[Joe]

I didn't mean to knock any minolta optics as such. Thinking about it, you have a very good point. some of the Zeiss glass was contrasty.
BUT (and my guess is this is the big but), the name Zeiss has a big following and is well known, even among those who perhaps don't follow optic design. We certainly get many in the shop who'll say things like "there's a good zeiss (or zeuss as some say) lens on this compact/ camcorder etc"....realisticaly I think it's brand power over and pure technical reason.

Back to the subject in this thread.....

I WOULD want to see Nikon produce a full frame camera, as I'm sure many Nikon fans would. Ironically, the strength to justify such a model would lay with the market share perhaps gained from Canon, particularly the 5D....which would buck a trend, certainly amongst some of the big agency pros. I feel Nikon certainly have to pull a few radical new models out of the bag to bite back market share to hark back to their hayday dominance in the F2,F3,F4 model days.
As a consumer, and interested punter, I would certainly like to see Nikon do something along full frame lines, but in reality I really can't see it happen......in the next couple years atleast.