from the 85/2 review just posted:
Despite the fast f2 maximum aperture, Olympus has kept the front
element size down to the regular 49mm filter size.
I've just been comparing the sizes of lenses, and, apart from the basic
necessity for a bigger lens to make it faster, I'm still amazed at how small
the Zuiko lenses are compared to pretty much every third-party lens I've
got.
What's the secret there? Is it different glass / better design / something
else? I guess what I'm wondering is if Olympus could make their lenses so
small, how come everyone else doesn't? Bodies, sure, are going to be a whole
lot more complex to reduce the size, but lenses?
-- dan
I think it is setting design goals. If your goal is to design a huge
menacing brick of a camera weighing about 20 pounds so that people
who see it say, "Whoa!", then I think a small, effective lens is not
in the picture. Sort of like an SUV with 12 inch wheels, or a huge
body builder with a small... Well you know what I mean. :-)
Seriously, though. Autofocus lenses and internal focusing all make
for larger lens barrels. All that mechanism has to be put somewhere.
If you look at Leica rangefinder lenses you will find that they are
also compact.
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California
?
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