Pentax lens selection

pedro1 wrote:

Hi,

I have been contemplating for long time to move from point-and-shoot to DSLR gear, mainly go around/travel type, and I am thinking of Pentax. Now that Pentax finally came with entry level 24 Mps K-70, I am looking at lenses. 16-85 mm seems almost as obvious one, at least would satisfy most of my needs, but I am wondering if someone has heard about possibility of Pentax releasing 16 - 85 or 16 - 80 ( similar to Nikon ), weather sealed 2.8 - 4.0 lens? I would have gone with Nikon combination ( lens plus D5300 - D5500) if it was weather sealed but it is not. I don't want to carry more than one lens and such a lens would cover for me trips to museums and outdoors...

Pedro,

If I read you correctly, you are looking for word of Pentax APS/C lenses that may be issued in the near future.  I suppose that's possible, but I think Pentax will be concentrating on lenses for the K-1.  If you read reviews of the full-frame K-1, you will often see that the lens selection is not yet adequate.  On the other hand, the Pentax APS/C lens lineup is while not as large as the Canon or Nikon very good.  I have the 16-85mm lens and it has become my favorite Zoom for hiking.  I have the 18-135mm as well, but the 16-85 is better.

Since I hike I am especially concerned about weather protection and I don't think Canon or Nikon produces as many weather-protected lenses, at least not in the "enthusiast" category.  You say you want to use just one lens.  If the range you are interested in is covered by the 16-85, you will not be unhappy with the Pentax 16-85mm.  If you want to on occasion cover longer distances with a weather-proofed lens, Pentax has them in 100mm, 55-300mm, and the very good quality (but heavy) 60-250.

Lawrence