Availability of Pentax lenses?

<p>Hello folks! This is my first time posting on this forum. The K7 announcement has be considering switching from Canon to Pentax. I almost switched when the K20D came out but was dissuaded when I found many posts on this forum complaining about the unavailability of Pentax lenses, and how slow Pentax was at the time in bringing previously announced lenses to market. Before I go through the effort of selling my Canon gear and buying the K7, can you advise me as to whether or not those problems are still going on, and if so, how bad they are?<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>Steve, my initial answer to you is that I've never had any issues with procuring Pentax lenses, but it would serve you better to set context. If what you mean by availability is bopping down to the big box dealer to check out gear, then you will most likely not find non-P&S Pentax products there. I'll speak for the Seattle area. The two major pro-service retailers have had a fairly decent inventory of Pentax lenses since the K10D came out. Other metro areas: YMMV. </p>

<p>Online is a different story. All of the major retailers (B&H, Adorama, Amazon,the Canadian dealers) seem to stock most products. I've had no issues ordering and returning lenses but that's a rare occurrence.</p>

<p>I'll also add that the second-hand Pentax market is very active and generally reliable. I've bought and sold quite a few mint and classic lenses. One added dimension of the Pentax platform is the compatibility with 40-year old lenses, and most of us here take that rather seriously (see also LBA).</p>

<p>Getting back to context, it also depends on what you require. One glaring weakness of the Pentax platform is the non-availability of long, fast telephoto lenses past 300mm. There are a few Sigma and older used Tamron and legacy Pentax offerings, but for Canon you will find a larger selection.</p>

<p>What kind of shooting do you do?</p>

<p>ME</p>

<p>Yeah - I don't think we can ad much to what ME said. Living in Wichita, maybe we're just used to not being able to bop down to a (really good) camera store and pick up whatever, so it's pretty much always been special order for us, anyway.</p>

<p>With the explosion of online sales, life certainly has become easier. We don't have problems getting our hands on what we want. And with the backwards compatibility of Pentax, it's been a joy to get the older stuff on ebay, and slap it on the K10s</p>

<p>I wouldn't worry about it. You usually can't bop down to your local camera store any more and pick up any kind of lens for any make. The Pentax lenses seem to be very good or to have very good users to judge from the pictures posted on this forum from time to time.</p>

<p>Of course, the ease of on-line shopping and the lack of local stores are not unrelated.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>all the major webphoto sales sites carry pentax lenses. or the other major makers that have the k mount and work with pentax.<br>

not to mention, as of a couple of yrs ago there were 24000000 pentax k mount lenses somewhere that fit the k10-k20-k7, and seemingly most of them can be seen on ebay. the people that say do not buy pentax dslrs tend to be the sellers of other name brand dslrs.</p>

<p>Steve, I support what Michael wrote. But I would ask you to clarify what you meant by "availability". Are you referring to the capacity of acquiring existing lenses, or the amount of lenses in the Pentax line-up?</p>

<p>In the first case, all of Pentax's lenses are easily available online at any major retailer. No problem there.</p>

<p>In the second case, Pentax was a bit slow releasing lenses for their digital SLRs, which prompted a lot of complaints and grumblings. I would say Pentax have caught up admirably with the competition and now offer a comprehensive set of lenses for their digital cameras. Furthermore, they also offer something none of the competition offer in either amount or price/quality: Primes. The DA Limited line are small, metal primes that nobody manufactures anymore (apart from Pentax). There are also DA* primes (with more expected) offering fast apertures in weather-sealed packages.</p>

<p>Take a look at the <a href="http://www.pentax.jp/english/imaging/digital/lens/roadmap.pdf">Pentax roadmap</a> and see whether they have the lenses you want. And don't forget to check B&H for Pentax-FA lenses not listed on the roadmap. Some of them are still available new (like the FA 50mm f/1.4 or the FA 35mm f/2), while others can be purchased on Ebay. And like just about everyone has said, if you like manual lenses, then buy any K-mount (or M42 screw mount) lens ever manufactured, and you can use it on your Pentax DSLR.</p>

 

