We won't have the 70-300 to kick around anymore!

[kvbarkley]

Canon has introduced a new 70-300 II:

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/ef70-300-ii-usm_gallery.shtml

Has new nano-crystal USM for improved AF for still and video shooters

improved IS

Improved optics - now focuses a foot closer

An LCD display that can show a distance scale, the zoom setting (35 mm equivalent if you are shooting crop sensor!), an indication of how much IS is working.

[kvbarkley]

Just the current one, just like the scale.

[Waddizzle]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

Just the current one, just like the scale.

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Just the current one, as in the current focusing distance?  Hmm, that sounds too much like a real time readout of current focusing distance, which still sounds like way too much memory. 

I have no doubt that progamming memory space inside of a lens is a premium commodity.  I helped build rocket payloads way back in the day, and squeezing as much programming into a very small memory chip was a constant challenge. 

It's not that they didn't know how to program various functions, they had to squeeze it all into a memory chipset that was much smaller than what the original prototype devices used.  Everyone would be told that so much memory space is available, and so everyone would build and instrument that required a sizeable large chunk of that memory space, completely ignoring the requirements of the other instruments.  First came, "make it work", followed by "make it fit."

[kvbarkley]

Indeed. Current microcontrollers like the Arduino Uno have the same issue, so I realize the problem. But the current design allows at least 3 different displays and my suggestion would take up as much memory as the "retro" distance/dof scale. But we really don't know how much room is left. Can't hurt to make a suggestion.

I think my suggestion is as useful as the real-time IS usage indicator, which I don't really see a use for.