If the 18-250 is made in Japan, it's either being made in a Hoya factory or likely being produced by Tamron using Pentax-coated and ground glass. Most Pentax lenses of that ilk are made in Vietnam.
Note that Tamron is also producing a Sony version of this lens, with Minolta-derived coatings and differing AF gearing. -Adam Igor Roshchin wrote: > I went today to the Photo Expo West (http://www.photoexpowest.com/) - > a Photo Exposition organized in San Diego by Delkin. > A few impressions and a few bits of information (FWIW). > > I had a chance to talk briefly with the West Coast distribution manager > (or something like that) of Pentax. > > 1. Pentax SMC 18-250 is ready. They were showing the preproduction > unit, and indicated that they expect the shipping to the stores very > soon, possibly at the end of the next week, or the following week. > (Boris, - I believe you were interested in that lens.) > Regarding its design and manufacturing he responded that it is indeed > based on the Tamron but manufactured by Pentax ("it has Pentax glass"), > and it is manufactured in Japan (the one on display was labeled as > such). The MSRP is set at $499. > The external design and feel of the lens was exactly the same as that > of the Tamron one that was also present at the show. > > 2. The DA* 200 and the 300 (both SDM) were expected to appear in stores > before Christmas. It is still possible they will, but it is not clear > right now. > > 3. DA* 60-250 will not be on the market before Christmas. > It is unclear when, but it is possible that it will be late January, > or at least by/before the PMA. > > 4. To my naive question about the rumored new body, he smiled and > said that "PMA will be interesting this year". > > That's all about Pentax. > > Overall, Pentax table was much smaller than that of either of > Nikon, Canon, and even Tamron. > Pentax's table was in the middle, which probably helped > them a bit with attracting attention, but Nikon and Canon areas were > much more crowded. > Sony was in the back, so at least at the time I saw that table, > 2 or 3 representatives were talking with only one visitor. > > I was impressed by the quality of the HP-branded canvas paper > (and a black-and-white print by HP photo-jet printer on it). > Sorry, I didn't register the printer model number, but I suspect > it is the one competing against Epson R2400, costing, IRC, $699, > including cartridges, which cost $33 each and can be replaced > separately. > > These are the main impressions. > Unfortunately, I had rather limited time, so I didn't have time > to see what interesting was presented by N. and C. > Actually, I was impressed by the size of a telescope-like looking > Canon lense, mounted on a heavy-duty tripod. > My wife who suggests that soon we'll need a pony to carry around my photo > gear, agreed with me that that lens will be too heavy for the poor pony. > > "That's all news, folks!" > > Igor > > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
