"I have noticed a sudden increase in pentax prices lately. It can't all be because of the istDs...."
A few months after the release of the D there began to be a run on Pentax primes. It still continues, and I suspect that DS owners will soon try to join in after they decide which zoom to buy. Note that Pentax autofocus primes have virtually disappeared from KEH. Here's what I think has happened:
1. People who bought the D care about image quality and can afford Pentax primes. They began to buy FA primes.
2. Pentax, meanwhile, had stopped production of all, or at least most, FA lenses (but maybe not FAJ lenses).
3. Existing stocks began to run out. Look at Pentax USA's web site and see how few primes are now listed.
4. Pentax got caught by surprise. It was in the middle of shifting lens production to Vietnam and was planning the new DA and D FA lines. Pentax did not anticipate that suddenly the old FA primes would be in strong demand. Existing stocks have sold out, or nearly so, and they are no longer being produced.
5. Nguyen is ill again this winter.
6. Ebay prices began to shoot up.
Joe
