Tokina 70-200mm f4

[classiccameras]

Some good points there Greg, I borrowed a KM 24-105 for a while and was very impressed especially on APS-C, like wise with my KM 17-35 D and my Minolta 24-85. The KM 17-35 F/2.8 D is a Tamron, no doubt there.
I should think that most Sony and Zeiss lenses or at least some of the componants are made in China, may be assembled there, even Sigma and Tamron are subbing out to China. All my old Olympus ZD lenses were made in China as were the 4thirds EXX bodies.
I have nothing against where something is made as long as the product is to spec and is affordable. So far most Chinese made camera/lenses I have used have been well made and have performed as they should do.
I really can't get my head round Sony's philosophy, they seem to be stabbing in the dark. They know they can't compete with Canikon, but more importantly, they are not asking us what we want, they seem to be second guessing all the time.

Pete

[bfitzgerald]

IMO the Nikkor 70-200mm f4 will sell well once the price drops down a bit more, the only mistake was to not include the collar with it. Simple reason is £1500+ is too much for some folks and that's where the f4's come in. (faster than a normal zoom, more affordable than an f2.8 one)
Currently the gaps in A mount are quite notable they have no "normal" priced 24- something lens (just the 24-70mm f2.8 CZ which is pricey), no reasonable cost 24mm prime, no 28mm prime at all (which is astonishing for a company pushing full frame), no normal 35mm f2 FF prime (just the overpriced non-performing 35mm f1.4 G) No 85mm f1.8 (again important to offer a more affordable choice to buyers Canikon sell quite a lot of these lenses), no 70-200mm f4 as said.

I'm not sure why they're making a 50mm f1.4 CZ either, SAR says it will cost $1500 which is astonishing really (I suspect that is wrong it has to be) that's firmly in the ball park of Canon's 50mm f1.2 L prime.

It would be fairly easy to bash out a 24mm f2.8, 28mm f2.8 and 35mm f2 without a huge effort. All of the above are important lenses for Sony to have, and they just don't have them. Astute A mount buyers who desire s/h stuff will simply hit ebay and pick up what's going there (bar maybe the 35mm f2 which is too pricey for a s/h prime) 24/28mm ones are around in decent quantities. You also have some 80-200mm APO's knocking around and whilst I've never used one a nice condition one will be a lot more affordable than the current 70-200mm. Some folks do like buying "new" OEM lenses. So I have to say I think any kind of FF push is left in the slow lane as the basic lenses are just not there.

[Heidfirst]

Oh, I'm sure that it will sell - I just don't think that it will sell well.
I agree that there are gaps in the A-mount lineup & imo a 70-200/4 wouldn't be a priority especially as for Canon & Nikon FF is under 5% of their body sales & I'm sure that in Sony it's even less. If they were to make one I think that you would be lucky to get one for £800 & more likely £1000.

[alphaomega]

I was just thinking that I could get a very good 70-300 F4max (near enough) on any of my A-mount or NEX cameras if Metabones do release an A-mount to NEX speed booster adapter (from their Q&A site):

Q. Will there be Speed Boosters™ for Canon FD, Minolta MD and Sony Alpha lenses?
A. We will be looking into Canon FD, Minolta MD and Sony Alpha in the future. We do not have an estimated date yet. Disclaimer: this shall not be construed as a commitment to ship - we are not done prototyping any of these yet but we will conduct testing to decide if these lenses are free of interference issues with the optics of the Speed Boosters™ before we will be able to turn them into actual products.

I have an excellent Tamron (motorised version) 70-310 F5.6 (at the long end) so that would be max F4.0 at near enough 300 mm on my APS-C NEXes. In the meantime Metabones are doing their best to improve on AF. I am actually surprised that Sony have not seen fit to release such an adapter specifically to allow use of Alpha FF lenses on NEX maintaning focal lengths and generating one F stop gain. Between the legacy FF producers Sony has the unique opportunity as neither CAN/Nik nor PEN/OLY have NEX type cameras with APS-C suitable for such an adapter. They could have hired Caldwell. Just a thought.