I happened across the DFA 100mm WR in Jessops the other week. What a gem of a lens! Really compact (without the hood) and beautifully constructed in METAL. Definitely one of those lenses no one else does quite like Pentax. I wonder why it wasn't designated a Ltd lens?

Street photography-ish:

Yes that's exactly what I mean.. they're designed to deliver the required quality on a much larger frame. A bit like using a medium format lens on a M4/3 camera, you're enlarging a tiny part of the lens's actual image circle.

I don't think large frame designed lenses will have the right sort of optical design to carry if off, but we'll have to see! I think Pentax may be thinking about adapters for tiny C-mount lenses.

Ditto Don's comments. The DA35mm f2.4 used at max aperture offers pretty reasonable indoor/low light performance for a low price.

Personally I'd go for that, or experiment with a manual focus Pentax A 50mm f1.7 lens... to begin with. I love my manual focus 50, but the focal length is a bit long for indoor shots sometimes, so can't really justify getting an autofocus version. If it suits your style more, you could upgrade to an AF version down the line. There's nothing wrong with getting a bit of focussing practice done in the mean time!

But ultimately if your photos are too dark, the shutter speed or ISO can be altered to get a correct exposure. A faster lens will just allow a lower ISO or faster shutter speed to be used.

This is a very good question. What do you want to shoot with this lens? If you're sure 50mm is what you want in terms of focal length, and have to have autofocus, FA 50mm f1.4 or F 50mm f1.7 are the two obvious fast 50's, and both equally worth considering.

Precisely Robin. Look at the sitation with tripods for example, where beginners with humble needs are encouraged by reviews and peer pressure to spend more cash than they need to unnecessarily. Newbies who had never thought of getting into studio lighting are encouraged to splash out on Elinchrom rigs before they're even got to grips with an external flashgun. Need to do a quick 'rough edit' of Auntie Dot's birthday party video? Definitely buy Premiere Pro. Anything lesser is a waste of time. Etc etc.... This will all make you a better photographer. One day you might actually be able to take the camera out of Green Mode, if you just keep spending...

However if you know what you're looking for, reviews and forums are valuable sources of information.

You need to have the same approach to forum posts or user reviews as with formal reviews IMO. Read as many as possible and get the general 'drift' off opinion. I wouldn't buy/avoid a lens based on one forum comment or user review.

Market forces. Sorry Pentax! They need to work harder to find the sweet spot where most users are happy to pay a premium over third party accessories. Currently their batteries etc are so expensive that many users go straight to the cheaper unbranded options. I would be happy to pay £25 for a Pentax branded battery (which I guess would still be a healthy mark up). But when the batteries are more than twice that, and third party options exist for well under a tenner, they lose my sale. I am guessing I'm fairly representative.

Anyway, Pentax profits were up last year, thanks to two successful models (in particular the K-x) so it seems they can turn DSLR sales into profits. They need to concentrate on better products, and the success they deserve will come. I bet they'll take a hit this year with the K5 furore. Again, they need to get their product right and not skimp on QC, and that's a better strategy for success than depending on brand devotees.

Long time no post! Great to see some more fantastic street photography. The girl's tattoos are very... unusual!