Originally posted by alansfreed:
Just one meeeeeeelion dollars? :) |
You are likely quite right; this lens may be too expensive. However, it is planned to be a G-series, which have been less costly than the full up D-series in the past. They do not offer an on-the-lens aperture ring and typically have less attractive maximum f-stops, such as this one being offered at just f4.0.
What is really significant here is not just a new lens hitting the marketplace. It is the alternate strategy being pursued for D-SLRs.
In one corner, we have a recent trend whereby manufacturers are developing chips, either CCD or CMOS, which offer a faceplate area equal to 35mm film (about 24mm x 36mm). In the other corner, we have manufacturers, like Nikon, pursuing lens designs that are specifically formulated for the smaller CCD chip faceplate area (in their case - 23.7mm x 15.6mm). It is sort of a "raise the bridge, or lower the water” issue. Logically, I think that I prefer the larger chip size as it brings my entire existing lens inventory back to life as they were meant to be (scaled). An example may be the exciting new Contax camera. But, I am too deep into the Nikon way to change now.
The downside to a full size chip is the they are stated to be “short run” production which normally means tougher yield curves to meet, do not offer substantially more pixels and therefore resolution over the smaller CCD, tend to be a bit noisy (I mean the signal to noise ratio), and are expected to be more costly and require additional active circuitry to mitigate their deficiencies. It is likely safer to stay mainstream in the CCD manufacturing world then to chase these 1:1 custom chips.
It struck me as a major sea change in this digital SLR arena and I thought that it might be a worthwhile post for further discussion by other DPC users.
Any thoughts, comments, opinions, or alternate ideas out there?
Message edited by author 2002-12-24 16:28:47. |
