On Wednesday, October 29, 2003, at 04:06 PM, Andrew Dacey wrote:
If we're going to compare apples to apples, we should be factoring in
any
multiplication factors for the digitals we're talking about. With the
Canon,
it's 1.6 I believe. Canon does make a 400/2.8 which would be an
effective
640/2.8 with their digital system, so there is an aprox 600/2.8 option
from
Canon. I'm not sure what the multiplication factor for Nikon digitals
is but
they also make a 400/2.8 so if it's similar to Canon's then they'd
also have
a 600/2.8 optoin. Granted, both of these options would be heavier than
Olympus' 600/2.8 offering (which is one of the big advantages of the
4/3
system). The prices for these lenses are 6499.95 for the Canon and
7699.95
for the Nikon so that's around the same price as Olympus' option.
I could not agree more. In addition, you can plunk the Canon or Nikon
onto your film camera and use it, if you own one of those.
However, I am going to say that I was thinking about this too simply.
I was
just thinking that a 300/2.8 should cost around the same as any other
300/2.8 in terms of you're getting a 300/2.8's worth of glass,
regardless of
the actual FOV on your chosen system (a 600mm lens uses a LOT of glas
so
it's going to cost a lot more). I was neglecting to figure in the cost
of
developing a lens and any other associated costs. Part of the price is
going
to be a portion of these costs. The lens may have similar production
costs
as any other 300/2.8 but they're only going to have the sales volume
for a
600/2.8 lens (which is going to be much smaller). Because of this,
they're
going to have to increase the price to cover their costs.
On the other hand it is a 300mm lens with a small image circle. It will
have smaller pieces of those pricey glass things in it. Actually less
of everything in it than the other 600mm equivalent lenses that are
really 400mm lenses. When you consider that a Nikkor 300/2.8 is $4000
with the rebate, the Oly seem more than just a bit overpriced.
And since when is something priced according to what it cost to make
it? You determine the price of the thing you are going to sell in the
market place and then manufacture it so you can make a profit. A thing
to stay rooted with this multiplier thing is that if anybody else's
300mm could be fitted to the E-1, it would give the same 600mm
equivalence. It is kind of like that digital camera made by that
Japanese film maker that said at one time its 6MP sensor was really
12MP. They finally gave up because too many people laughed.
Winsor
Long Beach, California, USA
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|