ChrisCoaster wrote:
> A few months ago I wandered into this great forum and launched a
> discussion about the not-so-manual aspects of the "manual" mode on
> some compact(non-SLR) digital cameras.
>
> My chief complaint was that when zooming, the iris(f-stop value) was
> automatically decreased when zooming(increasing focal length).
>
> It was stated here that that is in fact what happens when you increase
> focal length - you reduce light intake. Fair enough.
>
> But how difficult, and for that matter how costly, would it be for
> manufacturers to allow a setting that "freezes" f-value at the
> operator's choice when zooming.
>
> That is, keep f=2.0 or 3.0 or whatever while zooming out to, say, 4x
> or 6x optical, to really narrow the field of focus on the subject.
> That's what the really expensive manual SLRs allow one to do, right?
>
It's been done. The Panasonic Lumix FZ20 had a constant f/2.8 aperture
36-432mm equivalent zoom lens. However, this model was discontinued
several years ago and none of the subsequent models had this feature,
so presumably Panny's market research showed that the punters weren't
interested. See DPreview's review here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz20/
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