[Leica] A 70-200 by any other crop circle...

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

Wide zooms may have captured the imagination of the worlds shutterbugs but
the most useful zoom for me has always been the venerable 70-200.
On the white backdrop for me it'd been a real money maker.
And a great pull over by the side of the road on car trips lens.

Good for Olympus to be I think the first to come out with a digital lens
with translates to those magic numbers. And I'd settle for anything close.
But Olympus I see on the dp preview has come out with a 35-100mm which for
them at their 2x crop level translates directly to 70-200!
But the big news for many is that this lens is a fixed Summicron, I mean f2.
They call their f2's something else I'd imagine. Zuiko or Zed or Zack.
Zephrin

Can you image how heavy an f2 70-200 would be for 35mm film?!!!
The current Nikon 2.8 which is a VR weighs 3.20 lbs (1.5 kg)?
The Leica VARIO-APO-ELMARIT-R f/2.8/70-180 mm weights 4.12 lbs (1.870 kg)

My guess is about twice that!

To get something like a 70-200 with the most popular 1.5 crop factor you'd
have to have it be a 50-135.
That would translate exactly to a 75-202.5 but that's close enough.
Nikon doesn't make anything resembling this.
No one much does.
Third party lens company Sigma makes a 55-200 which has it's heart in the
right place. 
Because consumer level 70-200's are 70-300's now.
It's hard to find a cheap 70-200 anymore. They're all monster 2.8's for
pros.
I don't need 300. (or 2.8) I need a more compact zoom lens.
I'd have to get an old one.
Canon makes a 55-200 like the Sigma. Better I'd assume.

There's no word out yet that I can make out just how COMPACT Olympus is
going to be able to make their f2 35-100mm(= 70-200) yet.
It might not be compact but it's hopefully not going to be a monster either.
Otherwise what's the point?
To make faster lenses at the same size and weight as what we're used to?
Give me a more compact lenses at the same speed anyday to start with.
To make faster lenses at the same size and weight might make nice gravy
later on down the road.
But if I was shooting that E system I'd be real exited to see this 35-100mm
come out at any bulk rate anyway.
One nice thing about this 2x crop circle....
IT'S EASY TO DO THE MATH!
1.5 I have get out the Kodak digital dataguide.
Which I don't think has come out yet.
Or has been thought of.

But lots of cardboard wheels and paper samples!
That's the ticket!


Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland Oregon
http://rabinergroup.com/