[andyo @ Oct 30th 2007 7:17AM]

Man, if you wanna charge $200 over the G9's retail price, which by the way works with Speedlite flashes fully (even wireless), and also want to have a prime lens, you'd better come up with a super fast one. f/2.4 is next to nothing of an advantage over the G9. Give me a 28mm equivalent or so, f/1.4 or f/1.2 lens and we'll talk. Make it a little bigger, who cares, this is not Sony territory.

[breathstealer @ Oct 30th 2007 7:24AM]

It's not like 28/1.4 lenses are common even for SLRs, so one on a compact camera for this kind of price is ludicrous.

[andyo @ Oct 30th 2007 7:42AM]

"equivalent" is the operative word. Anyway, fast wide-angle SLR lenses are harder and more expensive to make because they need more space between the rear element and the sensor, because there's got to be space for the mirror box. That's why wides for rangefinders are simpler and usually higher quality.

And we're talking about a compact here. for the extra $200 and what you save on the nonexistent zoom mechanism. I think it's feasible to have a 5.9mm or so f/1.4 lens that has the image circle to cover this tiny sensor.

[andyo @ Oct 30th 2007 7:50AM]

And by the way, there are some midrange consumer camcorders with f/1.2 max aperture zoom lenses, so this is not ludicrous by any means. Granted for a photo camera you'd need a higher resolution lens, but that's what the great price difference is for (this camera is even more expensive than the camcorder in question, a JVC Everio).