Philip Homburg wrote:
In article ,
David Kilpatrick wrote:

I have put a small ramble about the UK Nikon D200 launch (Marrakesh,
Tuesday) on the f2photo.co.uk forums Nikon user section.


On the forum you wrote:
"Nikon, getting back to my slightly critical vein, didn't provide
"any UV filters with their incredibly expensive range of lenses
"(mostly the very top end pro stuff) and table full of D2X bodies
"- or any polarizers, which in the Atlas mountain sunshine are almost
"an essential. This was their loss, as most of the lenses got a
"liberal coating of the red earth dust. It did not feel right to me
"to be using such valuable kit in a way which I would not do if I
"owned it myself; the first thing I would do would be to fit a UV
"filter. Nikon are not alone in omitting this. I have used countless
"of loan lenses, and remember when Canon did off-road driving through
"mud and water splashes as a press event, and made the same omission
"- no UV filters... you simply never get them supplied with test-review
"loan samples.

Well, I don't how it works with modern lenses, but my most expensive lens,
a 300/2.8, doesn't take any filters to protect the lens. My 16 fisheye,
and my 500 mirror also don't have front mounted filters.

(Hmm, how do you put a polarizer on a 300/2.8 or a 200/2? A front mounted
circular polarizer sounds like a very expensive option.)



True enough, some of the very large lenses would be impractical to fit
with a filter, and some w/as even not fisheye for digital DX/etc formats
have bulging front glass and won't accept a filter. Many of the lenses
(most) were not in that class, and could have had filters; I didn't
check but I assume many of the large apo teles have a plain glass/UV
front element protection built in, and inexpensively replaceable. Old
300mm f2.8s very often didn't have anything at all, and some had very
soft glass. New 300mm f2.8s do, I think, come with a filter-type front
glass.

I had to test a 10-20mm Sigma wide which I brought along myself, which
does take 77mm filters (and I have no 77mm filter to spare). I didn't
use this lens at all in off-road conditions, only round the hotel and
Marrakesh town.

One of my own reasons for buying an 11-18mm Tamron is that it will
accept filters - again, 77mm - and I'm making minimal and careful use of
it until I can find a good, multicoated 77mm slimline w/a filter I can
afford. A polarizer would be great with this as well, and again, far
from low cost.

All the kit which companies like Nikon use on these press trips is
subsequently sold, after full servicing and cleaning, to dealers as
B-Stock and should appear at low prices as ex-demo or B-stock labelled.
So look out for some Nikon kit appearing on the UK market after their
exhibitions and stuff are all over, probably early next year.

David