Nikon's new 10.2 MP DSLR out in 20 days

[robert_paul1]

Craig, I forgot to add this about the 16mm f/2.8 FISHEYE. That lens was one of the only lens that was never 'revised' by Minolta or K/M. It continued to come with the knurled hard plastic focus ring, that it came with some 20+ years ago, when all the other Minolta lenses went over to a rubber focus ring. Even the Sony lens looks just like the original.

 

This would indicate that it was a slow seller and not worth Minolta or K/M to revise. Or, perhaps Minolta made several thousand at one time, and still had hundreds (or thousands) left over in the warehouse. So Sony got stuck with them and rather than sell them off at discount decided to re-label them and hope that some unknowledgeable DSLR user would buy one.

 

Look how many lenses Minolta had in the 70-300mm range. This would indicate that this is a popular range, so where is the 50-200mm lens for an APS-C DSLR?

[craig_gillette]

I'm not going to write this over and over. If you want to believe that Sony rebadging legacy lenses only has full frame in mind, do so. It's not consistent with what Sony has said they are doing. It's not consistent with what KM did. It's not consistent with what Canon and Nikon are doing.

 

Lens design and production requires complex and expensive equipment and tooling. That design and tooling and the engineering expertise is embedded in the current product line which is inherited from Minolta to KM to Sony. For Sony or KM or anyone else to redesign and retool to s smaller lens when existing product is both adequate and may be forward compatible doesn't make economic sense.

 

The fish-eye is an $800 plus lens and has limited applicability even on full frames. Still don't know why they are re-releasing it ahead of some of the other stuff. IIRC, it wasn't fully compatible on the 5D and 7D and yet KM didn't drop it from the line (whether they actually made too many or made or assembled parts is another issue we have little insight into).

 

As you've noted the 70-300 type range is popular across the board and there are few 50-200 type lenses from anyone. That should wake you up - people don't make new lenses without good economic reasons to do so. They've jumped to the 28-300s and/or 18-200s, etc. As I've noted, Olympus did make new lenses to support the 4/3 system. KM did when they had aps film cameras. But those compelling reasons don't exist to simply duplicate existng products for short term or even long term aps-c lenses. Full frame lenses generally work not just well but sometimes even better on small sensors. They don't expect to recoup the investment and they expect full frame at some point. Nobody would argue that.

 

What I'd suggest is that if you continue to wish for things for which there is no evidence, you will likely be more disappointed in October, etc., than simply being happy if and when it finally gets here. If you have an overwhelming need for a full frame dslr, go buy the Canon. That's what most pros who need one have done.

[robert_paul1]

Craig, I'm not going to write this over and over, but what purpose does a 16mm FISHEYE lens have in a world of APS-C sized sensors? K/M continued to sell it because they did sell, almost all the way to the end, 35mm FILM cameras that could properly utilize it. Sony DOESN'T!!! You just don't get it. Sure it's expensive to design and produce a new lens, but it is even more expensive to produce and warehouse a lens that users of your DSLR won't buy, because they have no use for it. The only users of a 16mm FISHEYE is 35mm film users or full-frame DSLR users.

 

If Sony has already decided that they are not going to come out with a full-frame sensor DSLR, then the inclusion of the 16mm FISHEYE lens would rank as one of the Top Ten Marketing Mistakes Sony has made. If Sony's plan was to continue to sell this lens to K/M's film SLR users, then they better start pushing it, because the number of film SLR users are dropping daily. If Sony does not plan to come out with a full-frame DSLR then at the very least, they are guilty of false advertising. A FISHEYE lens is a lens that either gives a circular image or an image with 180 degrees of view. On an APS-C sized sensor DSLR, it does neither.

[peterblaise]

.

 

Read the Sony Alpha A100 reviews as mentioned at

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00HJg2&tag=

 

1 - Sony had Magnum photographers USE the caemras for a few weeks, got their feedback PRE final production, then had those Magnum photographers on hand to show the press the cameras at the European roll out.

 

2 - Zeiss, also there, implied full frame sensor in the wings, that's why Zeiss is supporting 35mm Sony Alpha-mountlenses, Sony would not retract that implication.

 

Sounds to me like Sony is serious.

 

And of course Sony wants low end customers, but apparently, they are willing to consider high end customers. Getting Minolta, er, Sony DSLRs into the hands of Magnum photographers is probably an example of Sony's clout. Very savvy.

 

ALso, did you know Adobe had the Sony ARW RAW file format translation software already implemented in current editions of ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) BEFORE camera release (even though the actual internal format is quite different from the SOny DSC-R1 raw that is also marked ARW)? Again, an indication that Sony knows how to play big. Virtually all other cameras have to wait for Adobe to update after the first sale of those cameras - NOT so with Sony!

 

Good things to come.

 

Click!

 

Love and hugs,

 

Peter Blaise peterblaise@yahoo.com Minolta Rokkor Alpha DiMage Photographer http://www.peterblaisephotography.com/

[craig_gillette]

You have probably noticed, it's not on the SonyStyle Canada listing of available lenses. You've probably noticed it's not on the US SonyStyle pages as available (as in they say "n/a" and they haven't priced it..

 

You don't need my agreement to believe that they have an ff camera coming. Nobody would argue that it would seem to make sense. I think they have every intention of offering one at some point. What I don't know is when, if ever, they will. Nothing Sony has said makes me think it's in the near term, which is inside 6 months to 9 months or so. Sony's (or Sony's officer's) statements lead me to believe that they won't have one in that time frame. By the end of 2007 would not be all that surprising.

 

Oh, and if they have an ff sensor, I'd expect they'd market it, on confidential conditions, to Nikon and Pentax and any other potential using camera company. An all would race to get it to the streets.

[robert_paul1]

Craig, I think we can agree to disagree on if and when Sony comes out with a Full-Frame DSLR. However, if and when Sony does come out with one, I'm pretty sure that they will come out with one, or at least announce it first, before they allow Nikon andor Pentax to do so.

 

On an aside, I read in the new issue of Popular Photography that they think the Pentax anti-vibration feature is licensed from Sony based on the similar design of the camera back. However, I believe I read that Pentax said their design was their own and not licensed from elsewhere. The Pentax anti-vibration sensor uses magnets to move the sensor, whereas the Sony Anti-Shake uses motors to move the sensor. This difference would be enough to allow Pentax to obtain their own patents, at least in Japan.

[jtk]

Nikon only exists today as a distributor of Sony chips.