ThrillaMozilla wrote:

Sensei Rob wrote:

Mako2011 wrote:

Sensei Rob wrote:

Back in the day every manufacturer's top of the line offerings had some type of metal lens barrel, but now everyone makes them out plastic.

Now plastic often out performs metal in many ways.

I'm not sure it does. The trouble with polymers are they're susceptible to UV damage, which, over time, cause them to become brittle. So far as I can tell, this issue hasn't been solved.

Well, let us know when you start breaking them. I've never heard of lens barrels breaking, although I have heard of Sony metal lenses breaking in two at a joint.

This is due to poor engineering choices, rather than chosen materials. You know this (or perhaps you don't).

I dunno. If you look at a good nikkor lens from the pre-ai days, or even a fairly modern one with the crinkle finish (e.g. 28mm f1.4D), they're about as good as build quality gets.

Also, I think vintage Leica lenses (like the 50mm summicron dual range) are built better than modern Leica lenses - but they don't count, since they're both metal. I wrote all that just to say I don't think build quality has improved.

As Roger Cicala says, people should stay in their own lane. You can't tell anything about the build quality from the crinkly surface. You've gotta disassemble it.

I didn't even write the build quality is because of the crinkly finish. I said, those lenses with that finish have excellent build quality. If you don't believe me, choose one, look up the reviews, or even better, take one apart. You'll see I'm correct.

You should take Roger's advise.