"SIGMA and Canon are playing with fire here!
They NEED to innovate or the newcomers will EAT THEIR LENSES FOR LUNCH!"
Of course...
We'll get a free plastic lens with every pack of Kellogs cornflakes !
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See this link for a 50 mm to 800mm Sports/Action/Wildlife super-zoom and 50 mm f/1.0 which I got to test two weeks ago in the wild:
HEADLINE: 50 mm to 800 mm Fast all-Acrylic Super-Zoom Lens for Canon EF/EF-M, RF, Sony E-Mount and Fuji MF being beta-tested now! YES! You heard that right! An under-the-radar Canadian Company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is now now beta-testing in the wild as of December 2020...
www.canonrumors.com
With a built-in NF filter and fantastic polarizing filter for $1899 USD that certainly got my interest!
Their techs indicated they are sending samples to DP-Review in both Seattle and Calgary for a full review!
I've seen the lab and real-world tests and since I use Zeiss Otus lenses quite a lot, I am saying these Acrylic lenses are 99% of Zeiss Sharpness and Image Quality at half the price! (Note: I did think the Zeiss Otus are STILL just a tiny bit better in the corners for sharpness!) In terms of Bang-for-the-Buck, these new Acrylic lenses will give fluorite glass (i.e. Canon L-series) a SERIOUS RUN for the money!
Acrylic is the WAY OF THE FUTURE for new light-weight high performance prime and zoom lenses! (well....until we can finally grow sheets of DIAMOND at a cheap enough price!)
P.S. in case anyone is wondering, Zeiss Otus lenses are actually made in Japan rather than Germany and are basically OEM'ed by Cosina with the glass itself coming from Hoya Corporation in Japan. These NEW Acrylic lens are fully Designed and Made in Canada using 1995-era high-end Sports Servo-Zoom Lens templates from Fujinon where the patents have run out.
NOTE: Fujinon MAKES UTTERLY SUPERB Cinema Zoom Lenses -- The company I consult at have these TOTALLY STUNNING LENSES:
Buy Fujinon 14.5-45mm T2.0 Premier PL Zoom Lens featuring 14.5-45mm Focal Length, Fast T2.0 Maximum Aperture, For Super 35mm Format Cameras, From the Premier PL Lens Family, 136mm Front Barrel Diameter, 280° Focus Barrel Rotation, Ultra-Wide to Normal Range Zoom. Review Fujinon Premier HK
www.bhphotovideo.com
While not at the stratospheric level of the above lenses, the 1995-era lenses DO NOT HAVE those excessively complex peizo-electric floating lens elements but are still optically SUPERB designs that are PERFECT for a re-do in 2021-era Optical Grade Acrylic! So for simplicity and cost reasons, only the simplest designs were chosen for a "Classic Pro-level Fujinon Lens" re-boot! Using an Automotive Industry analogy, these lenses are going to be the equivalent of the 2021 Ford Bronco resurrection using modern tech and new materials! Classic looks and workhorse capability mated with the best creature comforts of 2021!
I think this reboot will be an incredible success due to fantastic proprietary coatings which STOPS photo-degradation and stops scratches on the physically softer/more pliable plastic lens elements themselves plus they have internal manufacturing which basically "freezes" glass creep of Acyrlic!
Sooooooo, what will SIGMA and CANON DO in response ???
V