Unfortunately, Nikon and Canon had to go this road because their bodies
were being sold in bundles with Tamron and Sigma cheapies - they had to
produce their own cheap rubbish to compete.
To answer one question, I once took apart a Canon EOS 35-80 as it had a
loose diaphragm blade, hoping to fix it. The only piece of metal was the
guide rail on which the back lens group slide through the barrel and that
was a roughly guillotined piece of aluminium strap. The lightness and small
glass elements are necessary or the little AF motor can't shift them.
To answer another - I've seen a conscience stricken shop assistant try and
convince a customer that the more expensive lens was a MUCH better option -
they accused him of trying to do a 'bait and switch' on them. After all, it
was a Canon lens in the bundle so it must be good enough! The idea of
buying a cheaper body and a better lens was quite beyond them.
My favorite was the story of the guy who wanted to buy an EOS-1n because it
was a top pro camera and he had to have the best - and went looking for a
deal. Then he complained later that his pix were lousy. Some enterprising
soul sold him the body with the cheapest consumer zoom available on it to
make him a 'great deal.'
AndrewF
>Today's consumer zooms are mostly total and complete
>garbage. The stuff they sell by third parties at Ritz
>and other shops seem to be made of such flimsy plastic
>and so light I wonder if theyr is anything in them at
>all. Even consumer zooms made by (or at least branded)
>as Nikkors or Canons etc are crud. I marvel at how
>light the things are, is there any glass or metal in
>there at all? The thing is the old adage still
>stands... you get what you pay for. If you buy a $250
>body with a $50buck 28-80 consumer zoom I would be
>suprised if you never got good pics. A good
>photographer with a bad camera will very likely still
>be better than a bad photographer with a good camera,
>but that doesn't mean his pictures will be any good
>:-).
>
>Personally I think camera manufacturers should go back
>to the 50/1.8 bundle with new bodies, but then what
>would become of their fancy AF metering systems? A
>50/1.8 and split screen is a no brainer to focus
>perfectly 99.90f the time and really quickly.
>
>Mark Lloyd
>
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