I mentioned this about a year ago, but will do a quick FWIW recap. Local photo shop owner after attending a photo convention, (I forget which one), decided to stock the *ist DL, due to its great "price point". He wondered if the 18~55 was at least equal to a like Promaster (Tamron re-badge) so asked if I'd do a comparison. I did not retain the results, but suffice to say that the Pentax was much superior!. Shop owner was instantly convinced that in-camera image processing still needs the benefit of a 'good' lens. Of course it's recognized that sample QC range will certainly vary in consideration of manufacturing costs.
Jack --- Mark Cassino <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have a good selection of lenses on hand, even after i sold off the > ones I bought as 'collectables' a few year ago. In reality, many go > unused for months at a time (or longer.) I last used my A* 300 f4 on > vacation in July, 2005. I can't remember when I last used the Sigma > 14mm > f 3.5 or the A* 400 f 2.8. > > I set aside serious time for photography and try to take a > disciplined > approach to actively producing images. At the end of the day, a > handful > of lenses does most of the work, and aside from specialized macro > work, > a normal prime and standard zoom are the real workhorses. > > I do a lot of Medium Format shooting with 3 lenses - 55mm to 170. The > > same focal length range is covered by a 28-80 mm lens in 35mm format, > or > 18-55mm lens in APS-C format. > > I'd suspect that for a more casual shooters good normal zoom would > fill > the bill for 99% of their shooting needs, and the cost / benefit > ratio > doesn't justify the purchase of a new lens for that 1%. > > I wouldn't expect the typical DSLR buyer to pony up for more lenses. > (Unless they subscribe to this list and get the bug...) > > IMO - the smart marketing money would be to put a good lens in the > kit > - sharp, minimal distortion and light falloff, good close focusing - > and > realize that many people will just use that. Better to have people > happy > with the results of their kit lens, and giving good feedback about > their > camera, than giving them a junk lens and hoping they will upgrade. > > FWIW - I haven't tested the 18-55mm but it seems like a reasonably > good > lens. Noticeable light fall off and softness in the in the corners > wide > open, but not bad stopped down to f8 or 11. But that's just a casual > observation. > > - MCC > > > > > > Gonz wrote: > > Just as I suspected. I'll bet its the same pretty much everywhere. > I > > know of at least 7 people personally in my area with DSLRs, only 1 > of > > them has more than two lenses and one has two. The rest all have 1 > > > lens. The person with more than two is a pdml subscriber so I met > him > > through the list, therefore he almost doesnt count in this quick > survey. > > > > Most of these people I know bought the camera with a kit lens or > bought > > their own higher end zoom. > > > > rg > > > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> ----- Original Message ----- > >> From: "Adam Maas" > >> Subject: Re: Luminous Landscape: Reichmann tries out a K10D > >> > >> > >> > >>> That's certainly the case with most buyers of base-model DSLR's, > just > >>> like it was for base model SLR's back in the days of film. I > doubt its > >>> 90%, but 70% is probably close. > >> > >> I just talked to the one knowledgable sales person at Don's Photo. > >> She say that 75-80% buy the camera and kit lens and at some point > buy a > >> longer zoom , and perhaps 15-20% will eventually buy a second > lens, with > >> very a few buying more than that, generally because they have > decided > >> they have a specific need or want. > >> This may not be an accurate market indication, just a local > snapshot. > >> > >> William Robb > >> > >> > >> > > > > > -- > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Mark Cassino Photography > Kalamazoo > www.markcassino.com > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
