Yes both Sigma and Tokina have stopped production of those 2. As a result members of both the Pentax and Minolta lists I'm on are scrambling to find either of these 2 late models before they disappear entirely. Some countries already have no stock left. Either lens is definitely better than the Sigma 135-400 and 400mm. All this inspite of the fact that shooters like Art Morris say every one shooting wildlife should have one in their inventory of this size. Kent Gittings
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mark Cassino Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 8:07 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: I'm becoming disillusioned with Sigma At 06:11 AM 11/9/01 -0600, John Mustarde wrote: >But now Sigma reports they have discontinued production of that lens - >because they sell many more of their 135-400 and other long zooms than >the autofocus APO 400/5.6 Macro. I noticed this recently. The upshot is that there are now no third party 400mm f5.6's being made, AFAIK. And that's not just for Pentax - that's for any brand. >The point of this is that Sigma's newer long zooms are optically crap, >compared to the 400/5.6 APO Macro. Reviews and tests show they are >soft at full aperture at the long end, and not much better stopped >down. Really barely good enough for 4x6 inch prints, and useless for >enlargements. One can only wonder about Sigma's marketing strategy. One one hand they are introducing some very good optics in their EX series - all of which seem to hold their own, zoom or prime. They are also presenting some prime lenses that really swim against the tide of the zoom based market place - like the 28mm f1.8. But on the other hand they discontinue one of the lenses that was generally very well recieved and did a lot to improve their image. They probably have the marketing department decide what to introduce and the accounting dept decide what to discontinue... - MCC - - - - - - - - - - Mark Cassino Kalamazoo, MI [EMAIL PROTECTED] - - - - - - - - - - Photos: http://www.markcassino.com - - - - - - - - - - - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. www.mimesweeper.com ********************************************************************** - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
