85mm f1.4 price £1999

Both SRS and Clifton Cameras got the 85mm priced up at £1999.

They must be sure of its performance!
I'm sure that them that buy it will be delighted with it.
I look forward to reading peoples experiences with the lens and importantly, some images created with it.

I think that considering the amount of money that individuals will have invested in the lens, then it is highly unlikely that we will read any negative reporting... This applied surely to new owners of the DFA 50 as well.

The phenomenon is probably very similar to the reporting experienced when the K5iis came out, although that had no where near the financial investment in expectation.

It would seem likely that it will be a great achievement of lens technology, although possibly of perceivable benefit only to those who routinely print very large. Nevertheless, there will doubtless also be those who will get it to improve their Instagram posts! Either way, it is to be hoped that it will help Pentax to continue also to improve and produce their great value affordable gear.

Philip

Seems like you're summing me up perfectly - I bought the K5iis and felt it was the K5 perfected, it didn't need to be a new design - just those few extra features and improvements made it into my favourite APS-C camera and even now I own a Full Frame I still use it from time to time!

I also bought the D FA*50/1.4 and had nothing negative to report - but if I had been disappointed in anything I would have made it known. It is a superb lens and I expect the D FA*85 to be up to the same standards. Will I buy it? Possibly (depends on what I can sell)! Will I report anything negative - probably not, but only because I wouldn't expect there to be anything negative to report!

I genuinely believe that the culture with Ricoh strives for some of the highest standards, and I know many will read their special sites with a degree of cynicism but my experiences reflect much of what they write. The Pentax brand would be unlikely to survive just following trends or the mass market (not without significant investment in Marketing at the very least) but producing proper, rugged, "user" cameras and the highest quality lenses at high prices they will hopefully carve themselves a niche (much like Leica & Zeiss). I see the recent announcements and upcoming lens deliveries as truly positive

Even if we find that Pentax 'Post-2016' are more of a niche/premium brand, their older kit won't die out any time soon so most people can still happily buy into 2nd hand kit (stuff like the K-7, K-5, K-3) for quite a decent time into the future.

Budget Pentax is still a thing!

So folks, the rational strategy is not to lust after a lens you can't afford but to keep an eye on LennyBloke's desire to have the lens. When he starts drooling, look out for a flood of bargain used lenses from his stockpile. He gets the shiny new expensive lens we know he really wants, you get the used bargains that you can afford. Simple!!

Steve

Steve clearly has a plan.....

I gave up after a few hours and pressed the preorder button. I have the DFA*50 and it is a really really good optic, when it arrived my A50/1.2 lasted a month or so which I had previously adored. My bag is fleshed out now and I've caught up with the system after 10 years. So any FF Limited or * is potentially game on for me. There are MTF charts over on the US forum and it is really going toe to toe with the OTUS 85.
I have said it elsewhere but I believe that Ricoh are aiming to fit Pentax in between the high end mass market stuff (Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc) and the more reassuringly expensive stuff like Zeiss and Leica.

Fantastic news. Well done Pentax. I will be getting one of these lenses, maybe not immediately, but soon.

I have the FA 77mm 1.8 Ltd, and in my opinion the better FA* 85mm 1.4. But a new fast 85mm portrait lens from Pentax cannot be ignored.

My kidney goes on ebay tomorrow.

That's the spirit