Exactly the same phrase I heard from them a while back.

To be fair, Sigma UK are possibly unaware of anything Sigma Japan are doing, but yes I suspect we won't see any HSM lenses for a while since SDM lenses on SDM cameras aren't exactly ubiquitous yet.

I'd be happy enough if they just brought the DG version back but that doesn't look too likely... I am now praying to Tamron instead

Presumably if they are putting HSM in the 50-500 then they will do the same for the 70-200mm and others. That would make up for the fact that the older 70-200 has actually been discontinued in K-mount.

As well as the excellent SRS in Watford (easily reached from central London on the Metropolitan line - the town centre not so easily reached once you step off the train though )... the only places I buy from in central London are Cameraworld and the branch of London Camera Exchange at the Strand. Yes LCE are another chain store, but the staff at the Strand certainly know the difference between body and lens, and have always given me good service.

If I am ever again persuaded to spend more than £5 in a branch of Jessops, someone will have to let the Pope know a miracle has occurred.

So the Salon is over... and still nothing. It's not a big disappointment though; that would imply that we actually had any serious expectations...

Still, on the bright side, Pentax is due to have a stall at the January PMA... presumably so we can have another look at their rebadged Tamron lens and discover that they've stuffed another megapixel in their point-&-shoots

Yeah there are now some shots on DPreview from Paris, shot of... that daft Asahi-K10d hybrid they announced a while back for commemorative purposes that won't be available commercially... and prototypes of the 35mm, 200mm, 300mm, 60-250mm, all of which I seem to remember already seeing photos of "behind glass" some time ago... so I hope the "news" is that we get some confirmation that these lenses will actually go into production at some point... otherwise prepare to be reassuringly comforted by the familiarity of disappointment

Just to hijack the thread a bit, some more speculation (because we don't get enough of that on Pentax forums )... if you haven't heard it from the famous Monsieur Kanarek already, apparently there are to be some "surprises" at the Paris Salon de la Photo. Of course, if the now-announced 18-250 turns out to be the sole "surprise" then there needs to be some judicious slapping of Pentax reps with fishes, but as always I will be crossing my fingers, toes and anything else hoping that the surprise is surprising

Tyr... absolutely. I'd much rather have the DA*200 and 60-250, and some other great zooms and primes (and also have Sigma and Tamron finally realising that if they make their best lenses in K-mount then we will buy them). I'm sure the 18-250 will be good for an 18-250 but then I have that range covered with equally slow glass already and don't particularly feel the need to only carry one zoom. But as you say, a superzoom in a kit is the best way to sell to the majority of new dSLR buyers... and hopefully this strategy will work, because something tells me Hoya are only interested in sales sales sales.

Matt - you are right, but then those lenses were the cheap ones; you could still buy a Pentax F/FA if you wanted a "genuine" Pentax lens. Now the Tamron here is similar - it's a budget (for the focal range provided) SLR superzoom, which may well be something Tamron does better than anyone else, so it makes sense that Pentax would go to them for that (just like Sony used Tamron for a superzoom, and Nikon and Tamron previously shared designs for cheap tele zooms)... what concerns me is that not only do we have third-party lenses at the low end (Tamron) but also at the supposedly high end (Tokina or Pentax/Tokina in the case of the DA* lenses)..

I have no anti-third-party snobbery; I use Tamron Tokina and Sigma lenses when they have near, equal or sometimes even better quality for a more competitive price... but still I want the third-party options to be just that, third-party options, not the only thing available, and I would still like Pentax-designed Pentax glass to be available especially at the higher end. Like I said, for me the main attraction in a system is the glass, however nice the bodies are. Maybe I'm being unrealistic and should accept that distinctive Pentax glass is gone as some say... but I hope not and trust that it's more a case of them not being able to justify the R&D at the moment.

As you say, they are providing what's required (and yes I readily admit that in terms of sales, superzooms for first-time DSLR users are more "required" than the fast teles or new primes I'd quite like and of which there is still no sign)... and Tamron probably offer the best way of doing that in this case. But personally I'm going to get worried if the next lens is also a third-party and if we don't see Pentax do something to demonstrate that Hoya have enough faith in the system to let them design lenses. Yeah, I know, me worrying won't mean a thing to Hoya, but it doesn't mean I won't.

Of course, there is also the more positive view I mentioned earlier, that popular products like this superzoom will help boost sales, give Hoya more confidence in the system which will result in more new Pentax products, and therefore make the system look even more appealing which in turn will mean more sales etc etc... so I'll try and think that way instead, I'll Go Take Some Photos (TM) and keep singing "Always look on the bright side of life"

Hythloday, sorry I should have explained better. I know the outside is different. But honestly I could care less about the outer shell. Either a Pentax or a Tokina will be well put together, and 25% weight difference means very little to me... compared to the optics. For me it's all about the optics. As far as I am concerned Pentax, like Nikon et al, is an optical company. Yes they make nice camera bodies, flashes etc, but as a system I am primarily interested in their glass... and it concerns me if they seem to be consistently looking to other companies for the optical designs...

... so in that context, I should have said "re-housed" instead of "re-badged", but I don't see a huge difference.

Mystery solved - it's clearly the Tamron. If Pentax had designed an 18-250mm themselves they would have let us know about it.

Personally I'm not all that happy about now having both Tamron and Tokina lenses rebadged for Pentax (I know many say the Pentax/Tokina ones were actually Pentax designs or co-designs but this news makes me doubt that even more)... I have nothing against Tamron or Tokina and would happily buy either, I'd just prefer Tamrons to be Tamrons, Pentaxes to be Pentax etc... and I'd like to know that Pentax can still design lenses and that Hoya are still allowing them to...

... but hey, stick a superzoom in kits and it will shift more Pentax dSLRs, which can only be a good thing.