<p>Thanks for your prompt responses, they are most helpful. I am quite likely to take advantage of the FA and DA primes. The 40 mm DA pancake and the 28mm/2.8 FA lens look very appealing to me. I likely will also get a wide to moderate zoom, it looks like there are a number of choices there varying in speed and range somewhat. I will have to get busy learning about these lenses. I'm no newbie to photography or to photo.net, but I am new to Pentax digital SLRs and lenses. I hope that you will tolerate the occasional question as I get further into this. I am most appreciative.</p>

 

<p>As mentioned above, the DA Limited series is highly regarded. If interested in high quality primes, you may also want to consider the earlier FA Limited series which can also be used on film bodies. The DA Limited series currently consists of the 15, 21, 35 Macro, 40, and 70. The FA Limited series consists of the 31, 43, and 77.</p>

<p>Bill, thanks for pointing out the FA Limited lenses; how could I forget them! :-D I own the 31 and 77—I cannot recommend them enough.</p>

<p>Steve, feel free to post as many questions as you like. We're a nice bunch :-) And you weren't kidding when you said you were no newbie to p-net...11 years this month!</p>

 

<p>25 million Pentax lenses are available and another lot of generics such as Sigma. Of course you have to be an accomplished photographer with great knowledge to use the manual lenses. Other than that I love the challenge of manual lenses. They are fantastic to use. Somewhre in time in lens stabilization systems will be at 25 million to choose from. I cant wait. That will give my Canon D50 25 million extra lenses for me to choose from.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Of course you have to be an accomplished photographer with great knowledge to use the manual lenses.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Not so! I've been using them with fairly decent results (on occasion) and I hardly fit that description. But those lenses are a great way to get out of auto-everything mode and <em>become</em> "an accomplished photographer with great knowledge." Besides, it's great fun and some of those lenses really have no modern equal-- especially when you factor price into the equation.</p>

<p>There are a couple of places where Pentax falls short. If, for example, you want truely long focal length lenses (over 300mm primes) you have fewer choices, but they seem to be filled ok with Sigma lens offerings. On the other hand you may grab a steal in this area if you come across used Takumar lenses. Tilt/shift lenses are another lens set that Pentax is a little missing the mark (there is an old 28mm shift, no tilt), but is that a lens that you ever imagine that you will need?</p>

<p>Otherwise I would agree, Pentax has everything you could possibly want.</p>

<p>In 1971, the existence of the PC-Nikkor shift lens was the only reason I went from my M42 (Pentax and Praktica) cameras to Nikon. Those of us who do architectural shots in the broadest sense do need a shift. For product photography, the tilt is almost as necessary.</p>

<p>So, <em>some</em> people don't need these things, but some of us do.</p>

<p>Anyone using the FA 28/2.8 lens on a digital body? I am very fond of the 40mm FOV as my "normal" lens.</p>

<p>Steve R.,<br>

You may want to search this forum for comments on the FA 28; recently a few of us shared views. I had it for a while and thought it was a little underwhelming compared with other Pentax peer lenses. But other folks really like it. It is very compact and that's good.</p>

<p>I would recommend you find a FA 31mm Ltd. Now we're talking.</p>

<p>ME</p>

<p>I use the FA28/2.8 sometimes on digital body...no complaints, if you're going with just one prime, it's not a bad choice. Availability on that one is not so good though--has been discontinued for years--but one will appear every now and then (KEH has one right now). If combining with a DA40 also consider DA21/3.2 which is more of a wide.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, if you want something as basic as a fast 35mm equivalent, there is nothing in the Pentax range. I'm used to using a 35/1.4 for about 80% of what I do and there is no substitute for this - I just don't understand the omission, since for years a 35 was deemed essential for reportage.<br>

The equivalent for the APS sonsor would have to be a 24/1.4, and even then you get the depth of field of a 24 and not a 35.</p>

<p>Steve, the problems with pentax glass ended before the K20D.</p>

<p>The peak of issues was just before or after the K10D release. That was 12 months before the K20D release. So I'm not sure specifically what lenses you had in mind that you couldnt get with the K20D.</p>

<p>Pentax does have a public road map, whereas canon does not. Thus, the road map is an issue. If a lens is on the road map and Pentax cans it, it then becomes and issue of why to the public. For instance for me it's the 30mm 1.4 (was it a 1.4??).</p>

