How big of a drop are you expecting? 1.999 € is waaaaaay up there... 50mm started at 1.599 € in Germany. So even if you count in cash back (currently 150 €) and you're able to buy it on one of those "10% off for Canon lenses" it'll still put you to 1.289 € for the 50mm. If the 20mm one day is incorporated to the cash back program, it'll likely be around 200 €. So, best case scenario in a year from now is 1.599 € for the 20mm L VCM. Nope, unless one can snatch it up with a great Black Friday refurbished Canon USA deal in Nov, 2026 or beyond, I don´t see this lens becoming "affordable".
Wooow, even with VAT the price difference is enormous. $649 plus VAT (e.g. 8.25% in Texas) puts it at $702. So the difference is roughly $230 or 33%. I don´t know if Canon has done worse before...
I'll be travelling in & out Hong Kong every so often. The lack of VAT, and the usual $100~130USD drop in small/non-franchised camera shops are possible.
Sorry but it doesn't make sense to compare the prices including VAT between countries with totally different VAT rates.
I think that Canon would have mentioned astro use cases in their blurb if it was good enough. Video features etc are more important. Maybe ok for panos where the corners can be stitched out of the final image (similar to the Sigma EF20/1.4)
And yet we have people clamoring for a 28/1.4.
Very true but 14 or 18mm wouldn't need to be a VCM lens
I don't believe so. The narrower the focal length, the less used for astro... more panels, time and things to go wrong (wind or stitching issues). That is not to say that astro shooters don't use 24mm because they sometimes do plus 28/35 and even 40 but the complexities increase. Sometimes shooters will take a 35mm shot for the sky and blend with wider foreground. Not my style but it is an interesting effect to "zoom" into the milky way details especially if removing the horizon level haziness.
