Gear Announcements
Pentax Lens Roadmap | The Future of K-Mount Comes into Focus…Sort Of
Pentax, the often overlooked and unsung performer of the photographic world has released an updated roadmap promising a mix of new primes and zooms. The manufacturer doesn’t make a habit of grabbing headlines but, this lens forecast will certainly make their customers happy.
They haven’t fully engaged in the tech arms race with their competitors but, have remained content filling out their own niche within the marketplace. They have a well-earned reputation as the industry’s rugged camera and lens maker so; if you need an all-world kit that can withstand a blow from Mjölnir, this is worth your attention.
[REWIND: Two New ‘Star’ Series Lenses From Pentax Announced | 50mm f/1.4 SDM AW & 11-18mm f/2.8]
Along with the previously announced 50mm F/1.4 SDM AW and 11-18mm F/2.8, you find an ambiguous assortment of zoom and fixed focal length optics.
Upcoming Lenses
- Fish-eye Zoom
- Ultra-Wide Single Focus Lens
- Large Aperture Wide-Angle Single Focus Lens
- D FA* 85mm F1.4 (Full Frame)
- Telephoto Zoom
This may be good news for their current users, but a lack of lenses is but one concern for Pentax if they possess any aspirations for growing their base. What Pentax does, they usually do well, but they just don’t seem to do enough to capture our attention for long, if at all. A detailed timeline for these lenses is unstated, except for the HD Pentax-DA* 11-18mm F/2.8 which is projected to arrive sometime in the Spring of 2018.
As the future of its lens lineup comes into focus, are they doing enough to win you over?
You can find the lens roadmap on the Ricoh Imaging website.
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The “lack of lenses” argument has been totally exaggerated for Pentax. Sony started with two lenses only for their A7 series and they still don’t have a lot of native lenses. In particular, there are no long ones. Fuji’s new GFX 50S hardly has any lenses, etc. But only for Pentax people make a big deal out of it. Unjustifiably so, as Pentax has modern lenses covering 15mm-200mm at f/2.8. There is also a modern 150-450mm and a 560mm prime. There is a very healthy selection of primes as well. It is not warranted to discount screw-drive AF lenses as many people don’t need silent focusing (and prefer that built-in AF motors cannot break). If one adds third-party offerings (Sigma, Tamron, Samyang, Irix, etc.) there is hardly anything missing. Even Tilt-Shift lenses exist.