Originally posted by Adam Budget lenses had been around well before the F series (e.g. the Takumar-A's) and certainly weren't any better if you ask me. That said, around the start of the AF area, camera gear also started becoming a lot more mainstream. Whereas in early K days, every lens was essentially a pro lens, a clear delineation between budget, consumer, and pro quality emerged over time.
This is why there are tons of really cheap, really poor F/FA lenses, but also plenty that hold their price well or are even outright overpriced as in the case of star lenses.
Great analysis.
Originally posted by Ash It's not often you hear of great quality F/FA lenses - but the FA 20-35 has a reputation of being a great lens optically.
We still have that "budget-line" DA range that is catering for the beginner/low end but the build is slightly better than the FA Js of the past.
DFAs are another league (with prices that reflect that).
Yep, some lenses like the 20-35, F35-70, FA24-90, even the A35-105 were winners.
Originally posted by ffking I think I'd just add that it took optical designers a long (probably not until computer aided designs) time to make zooms anywhere near as good as prime lenses - they were always more of a consumer product by nature - several lenses for the price of one, but at a cost optically.
The first computer-designer consumer zoom was the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 F3.5 macro. In 1978.
Computer design programs evolved and improved tremendously over time, but it's not always necessary to use a computer when you know what you're doing. In a lens design class, the young guys like me used computers to design, getting theoretical values like 1.476088 for specific elements (made-up number, you get the idea). An older guy came up with mostly round numbers (say 1.5) and his design was the best. He had done everything by hand, controlling what he did, instead of pushing the "optimize" button in the program.
That being said, in the film era lenses were not tested as thoroughly as today. People simply didn't have the information that we have now, nor the means to test or adjust. THis has led lens design to new heights. Kit lenses (or consumer zooms) from today are significantly better than they were some years ago.