Joseph wrote: > It is similar situation in Japan as well. FA50 & FA35 are not in stock > at retail shops just like B&H. You can order them, but it will takes > time to get them. Usually 2-3 weeks. > > They are still in production, though. It is slow for sure. And they know > that demand for primes are high. Pentax is small company compare with > Canon. I guess that it takes time to fill up orders.
Huh? Interpretation: they are about to replace the FA lenses with FA-D lenses. Hence, they don't make huge batches of current FA lenses but only to satisfy demand until the replacements are ready. They have no interest sitting on large inventories of lenses when successors are released. > We know that there were production runs of some primes in 2003. I had > wondered if that was the last run of FA primes before closing down > production in Japan, and producing new DA and D FA designs in Vietnam. > But perhaps not. The main lens factory in Japan was closed down a few years ago. My guess is that those lenses that are sold out from stock are being assembled on demand until new models are released. Besides, more and more of production are getting based on "on-demand" principle. That is, they make it as close as possible to the selling date. My guess is that all Pentax cameras and lenses not selling in the thosands a month are virtually made on order. P�l P�l
