New Primes Coming?
The British Journal of Photography has an article on the new Nikkor PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, which is a nice lens, I’m sure but I don’t think I can use it.
Instead, what got me salivating was this paragraph:
Nikon says it will also focus on updating its range of prime lenses this year. ‘You have to look beyond sports and news photographers,’ Nikon UK’s group marketing manager Jeremy Gilbert told BJP. ‘There are some gaps in the range that need to be filled. These releases are a clear signal that we’re investing in new lenses, because they are as important as the cameras themselves.’
Yeah, no kidding there’re some gaps! WTF is my 50mm 1.2 AF-S? Double the price and give me a 35mm 1.0 AF-S Aspheric Noct and I’ll pay it. Imagine the light you could gather with something like that!
February 11th, 2008 at 03:42
I have read that article, but I don’t interpret it the same way others have. If you just look at the quotes, it is not clear that the rep is referring to any primes other than the already-announced PC lenses and the 60mm macro.
When he says, “these releases are a clear signal that we’re investing in new lenses,” I don’t think he is necessarily implying we will see more primes this year.
Also, Nikon keeps pushing these tilt/shifts as part of the prime line up when clearly they are specialty lenses. The press release on the 24mm PCE stresses how the lens can be used as a regular prime on the D3/D300… if you don’t mind f/3.5 max aperture, manual focusing, and a $2000 price tag. The only reason I can think of as to why they keep talking about using this as a prime is because they know there won’t be an AFS 24mm f/1.4 anytime soon.
Maybe the rep was more explicit in other remarks to the reporter, but it can’t be inferred from the quote.