<p>As I have preached for a long time, the road map is just an idea of what MIGHT be coming, not an official announcment of lenses that will be produced. Pentax does officially announce lenses long before they come to market.</p>

<p>Right now you can get lenses from 12-300mm all of which are top performers.</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>The equivalent for the APS sonsor would have to be a 24/1.4, and even then you get the depth of field of a 24 and not a 35.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>If you are using it for reportage, wouldn't the extra stop of DOF be advantageous.</p>

<p>I mean you could shoot the 24mm at f/1.4 and get f/2.0 DOF. That would seem to be a huge advantage to me!</p>

<p>"I mean you could shoot the 24mm at f/1.4 and get f/2.0 DOF. That would seem to be a huge advantage to me!"<br>

Certainly, in some cases. But not when you want shallow depth of field.<br>

Anyway, there still needs to be a 24/1.4 in the first place.</p>

<p>If a 35/1.4 is important to you, then Pentax is the wrong make, and APS-C is probably the wrong sensor format. Pentax has never offered anything like that--Pentax's lineup has traditionally had more of an emphasis on value and portability. If you really want a fast 24 on a Pentax D-SLR, Sigma offers a 24/1.8 or you might be able to track down the discontinued FA*24/2. Really, the same could be said for ultrafast glass in many focal lengths. 400/2.8? 300/2.8? 100/2? 28/1.8? 50/1.2? These are obviously not the customers that Pentax is courting.</p>

<p>Anyway, I agree with Justin--for the named application, I'd think the extra DOF would be advantageous more often than not. Hasn't the trend over the years for reportage been towards wider & wider angle zoom lenses, offering less speed and more depth-of-field?</p>

<p>Anyway, this issue is hardly unique to Pentax. Robert I see you are also active on rangefinder forums...perhaps this is the system you shoot 35/1.4...I see Leica has relatively recently introduced fast wide glass to help address this issue on their smaller-sensored digital bodies. Perhaps not surprisingly their 24/1.4 is priced 50% higher than their 35/1.4. It's tough to be everything for everyone...these companies need to choose their niches.</p>

<p>Yes, I use the 35/1.4 on Leica M6's, and it is the lack of an equivalent, among other things, that has kept me away from the M8.</p>

<p>In the end I've gone to Canon 5DII for digital, because my core interests are reportage. The largish viewfinder, FF sensor and availability of lenses like their fast 35's and Voigtländer's 40/2, as well as anything else that either they make or that can be adapted made it a choice between that or the D700.</p>

<p>I've also used Pentax for years and very much liked my LX and their primes, especially the limited 77 and the 35/2. Unfortunately, the well thought out fields of view of these lenses on full frame do not always have an equivalent on APS. It's almost as if Pentax has some of the most interesting primes, particularly with some of their limiteds, but Canon, NIkon and Sony have the FF bodies to most suitably mate them with. A pity they can't easily be adapted to work on full-frame DSLRs with their large bright viewfinders.</p>

<p>But my original point was not that there are gaps in the system - there are gaps in all sytems - but that the specific gap - a fast 35, is such a basic, central and useful lens, used by thousands of photojournalists over the decades that the lack of it could put a lot of potential owners off Pentax. Given that Pentax makes so many off-beat primes, it seems almost perverse to ignore that field of view.</p>

<p>I think given the reduced market for primes, Pentax decided to produce the DA21 to split the difference in field of view of a 28mm and 35mm on film. They also probably decided that their customers like their Limited primes small so went this direction rather than creating something massive. You're probalby right that a fast lens in this focal length range would probably also have some demand--I'm pretty sure that more than a few Pentaxians (some here) want their primes to be faster than zooms (size-be-d??ned) and have avoided the DA21/3.2 and will likely skip the DA15/4 as well.</p>

<p>A fast, wide angle FOV lens is not a strength for APS size sensor design. A 24mm f/1.4 would be a considerably large, heavy, and expensive lens, therefore rather a rare beast, compared to a 35mm lens on a FF body.</p>

<p>The Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG lens does do a nice job in that capacity, about as good as is practicable for APS size use, without having to go overboard in either size or cost. </p>