I cannot believe that a firm like Pentax doesn’t know or are uninterested in how many repairs have been needed to their lenses, gleaned from numbers of replacement motors supplied. Basic quality control. And presumably some of these have been done under warranty. Of course they may choose not to share such information for commercial reasons but they have a reputation to maintain.

I may be naive but I don’t think prices have been deliberately inflated just to promote special offers, there are other market forces at play including the exchange rate. I am no retail expert but I imagine if sales of a product are flagging and stock is staying in the warehouse then special offers are an option. Against that we have the expectation now of deals on bank holidays and Black Friday (a self-imposed retailers nightmare) so as purchasers if we can wait we hold off until then. I for one would be happy for Pentax to make enough profit to stay healthy and invest in development, and their prices even at full RRP are generally better than the competition.

Brilliant across all the range of subjects, timing on the wildlife and stunt plane absolutely spot on.

Thanks for the reassurance John.

Swarf’s lens is only three years old, so unless it was old stock it sounds as if the issue hasn’t been fully sorted yet.

I am concerned because I am thinking of a DA*200mm lens.

Quite so, and would it need to change with different lenses and focal lengths? The physics is way beyond me. And, when exported to a flat format live view, screen or print does the image not simply revert to what would have been recorded on a flat sensor?

I think this is a Sony development, The idea being that the distance from the lens to the edge of the sensor is the same as to the centre, so eliminating distortion. Don’t know how that would work with the various Pentax features which move the sensor around like SR and pixel shift though.

Is that a Yorkshire thing? My life seems dull by comparison!

It is not just about new cameras, but lenses and accessories for which we have to try and track down survivors from the last century as they are no longer made or not available outside Japan. I am hoping the omission from the exhibitor list at TPS in March is an admin error but it is bizarre that the date coincides with the new lenses launch so why miss that opportunity?

There are many loyal Pentax users who stay with the brand for its various qualities, but when reviewers hark on about focus issues and limited FF lens range it puts off those who would otherwise be tempted. Until these are addressed the market share will not increase as the more subtle advantages which only come when you use a Pentax for a while rarely get highlighted. But that’s not my issue here, we had the new lens roadmap almost a year ago when a mock-up 50mm lens was shown, but despite new lenses in MF and FF shown “2017 or later” these are still not available. Over a year from mock-up to production for the relatively simple 50mm prime? Pentax has the curious marketing approach of both long-term teasers and sudden unpredicted releases, but the teasers need to meet the timeframe given and we need, say, at least one new body in one of the three formats per year to keep pace.