Which manufacturer has been introducing the most new lens designs?

StewartR

StewartR

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Here's a little bit of fun for a Friday. Which manufacturer has introduced the most new lens designs in the last year-and-a-bit, since the start of 2017? See if you can guess, then click on the 'Spoiler' button to see the answers.

Please don't name names in any comments. Don't spoil it for others.

1 Fujifilm ...... 14
2 Sigma ......... 9
3 Panasonic ..... 8
=4 7Artisans ..... 7
=4 Sony .......... 7
=4 Tamron ........ 7
=4 Venus Optics .. 7
=8 Canon ......... 6
=8 Leica ......... 6
10 Nikon ......... 5
=11 Samyang ....... 4
=11 Zeiss ......... 4
=13 Olympus ....... 2
=13 Pentax ........ 2
=13 Tokina ........ 2
=16 Hasselblad .... 1
=16 Lensbaby ...... 1
=16 Voigtlander ... 1

For what it's worth, I didn't guess correctly. (Maybe I should have, but I didn't.) I thought it was probably the company in 2nd place, or maybe the one in =4th that begins with the same letter. There are some real surprises (to me) near the top of the list, and some surprises near the bottom too.
 
Well I was A long way off .
 
I was a mile out with my first choice bt nearly spot on with my second choice.
 
Probably the manufacturers with most gaps in their range ;)
 
Way out, and surprised ... I've probably led a sheltered photographic life :D
 
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Really? :cautious::jawdrop:
 
Blimey, for once I got something right ... just wish the manufacturer in 10th place would get their finger out though :(
 
Got #1 right because I know they've been busy. Didn't go further down the list since I didn't have a clue!
 
PaulButler said:
Blimey, for once I got something right ... just wish the manufacturer in 10th place would get their finger out though :(
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There’s not a lot they need to add to be fair.

I guessed one at Number 4 so I was way off. I’m really surprised by number 1, I had no idea they’d been so active.
 
Blimeyi guessed number 1,did sh..t in tonight euro millions and Thunderball though.
 
Number one, had a lot of catching up to do. But this has resulted in them now having a large number of high quality latest designs.
Some of the majors have vast ranges of rather tired, and out of date designs, that have trouble meeting the needs of recent sensors.

They seem to have left out some of the newer Chinese and othr far east lensmakers, who are starting to make their mark..
 
PaulButler said:
Blimey, for once I got something right ... just wish the manufacturer in 10th place would get their finger out though :(
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Is there something specific that you want? I'm sold on the 105 1.4 as my next purchase, but if ever they did bring out a 135 replacement...
 
I was way off!
 
Livin The Dream said:
Is there something specific that you want? I'm sold on the 105 1.4 as my next purchase, but if ever they did bring out a 135 replacement...
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A 135 as good as the 105 1.4 would be a delight - it wouldn't need to be 1.4 either, 1.8 or 2 will do ;). A really good 15/16mm prime too would be nice, be it 1.4 or 1.8. I'd also quite like a 24-70 f4 too ;) something a bit lighter and smaller than the f2.8's but with top iq (I know there is the 24-85 vr, but it doesn't quite work for me).
 
PaulButler said:
A 135 as good as the 105 1.4 would be a delight - it wouldn't need to be 1.4 either, 1.8 or 2 will do ;). A really good 15/16mm prime too would be nice, be it 1.4 or 1.8. I'd also quite like a 24-70 f4 too ;) something a bit lighter and smaller than the f2.8's but with top iq (I know there is the 24-85 vr, but it doesn't quite work for me).
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24-120 f4 then innit? Doesn’t need to be much better surely? I concur with a 135 f2, more than enough.
 
PaulButler said:
... just wish the manufacturer in 10th place would get their finger out though :(
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snerkler said:
There’s not a lot they need to add to be fair.
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Oh I dunno. I think this company is in a real mess.

Firstly, their technology strategy is a shambles.
* They haven't finished rolling out in-lens autofocus motors, which they started doing in around 1996;
* They haven't finished removing aperture rings from their lenses, which they started doing in around 2000;
* They've recently started putting in electronic (as opposed to mechanical) aperture control, something which has been been standard since 1986 elsewhere, but they're still introducing new lenses without it.
* Currently you can buy new lenses featuring none, one, two or all three of these technologies.
* At the current rate of of progress they should have "modernised" the entire range (i.e. caught up to where their main competitor was in 1986) by around 2025 or 2030.

Secondly, their strategy for crop-sensor lenses is incoherent. Far too many slow 18-xx zooms, far too many slow telephoto zooms, only one fast zoom (which dates from 2003), only one fast-ish prime,... Compared to some other companies it seems they're really just not interested in crop-sensor lenses.

Thirdly, their strategy for mirrorless lenses is non-existent.

Fourthly, all that might not matter too much if they were good at managing customer expectations. They make some of the best cameras in the world, and they are the beneficiaries of a huge amount of goodwill. If they were to explain to customers what they had in the pipeline, and publish a road map showing where they're going (especially with crop sensor and mirrorless), that could prevent the hemorrhaging of customers they've had in recent years. But their corporate culture is to do exactly none of that.

I worry for them, I really do.
 
StewartR said:
<snip>

I worry for them, I really do.
Click to expand...

None of that may matter in the long run. We're about to enter the most dramatic 2-3 years the camera market has ever seen, with a bigger shake-up even than the switch to digital. The next few years will completely re-shape the foreseeable future.

Canon and Nikon are both poised to dive-bomb the full-frame mirrorless sector in the next 12 months. It will be an almighty ding-dong with much at stake and everything to play for. Whatever the outcome, we as consumers cannot lose. We will all want one, and a set of new lenses to go with it, though the option of a cut-price DSLR will also be tempting and the new mirrorless cameras will work very well with existing glass (just a bit better with custom built mirrorless lenses).

Meanwhile, smartphones will continue their relentless drive upmarket, far further than anyone feared to believe, leading with computational technology that brings advanced creative techniques to the point-and-press-and-upload mass market. We've hardly scratched the surface of what's possible with this, basically using software to combine multiple images from multiple camera/lens units in frankly astonishing new ways.
Computational technology explained here https://www.dpreview.com/articles/8037960069/why-smartphone-cameras-are-blowing-our-minds.
The market will polarise, with computational smartphones serving the great majority and, sadly, leaving us as top-end but niche, geeky, pixel-peeping relics. Sorry for the description, but no doubt with our heads held high and our big lenses for sport and wildlife intact (if not much else).
 
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