And both are only as good as the head behind the camera.

On the contrary he is one of the few people to post sense on this matter. I wonder why this engenders such hostility?

(No doubt I will soon be told this response is just some sort of "humour" or "kidding around". :roll

My biggest tip for anyone starting with a kit lens is to buy instead a fast 50 and use that exclusively for the first six months. The smc A 50/1.7 is a perfect choice since it has handy automatic aperture coupling but forces you to do the focusing. And it is dead cheap.

Zooms are annoyances. A prime lens takes you back to photographic basics and gives you better image quality in the bargain. This is mostly important since then you might realise that all the mistakes are your mistakes. Blaming the gear is a crutch too many use for too long.

A fast f/1.7 provides photographic options that a slow zoom will never offer and makes it tons easier to appreciate the difference aperture makes to rendering a scene.

To say my argument about forum etiquette lacks merit because I don't take telephoto images is to be dimmer than the candle we have lit in the window to greet our Christmas visitors. Neither point has the slightest thing to do with the other.

I hope you get much joy from repeating "long-standing complaints" on each and every topic where you think we care. Being off topic repeatedly in order to stir up ill will is trolling.

Yet you are the one off topic, trolling in fact. Please check the thread title in case this confuses you.

To take pictures perhaps? At a cost far less than any alternative?

What is with all the trolls anyway?

If you want a long fast in-production lens then buy one from a third party. Or buy into another system to get one. Be sure to budget four or five figures.

Are we off topic enough?

You can get such a lens in M42 for less than 100 quid. Or search eBay for a SMC A 400/5.6 for under £700.

Until we see the lens in production and see the price etc. we won't know if it is the replacement for another lens or not. My guess is "yes".

Your interests, like my interests, are not the focal point of the universe. Disengaging the ego, it is obvious that an DA12-24 with extended range, improved optics, motor focus and weather sealing is an insanely attractive proposition. Four significant improvements in one lens and still people complain!

My notes show that it tested on the bench to 31.81mm f/1.82, but I do not have a reference.