There’s a great show in Canada called “How It’s Made”, which airs on the Discovery Channel. They get invited onto the factory floor for all sorts of manufactured items. This video follows the process of putting together a lens on the JML Optical assembly line. As you would likely guess, the process will vary between manufacturers, but this might give you a little insight as to why those camera lenses are so expensive. » MORE

Pentax, who is steadfastly holding up against the larger camera manufacturers, has three new lenses being showcased at PMA and the Photo Imaging Expo.

The first is a 55mm f/1.4, the second is a 60-250mm f/4, and the third lens is a 17-70mm f/4. All three lenses feature the SDM ultrasonic focusing. The 55mm sounds particularly nice, since it’s a very fast lens and will give you a great amount of control over your depth-of-field.

For more information on Pentax lenses, see the Pentax site.

This morning, Nikon unveiled the D60… and just shortly after, they also announced three new lenses. Two of them are specialty lenses, and the third is an all-purpose lens. These come on the tail end of the D60 announcement, and should be shown off at the PMA trade show in Las Vegas - though you can see them here. » MORE