Originally posted by Andi Lo I sure hope not, but fear that you are right.
For that money you can buy a roundtrip to many places in Asia where you'll probably get more interesting images than if you buy this lens and stay at home (just talking about where I live though)
Yeah, I know... I have been waiting for this, and I'll wait for the release, but something is telling me I'm going to end up buying the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 instead. Sure, a different (and heavier) animal, but which yields much more utility for the buck; not to mention 17-50/2.8 is probably better for my zoom needs.
If Ricoh sold this new sexy ltd. zoom for about $800, I'd go for it, but given that the HD version of the DA 21mm (which has neither DC motor nor WR) is priced at $700, I think any price below $1000 would be a kind of miracle.