Fits much speculation and the recent 645D statement. I expect an announcement within the next 6 weeks. If you check out the rebates offered in the US they run until the end of September, which I read as a key indicator. I believe sales of the K10D have held up better than expected, which may be explain why both SRS and Park raised their prices from £399 for a K10D body. Base price in the US from B&H is around £350 with rebates

Of course it is only speculation and may not be feasible but speculation is always fun.

Primes as a priority, probably not, given that all manufacturers have been trying to wean customers off primes for years with bundled kit zooms.

If Pentax are going for the non photographer segment, as I advocated in another thread then their roadmap at this time given limited resources makes sense, but it is still none the less frustrating.

The FA35mm AL F2 is available in the US from B&H Photo for $299, the FA 50 F1.4 for $199, that proves to me that Pentax can make limited quantities of FA lens at a reasonable prices.

If nothing else I believe they should relaunch some of the FA lens and make them more available. From a marketing point of view there needs to be a stepped progression from supplied kit zoom to FA limited. The 'aspiration' element of being able to progress to 'pro' level equipment is in my mind an important part of buillding the brand.

Maybe this should be a new thread, but I would be interested in how others would define the Pentax brand. Is it the Camera, the Glass, a Combination?
If in the future Pentax cameras were made by Samsung and badged Samsung/Pentax, how would people feel?
If Pentax were to make 3rd party lens for all the other manufacturers, as Sigma do today, would that devalue the brand?

I am not for one minute advocating a range of mediocre primes. I just have trouble understanding why it is not possible to produce a range of quality prime lenses at a similar price to the FA50 1:1.4. Yes I know 50mm lenses are one of the more simple designs, but whichever way you look at it, single focal length lenses should be cheaper to design and produce than zooms. DA primes can be smaller and do not have the aperture ring of a FA lens, so again there should be cost savings.

Both the FA 50mm and 35mm are I believe still in production albeit in limited quantities, why not a DA based upon a FA version with the latest coatings?

Modern zooms are very good and fine for some people, I personally prefer a fast prime, not primarily for its speed, but for the bright viewfinder and handling

I believe that there is a perception issue at work here. As prices of DSLR's continue to fall the expectation is that lenses will follow. If we draw an analogy with computers (not perfect but bear with me) we know that the real cost lies with the software.
I agree that there has been tremendous development in 'quality' zoom lenses, yes they are expensive, but 'quality' as opposed to 'kit' zooms always have been.

That said I do not believe it is unreasonable to expect a range of fast prime DA F1:1.2 lenses (16mm - 90mm), which should be much simpler to design, to be available at a similar price to the FA50 1:1.4 (£165 UK but only £100 in the US) Manufacturers may claim a lack of demand, which at current prices is probably true as DA limiteds are not really an option for most.

I would be interested to know how many others on this forum would buy into such a range of reasonably priced primes

Have you checked the manual mid roll rewind button? If this is sticking it might be the cause of the problem.

There is a custom function (10) that is concerned with rewind. I can't see how it would directly cause the problem you describe, but it may be worth resetting to see what happens

Steve