessory! Enter the giveaway.

Happy gear-hunting!  If you see any exciting deals not mentioned in this post, please post them below or use our Price Watch Forum.