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And not much chance of running out of lens makers, either - every single major camera maker has their dedicated line-up to match their bodies. There are a half dozen dedicated third-party makers that you can name from personal experience here in Australia - and in most cases the experience has been a positive one. And there are second-rank and third-rank optics makers that supply lenses for various mounts - and much of their output is neither second nor third-rate.
Now the reps for the major photographic firms are polite people - unlike governments they rarely engage in sniping at each other to gain trade advantage. Their publicity departments may seek advantage, but it is most often done in a positive way. A certain lens will have some characteristic that is better than the competitors ( much to the joy of the flacks ) and can be touted as the answer to all problems. " New " and " Improved " are always good words to use in press hand-out. If they beg the question of the words " Old " and " Lacking " in reference to the previous lens, the trade are too polite to mention it. In most case they need not do so:
a. The older things were very good in themselves. And they have not become less good in the meantime. Older lenses fall out of favour but that is the function of the mind of the user - not of the lens. Unless it falls out of a boat or a camera bag onto concrete. ( ask me about that one ) a lens will keep on passing light the same way it did. Don't store it in a root cellar or smokehouse and you'll be fine.
b. Even if the older lens does not have the MTF diagram the new one has, no-one knew. People's eyes are poorer than you'd think. The lab scientists and would-be lens critics can focus ( fuzzily ) upon numbers and figures and miss the point of the entire device.
So what is the best procedure at a trade show that has any number of lenses on display, if you want to get a good one? What do you do?
a. Eliminate the ones that just do not match your camera body's lens mount. You can get adapters that will allow you to become confused and dissatisfied with three manufacturers at once...but you really shouldn't do it. If you have a Flapoflex camera ( or their new mirror-less line - the Flapnoflex...) look only at lenses with the Flap Mount. You will not miss anything as someone else will undoubtedly make a focal length and aperture that will fill the gap.
b. Take your camera body with you to try out the candidates that do fit. As you'll be mounting and dismounting lenses, expect a dusty sensor at the end of the day. Time enough later to put it into CE for a clean. Take a notebook and a texta, and write the name, focal length, and aperture of each lens you want to test on a separate page. Use these pages as signs to identify each lens that you shoot thorough so you can figure them out later.
You can't entirely rely on EXIF to supply this knowledge as some lenses won't trigger it.
c. Shoot away merrily doing whatever it is you do with the different lenses - and try to do something similar with each one - so there is a baseline comparison. Note focus speeds, noises, stability, and anything else that might differentiate the optics.
d. Take your results home and look at them at 100% on your computer screen. If you find some that seem bad, discard them from the choice. If you find some that are superb, advance them. Eventually you'll have a short list of the lenses that do what you do, the way you want them to do it.
e. These are the lenses for you. it doesn't matter if they are from your favoured maker or someone else - they have been proved to be something that makes you happy. If your lens case has items from three or more factories it is a sign that you have been careful and wise. You would not stock your liquor cabinet with only one brand, nor your wardrobe. Do not limit yourself in your gadget bag.
And then choose one you can afford.
