-----Original Message----- From: Sylwester Pietrzyk [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: August 8, 2003 8:56 AM
Appeared on dpreview. Nothing special - I thought it will have broader manual focusing ring... instead it has nice green ring near mount :-) But it's just first look. That's optical performance that will be most important to me :-) Adter all it is equiv. of 24-70 in 35mm - very good and wide standard lens for *istD... With all the discussion regarding the target market and implications of dropping the aperture ring, the one most significant indicator of the direction this lens suggests, is the maximum aperture. At a constant f4, this lens is not aimed at the professional market that would demand an f2.8 lens. However, it's constant aperture and use of extra low dispersion glass and aspheric elements would suggest that it's not a lowly consumer grade lens either. So, just as the *ist D is aimed at the advanced amateur, so is this lens. Frankly, I'm not sure the full frame 35mm digital camera will fly in the 35mm body format. Most of the image sensors in current MF cameras appear to be 24 X 36 mm so perhaps MF is where you will see the predominant use of larger than APS sized sensors. The Ole/Kodak/Fuji adoption of 4/3 format and with both Nikon and Pentax introducing lenses with an image circle designed for the APS sized sensor, cause me to think that size may become a standard that will replace the niche 35mm film currently occupies ...I would be quite happy with that and a MF film camera for "serious" work. Just my $0.02 worth.... Cheers!
