Why are they so much more expensive than the 24 and 17 TS-E's? I've been waiting for the 50mm for over 10 years and now it's announced as a 'macro' lens I'll have to wait for the reviews to come in to convince me it's a worthwhile investment for architecture and landscape use.
Hi,
The initial prices will drop a bit over time. They are relatively expensive because they seem to have been improved optically, judging from the published MTF curves (the 50mm, at a shorter focal-length, even bests the 90mm which was already very good). These specialist lenses will sell in lower numbers than popular zooms, so R&D cost must be recouped by a lower volume sold.
We do need to see what these lenses can do in actual practice, but they seem to be very useful workhorses for many types of subject matter (product, architecture, portraiture, and yes Landscapes), maybe even reproduction work.
Cheers,
Bart