And, aren't they still make brand new screw drive lenses? do they even have a 200+ mm SAM lens? (I doubt many persons are gonna buy a new A37 to match up with a 300mm G prime SSM). They don't really even have a basic range of lenses to support a move like this.
Mmm I went to
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses and the advanced search to search for AF in-lens drive lenses and it showed me 43 lenses of which most are in production.
It is 35 not 43 and many cover the same focal lengths.
I did the same and Sony makes 12 such lenses that are in production which includes the esoteric 300mm F2.8 and 70-200 F2.8 and the full frame 28-75. There is also the 70-300G and 70-400G as well.
CZ make a further three. 24mmF2, 24-70 and 16-35.
The other lenses with in lens motors are 16-50 F2.8, 18-55, 55-200, 30, 35, 50 and 85 SAM's.
Now I would say out of that list the most likely lenses to find their way onto a budget camera are the 18-55, 55-200, 30, 35, 50 and 85 SAM's. And that is it. The range of budget in-lens motor lenses made by Sony is tiny.
The number of HSM lenses from the likes of Sigma in production is 20 hence 35 total but given there are several lenses competing with each other such as the 17-50 Tamron & 18-50 Sigma which compete with the Sony 16-50 anyway there are not 35 different HSM type lenses to choose from. Same with the likes of 18-250 and 18-270 lenses.
There are a further 15 screw drive lenses that Sony make that won't work and as you would expect they form a lens range and few lenses compete with each other in the range so all in all there is more choice available if your camera works with both types of lens.
Fair enough some HSM are probably not finding their way to beginner cameras. Anyway you might be surprised but Sony is a company and hence needs to make profit by selling. Sony does not make money out of second hand lens sales so it could not care less about us. Yeah screw them I think, although at the same time they need to keep the old-timers happy to but they won't be buying A37s (in general).
If you want a travel zoom like that for your A37 you will have no choice but to buy a Tamron or Sigma. The Sony 18-250 won't work on the rumoured camera so how does that make money for Sony? The same is true if you wanted a wide-angle zoom. The 11-18 doesn't work. Sigma will sell Sony users a similar lens though!
Want a 70-300? The screw drive Sony sells is one of the cheapest available such lenses for £170 or less but won't work on the rumoured camera. The 70-300G is about five times the price so it looks like its a Sigma or a Tamron again.
If Sony does this given the lack of knowledge of some camera shop sales, people the ignorance of some people who buy a dslr not really knowing what they are getting I can foresee many unahppy customers who buy and Sony camera then later but a Sony lens only to find the thing won't focus!
