Pentax Lenses....where did they go?

Johnboy2978 · Feb 26, 2007

Anyone been looking for a pentax lense recently only to find that all of the reputable dealers (B&H, Adorama, etc) are back ordered and/or out of stock? What's up w/ that? Was there a massive recall or a massive demand all of a sudden or something? They have plenty of kit lenses or lesser quality ones, but the better ones are all gone.

I've been looking for a wide 28mm prime or a wide zoom like 28-90mm but can't find anything. I did see adorama has a 28mm soft focus, but it's like $120 more than the standard prime 28mm. Is soft focus worth that price differential? I was considering Tamron or Sigma, but a lot of the reviews I've read keeps talking about people getting a bad copy and having to return a few times until they get a 'good' one. I think I got a 'good copy' of the 70-200 f/2.8 sigma but doubt I'll look for another sigma.

So any one know what the problem is w/ the stock of pentax lenses?

Jeremy Z · Feb 27, 2007

Johnboy2978 said:
Anyone been looking for a pentax lense recently only to find that all of the reputable dealers (B&H, Adorama, etc) are back ordered and/or out of stock? What's up w/ that? Was there a massive recall or a massive demand all of a sudden or something? They have plenty of kit lenses or lesser quality ones, but the better ones are all gone.

I think it's a combination of things:

1) The newest Pentax SLRs are really good. They're getting good reviews, and the K100D has anti-shake for a fair price. The K110D is a fairly-priced entry level model The K10D is a pro level SLR, and weather-sealed for much less than an equivalent Nikon or Canon.

2) There is a big Pentax rebate campaign, so that people are able to buy Pentax-branded stuff for only a little more than the Sigma & Tamron stuff.

Soft focus seems like a grade-A rip-off to me. We pay all this money to get SHARP shots. Softening focus can be done in software for free; you shouldn't have to pay for it.

Also, having soft focus in a 28mm lens is odd. Usually, soft focus is to make portraits of older ladies show fewer wrinkles, so this is most commonly seen in short telephoto lenses.

I've never heard of anyone getting a bad Sigma or Tamron lens. Buy one with the USA warranty, and you won't have to worry about it. I've used a lot of good Sigmas. You've had a good experience with yours, so I wouldn't let someone else's experience shake your confidence. They were probably trying to take handheld shots at 1/8s, then freaking out and blaming the lens when the pix didn't come out sharp. There are a lot of people out there who expect good equipment to miraculously make a better photographer out of them.

For example, we bought my parents-in-law a nice Canon Elph SD-630 for Christmas. The mother-in-law went to a big ice-skating event, where she proceeded to snap picture after picture, either with the flash on from hundreds of feet away or with the flash off and a very slow shutter speed. When she got home, and they saw the pictures on the computer, and saw that they are all bad, they were talking about selling it and buying a better model with anti-shake. :er:

If you're looking for a good prime, consider the Sigma 30mm f/1.8. It's a little spendy, but it looks very nice. It's on my radar, as a nice 50mm equivalent. I just wish it had some competition so the price would be driven down a bit.

Another thought would be to find a 28mm f/2.8 manual focus lens at keh.com. They haven't made the old manual focus prime lenses for a while, but they are absolutely top-of-the-line, construction-wise and optically.

I was just looking around for the new Pentax 540 flash, and Adorama and B&H are both out of that too. It's got a $50 rebate, and is still $50 more expensive than the Sigma flash. Others have had great luck with the Sigma flashes, so I might go that route, rather than wait forever for Pentax to keep up with the demand. I bet their Asahi factory in Vietnam is absolutely hopping.

Another option might be ebay; just check the feedback, and message the seller to make sure he actually has it in stock. You might pay a few bucks more for what you want, since it's hard to keep them in stock.

Lastly, Central Camera is my local store. They're an old time family store, with fair prices. (though higher than the New Yorkers) But they have free shipping and great service, and they seem to have Pentax in stock. (www.central-camera.com)

Good luck.

Don Simon · Feb 27, 2007

I think it's partly increased demand from existing Pentax users (especially with the K10d out), but also I don't suppose many retailers can be bothered when other brands are just flying off the shelves. Don't get me wrong, Pentax is at fault since marketing is not one of their strong points, and they are after all trying to persuade us to buy their new DA lenses instead of the 35mm ones. But without too much effort I found a store which has a good working relationship with Pentax - they ask Pentax for a bunch of primes, adapters or whatever customers are asking for, and they get them. If a small store can do it I suspect the much larger ones could if they got enough requests. Those lenses do exist.

Johnboy2978 · Feb 27, 2007

I've always felt like Pentax was the step child when compared to canon and nikon and couldn't figure why all of a sudden there were no lenses to be found. I know that the new line was a bit more of a competitor against the big two, but thought there may have been something more company related that was accounting for the disappearance of lenses.

Jeremy, as for the Sigma flashes, I have the dg 500 super and it works very well for me. I just couldn't justify the difference in $ with the Pentax 540. I've been really pleased with it's performance so far.

Do any of you use these "Digital" lenses? I've found several of these, but I'm pretty resistant to buy a rather expensive lens that I can't use with my 35mm as well. Granted, I shoot with it much less, but it's hard for me to justify spending around $400 for a lens that I can use w/ one camera but not the other. Anyone else share that thought?

I completely agree w/ the soft focus issue. It seems to me the price should be 50% less for a soft focus, not 50% more.

Don Simon · Feb 27, 2007

I still enjoy shooting 35mm (and carrying a digital/film combination) so I'd rather not buy the digital-only lenses either. However I do feel like I'm missing out as the various pancakes, macros and other DA primes look great as do the new f/2.8 zooms. I'm going to have a fairly hard decision when I've saved up the money for some new glass.

Jeremy Z · Feb 27, 2007

Johnboy2978 said:
Do any of you use these "Digital" lenses? I've found several of these, but I'm pretty resistant to buy a rather expensive lens that I can't use with my 35mm as well. Granted, I shoot with it much less, but it's hard for me to justify spending around $400 for a lens that I can use w/ one camera but not the other. Anyone else share that thought?

You make a good point, but surely you aren't willing to give up wide angle to keep 35mm compatibility? If so, you're talking about big bucks for a super wide angle lens for 35mm that will only be a 28mm equivalent in digital.

You should have at least one of the digital lenses so that you can have a proper wide angle with a digital camera. I have the 18-55 and 50-200 digital lenses, and they are really nice. The 50-200 seems about 40% smaller and lighter, with no drop in quality compared to a 70-300 for 35mm.

These days, I am thinking of getting another Pentax 35mm body, but it would only be for backup, so for now, it would only use the 50mm lens.

usayit · Feb 27, 2007

You should have at least one of the digital lenses so that you can have a proper wide angle with a digital camera.

I for one am still not convinced with the digital lenses and more inclined to see it as a marketing strategy to sell more equipment. Optically and performance wise, I still don't see an advantage between a wide angle digital lens and a FF/35mm wide angle of equivalent focal length. Price wise, I've seen competitive products of equivalent focal length on both the FF/35mm side and digital side of the fence. So why limit yourself if FF/35mm is still possibility.

In my case, 19-35mm Tokina performs fine (for its price of $150) and is very competitive most "digital" lenses of equivalent focal length.

Sigma also has 3 zooms in ultra wide for FF/35mm

Tamron has one zoom and one prime

I have no doubt that canon, nikon, pentax could make a super wide angle zoom (starting at 10-12mm) for a reasonable price if it was in their best interest.