Originally posted by mattdm I think that what it says is that zooms are good enough to get things done, but even more, that photography marketing is oddly over-obsessed with "pro" this and "pro" that.
No disrespect to our resident professionals, whose comments and advice I value very much, but "I do this for my job" isn't necessarily the pinnacle of the field. If you look at another medium, like pen-and-ink drawing, it's not the people doing illustrations for magazines and billboards to whom everyone else aspires. I'm just sayin'.
Matt,
I think, if we are in agreement, that there is too much pro this and that on many of the forums...not just the Pentax forums.
My purpose of pointing out the quality of zooms and their widespread use among professionals is multipointed.
First, and most obvious...the numbers don't lie. They are used and they do deliver the goods to the client. And one must assume (though not always) that a client paying for an end product is proficient and exacting in what they are paying for.
Secondly, the computerization of lens manufacturing in todays environment produces largely high end goods. But, when applied to zooms there has been a quantum level increase in quality...especially at the high end (technically and cost wise) of the spectrum. It is where the money is in today's lens market.
And thirdly, being a prime lens does not by any means mean a lens is of excellent or superior quality. Quite frankly, many are at best fair to good. A prime lens in and of itself is not a promise of excellence. No lens is.
And the most obvious issue with any lens, zoom or prime, is that at whatever level of qualityof the lens, the output by the person behind the camera, and their ability to manipulate the lens, light, and composition will determine 95+% of the impact of the image.
I personally do not consider a zoom until I have studied it's resolution figures, distortions and aberrations. If they can't stack up with single focal lengths they won't even get a chance to be tested by me.
My hope is that Pentax's output on their new DA* is better than Tokina's equivalent... which doesn't get particularly high marks on the bench. But if you look at similar models co-designed by Pentax and Tokina (10-17, 12-24 off the top of my head) they generally get the same score from reviewers even though there are differences in bench outputs. And those marks are generally not that great.
We'll know in three or so weeks what the DA* zooms should be able to do.
Stephen