Why no DAL 50mm ?

Our son has a Canon DSLR and for a recent birthday we gave him a 50mm f/1.8 Canon lens which cost around £86 from Amazon !

OK, the build quality is nothing to write home about but the IQ is superb and he is over the moon with it. Those seemed to be the general comments of buyers on the Amazon webpage.

If Pentax could make something similar (i.e. a DAL 50mm f/1.8 ) at a similar price I'm sure they'd sell like hot cakes ?

How do we stimulate some action ?

Peter

Do you really want Pentax to make lenses that look and feel cheap as well as being cheap?

Something has to differentiate different marques and one thing, amongst others, that differentiates Pentax is excellent quality of manufacture even with the least expensive lenses in the range.

The Pentax 35mm f2.4 and 50mm f1.8 lenses are the nearest you are going to get and I suspect they will both outlast your son's Canon lens many times over. They will also maintain a better second hand value.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Peter - that is exactly what Pentax have done with the DA35/f2.4 and the new DA50/f1.8.

Plastic mount, no aperture ring, no hood, and no quick shift - in other words, value engineered lenses. They are still optically excellent though!

In the case of the DA50/f1.8, the price is still a bit high for what you're getting; but then, the price of second hand FA equivalents is also quite high with F50/f1.7 lenses which are 20 years old selling for 150.00 or more. I suppose the higher cost compared to Canon 'budget' lenses also reflects that the lens has only just been released, and Pentax sales volumes are lower.

Whilst I fully understand your comments, John, I'm a pensioner on a limited budget and don't need lenses that will last 50 years !
Also, I didn't buy the K-r because of 'Brand Image', I bought it because it is the best value camera for the money. If Pentax are happy to make the DAL 18-55 as the kit lens I'd have thought that a fixed focus lens of similar build quality and faster aperture could have been made for a silmilar price without sacrificing reputation ?

I'll keep my eyes on Amazon for special offers - I'm eternally grateful to you and other Forum members for advising me that I could get the DA 55-300 for only £135 last year - so perhaps (???) I might strike lucky with a prime THIS year ? (They had the 35mm 2.4 for £65 at the same time but as a newcomer to Pentax I thought getting that as well might be pushing my luck with 'you know who' !)

Meanwhile, I find it quite ridiculous the prices that old M and A lenses are still fetching and as for the F lenses !!!

Anyway, for now, until that bargain day comes around, I'll have to make do with my Sigma 28-70 epsilon which I got for £15. It is fully auto, fairly fast and whilst obviously not as sharp as the best primes it is sharp enough and covers my commonly used focal length range better than the DAL 18-55 and is thus fully 'fit for purpose' which is all that counts ! That may not apply to everyone but we are all different, after all.

Whatever, I do appreciate the feedback one gets on this Forum and find it extremely useful.

Many thanks
Peter

I've always thought that Pentax would be shooting themselves in the foot regarding the pricing. But I guess it's not entirely Pentax's fault and more so with basic supply and demand.

I have seen many people go from a Canon 300D/350D + 50 1.8 cheapie to becoming quite an artist after a few years! (Lara Fairie from my DeviantArt circles back in the day is one such person)

Pentax caters to a particular niche I guess, and because of that it gains some customers, and loses quite a few in the process.