Nothing more to say really....

Interesting that the best lenses of the year come from third party manufactures.. Time for the expensive marque brands to up there game ? Hardly surprising re the KS-1 if a little embarrassing...

Yes maybe "Iconic" was a bit of a step to far and I should have used the word "Classic" of the Pentax world...

In the film world I only had ME Super experience. But would also label this a classic.

Now that it has been announced that that the K5II's is to be discontinued. Will the K5 camera be recognised as the most Iconic body Pentax has ever produced...?

Well done John. Sue. Nice images

Yes Steve, My comment was a little ambiguous as there isn't so much of a direct comparison. The * lenses seem to be faster. Also not quite the same focal lengths. But I was trying to get an angle on how much better is the actual image quality compared to say a DA lens ? As the price hike is quite considerable.

Does anyone actually have any like for like images I could compare.

I've been a Pentax user for many years. While I've learned my trade. So to speak. Because I like most types of photography a have amassed various lenses. Some Pentax some third party manufacture. But I have now reached the point where I feel I can get the shots I want and I;m ready to look for better quality in my images. Which brings me to my point of discussion.

How much better in terms of image quality are the DA* range of lenses compared to the normal DA range ? Given that they are considerably more expensive.. I posting this discussion on the zoom range rather than the limited lens range.

Was this for a warranty repair ? Seems an awful long time. I understand why you feel disgruntled.