DPreview has their 58mm f1.4 review up. It does rightfully focus on look rather than technical perfection.
Now, anyone willing to have a bit of Jan 1st fun is advised to read the comments left by the bright bunch of DPreview registered users! It is scary when you think that they are probably around us though!
90% of the comments read "ok, look is important, but the lens is not sharp enough to justify the price, Nikon must have paid DPreview, I am not interested"... sigh...
Cheers,
Bernard
I agree with you that the conspiracy inferences are non sense, but the lens is pretty soft wide open. It did not need to be in order to preserve looks.
The second part is that Nikon is a business and they should know what the market wants. Sharpness is a key parameter this days, more for them that promote
high megapixles DSLRs.
Right now, with the exception of the 800mm and now the 58mm they insist in just adding nano crystal and doubling the price.
I have say before that Nikon is a generation behind in terms of autofocusing system (that I don't need, but is not about me). What they have is image quality. They have fail in terms of execution (D800 focusing, D600 dust, D4 color cast) and handle the issues ungracefully.
Nowadays sigma is using exotic glass for the new designs (like Canon and Nikon on the 200mm f2.0 and 800mm f5.6) , even zooms like the 120-300mm this equal or better than both the 80-400 and 200-400 in image tests (not autofocusing or looks).
Finally, the low cost guy (Tamron) released a 70-200mm (a must have in multiple areas of the pro space) that is comparable to the Nikon, without the massive focus breathing or price tag (but is shorter to be fair, at 183mm) .
We can say that we don't care, that is about looks, and that's a matter of personal preference. And yes it comes a moment on your carrier that you have all the sharp lenses that you need, and the pro start buying for creative reasons, as we use to do with film, but the market have spoken very laud and clear.
Can a company look the other way and ignore basic market demands?
Nikon results show the answer.
Best regards,
J. Duncan