A lot has happened since the fair opened. First, the long anticipated DA* 16-50mm and DA*50-135mm could only be bought as a bundle with the K10D. In other words, you had to buy a body and two lenses for a whopping S$4,699! Fine if you need a camera body or don't have one, but iwhat f you already have a camera?
With no takers the word was that the lenses could be bought individually at S$1,699 for the DA* 16-50mm and S$1,899 for the DA* 50-135mm. Still a lot of money and significantly more than what the lenses are selling outside Singapore. Again few takers.
Today, the final day of the fair, the price gets slashed down to S$1,459 and S$1,599 respectively. In other words, the prices for both lenses saw a drop of S$240 and S$300 all in the space of 2 days! What were the local Pentax distributor thinking? Horror of horrors, a blatant attempt at profiteering no less. Last I heard, hardly any of the DA* were sold.
Many avid Pentax users like myself who were hoping for some attractive promotional pricing for the DA*s and prepared to buy the lens on the spot just walked away. Those few who did manage to buy early on will rue their misfortune on having paid more than they should. Surely this isn't the way to market two fine quality lenses. I'm hoping Pentax should really investigate and give the Singapore distributor an earful for this episode of un-professional pricing flip-flops.
The two Pentax DA* lenses were co-developed with Tokina. They differ from the Tokina version in having SDM, weather proofing and Pentax SMC lens coating. Yet the Canon and Nikon mount versions of the Tokina currently retail at S$899, a huge price disparity when compared with the DA*s. Sadly the much cheaper Tokina will never be available in Pentax mount. I'm hoping the price for the Pentax lenses will come down further but I'm not optimistic of it happening here in Singapore.
Anyway I've already decided to console myself with a FA 77mm f1.8 Limited. I'll write about this keeper of a lens later.
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