The Oly is F5.6 equivalent to a Canon FF. A Canon or Nikon F5.6 is basically a kit lens, that you can buy for $150. Oh, those kit lenses are also made of plastic, and for $150 people still complain.
When are people going to get that M43rds is ripping people off on lens prices? Maybe 6 times what they should cost.
Wrong in almost every detail.
First of all, where is the 24-something FF f5.6 zoom, that you can buy for any money at all, including an infinite amount of dollars?
Canon 24-105 F4.0 is equal to 12-55MM F2.0 on M43rd. All metal and around $800. Faster, IS, and wider zoom range.
Not 5.6, nor $150 as you initially claimed, and much larger and heavier, with horrific zoom creep. Canon saw fit to release a much narrower zoom range 24-70/4 at a much higher price point. I wonder why.
Secondly, where is the Canikon FF kit zoom that you can buy for $150, of any description?
Well, new on Amazon the crop kit lens is $189. And it's not as fast but wider than M43rd equivalent. All plastic though - just like the Oly.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-18-55mm-3-5-5-6-II/dp/B000V5K3FG
Wider? What do you mean by that word?
Weather sealing? And more importantly, it is much worse than the Canon primes in that range. Pricing has to do with where the manufacturer positions a product. In a highly hierarchical environment such as lenses this is especially true. When Canon makes a zoom to match its serious primes in the range they price it accordingly, just like Oly does here. M43 is basically following tried and true classical lens tiering and pricing policies established and studiously maintained by the likes of Canon and Nikon.
But if you insist on FF, the Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM is FF for $169. Thats 35-150 F2.8 M4rds equivalent. No, not a mistake. $169 for a full frame zoom as fast as the Oly.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-6472A00...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B006R221SY
No IS, larger and heavier, no weather sealing. Outside the topic of standard 24-xx zooms. Again not a replacement for the primes in that range.
Look, all I'm saying is that SLR lenses are inexpensive compared to M43rds, AND about the same weight--or lighter--for the same performance. It's marking 101. M43rds manufacturers are hiding the fact that they are using metal plated plastic and slow glass while charging premium FF prices. Put pressure on them, the price will drop.
Glad you are admitting that your off the cuff comment was completely wrong. As your readers are not telepathic, this clarification is most welcome.
Not 'for the same performance'. From a pricing point of view, 'same performance' means prime rivalling in that range. 2.8 is only two stops slower than the fastest primes in that range in both FF and m43. 4 and 5.6 are not.
'Marking 101'? Typo?
Premium products in their respective lines are charged premium prices. The most expensive two-passenger cars rival the most expensive 5-passenger cars in price. Are you absolutely sure that the metal cladding is cosmetic only?
The Oly is not a cheap kit zoom, as it is designed and made to have prime-matching and in some cases (esp. against Oly's own primes in the range) prime-exceeding optical quality. FF lenses matching this description (i.e. prime-matching in the range) are similarly, if not higher, priced.
Remember that M43rd lenses HAVE to be sharper because of the smaller sensor size.
They have to be sharper per mm, which they always are. They don't have to be sharper per image height, and yet they manage that in many cases. I believe the 12-40/2.8 will achieve this per image height sharpness advantage over cheap (say 4-5 times cheaper) APSC zooms.
El cheapo FF zooms usually waste the real estate provided by the larger sensor seriously. Buying them seems a false economy. The 70-200/2.8L is close or matching in sharpness to the 85/1.8, the 100/2 and even the 135/2L. So if you don't need the (not a lot) faster apertures you can stay with that one zoom. This cannot be said of the 70-300 III USM which 1. is too much slower than the primes in the range and 2. for sharpness alone could use a supplementary prime or two.
In this light, the 70-300 exactly matches the 40/45-150 slow zooms in m43 as the owners of those zooms will eventually get a prime or two in the range to complement the zoom, just like a serious owner of the 70-300 will be motivated to. And those lenses are more or less similar in price too.
