Miserere Mei , Feb 02, 2012; 10:10 a.m.
Photographyblog is saying they saw the new Pentax lens roadmap at the K-01 unveiling in the UK. Here's what's in store (subject to change, the whims of Pentax gods, market situation, etc.):
2012:
- DA Standard lens (50mm)
- DA High magnification zoom lens (18-200mm)
- DA Telephoto lens (550mm)
2013:
- DA Ltd zoom (24-38mm)
- DA Telephoto zoom (125-375mm)
- DA Wideangle zoom (12-28mm)
- DA Zoom (18-120mm)
- DA AF RC 1.4x teleconverter
Focal lengths are approximate and garnered from reading the tea leaves in the images of the roadmap in Photographyblog. I'm sure Pentax is being vague on purpose, most likely because many of them are probably not even on the drawing board.
My personal comment: Why is the "standard lens" a 50mm? Have we not been clear enough that we want a 28mm standard lens? You know, because 50mm isn't standard on APS-C? Just sayin'...
Steve T. 
, Feb 02, 2012; 11:06 a.m.
I agree, I want a 28mm. But a Limited zoom? Hmmm... might suffice for the lack of a 28mm prime if the package is small enough. And it would give me the 35mm that I lack. That could be a nice street zoom. (Great, I just felt the LBA kick in. Thanks, Mis.)
Those are some dream lenses that I would be interested in exploring. The 18-120 would make a great vacation lens. Wonder what the price of a 550mm would be? Might turn me into a wildlife photographer. (Stop it, Steve!)
Miserere Mei , Feb 02, 2012; 11:12 a.m.
Steve wrote:
Great, I just felt the LBA kick in. Thanks, Mis.
You're welcome! I'm glad I could be of service :-)
Michael Elenko , Feb 02, 2012; 11:50 a.m.
Most of those are a little strange to me. I agree, who needs another 50mm lens if the body choices entail a cropped sensor? And the zoom focal ranges seem redundant with existing offerings: is a 12-28mm really that different from the 12-24mm? I'd much rather have something closer to 10-20mm.
More appealing are the long telephotos and the modern 1.4xTC. 550mm is also a bit um, alternative, as a focal length but if they think the market is there, then fantastic, especially if they can control the weight, if not the price.
ME
Andrew Gilchrist 
, Feb 02, 2012; 12:48 p.m.
Do we 'need' a 50? Most of us here probably don't now, but it's probably meant to be a budget alternative to the DA*55...and they can probably make it cheaper & lighter than the FA50/1.4. Probably inexpensive to design and produce.
The superzoom and telezoom they should definitely do, tout-de-suite, the 1.4 TC as well.
I recall that Pentax has a patent on a 12-36 design, perhaps that might materialize as the DA wide zoom? I think this is a very good idea too--I'm hoping f/3.5-4.5, can't imagine it being faster than that.
The DA Limited zoom is something that I've called for before. My vision is something like 20-40/3.2 -- I would probably buy that if it's nicely built & compact like I imagine.
Don't know about DA 550...a little surprised it's not described as DA*.
DA 18-120 doesn't sound so different than the recent 18-135. I wonder if its intended more like a lower-cost kit lens, non-WR? It's a little hard to guess without more knowledge about its max aperture.
Kari Kakkinen , Feb 02, 2012; 01:09 p.m.
Mathias Luther , Feb 02, 2012; 01:20 p.m.
Wether you call 50mm "standard" or "portrait" is unimportant. Pentax plans on making a new one anyway. My bet is that they are tired of having to keep two f 1.4 lenses in production because the 55 mm one didn't manage to fill the void of the FA 50/1.4.
We can hope it will be an affordable 50mm/1.4 with weather sealing, compact form factor, great optics and fast and reliable focusing. All the things you can get with the "standards" of today, but not with any single one of them.
Andrew Gilchrist , Feb 02, 2012; 01:53 p.m.
@Kari:
DA* 16-85 does sound very nice, and makes a lot more sense in the lineup than a DA18-120 -- perhaps a sealed replacement for 17-70/4? I doubt it would be f/2.8...but maybe faster than 3.5-5.6 (Nikon 16-85, Canon 15-85), possibly 3.5 constant, 3.5-4.5 (like Sony 16-80), or f/4-constant? The constant-aperture designs would likely be on the bulky side, probably larger than current 17-70/4.
Also, this better look at the roadmap suggests the superzoom will be > 200mm. My guess: Another refreshed Tamron rebadge, this time to their latest 18-270, probably with in-body motor, maybe without Tamron's in-lens VC. I imagine if they can gussy it up in sealed (WR) guise it might be particularly popular, as nobody offers anything like that sealed.
@Mathias:
My guess is DA 50 f/1.7 and priced ~$175-250, generally along the lines of DA 35/2.4 AL. Your 'hope' sounds like wishful thinking since the sealing, f/1.4, and modern focusing basically describe a DA*55. (I'll bypass the possible discussion as to whether SDM is fast or reliable at this juncture).
A disappointment (not particularly for me personally) -- no indication of a DA* 11-16/2.8 or the like.
Laurentiu Cristofor , Feb 02, 2012; 02:10 p.m.
Finally, a positive rumor! I don't care what lenses they make as long as they get back to making lenses.
Andrew Gilchrist , Feb 02, 2012; 02:35 p.m.
"Finally, a positive rumor! I don't care what lenses they make as long as they get back to making lenses."
It's actually better than a "rumor" -- even if it's not a true commitment, it's still essentially words from their official mouths.
