My apologies if this is old news to you: http://www.pentax.co.jp/japan/news/2000/200026.htmlSMC Pentax L43mm F1.9 Special.

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), April 12, 2001

Answers

Anybody know where I can get one?

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), April 12, 2001.

So, does it focus to infinity at the Leica flange distance? Some years ago I screwed an LTM Elmar onto a Pentax SLR, which had the LTM thread. But it was only good for extreme closeups. I wonder if this is the same situation. 43mm is the theoretically true normal for the format. And Pentax makes good lenses, so it might have possibilities, if it will work on a thread mount Leica.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 13, 2001.

Apparently, this is a limited production lens (2,000 lenses) released only in Japan. It's rangefinder coupled and comes with a 43/50 (framelines for 43mm & 50mm lenses) external viewfinder that has diopter adjustment. List price: a whooping 150,000 Yen (about USD 1,500, I think).

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), April 13, 2001.

Just what I always wanted, a $1500 Pentax normal lens for my Leica.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), April 13, 2001.

Andrew you have just made my day, thank´s folk.

-- R Watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), April 14, 2001.

The 42/2.8 on my Olympus 35RC is a very handy length, and a sharp little lens. Has anybody tried the Pentax 43/1.9 LTM?

-- John Fleetwood (johnfleetwood@hotmail.com), June 24, 2001.