Very interesting post over at the online photographer:

…Canon introduced three coupled tilt-shift lenses for the EOS system, a 24mm, a 45mm, and a 90mm.

…I was told that Canon expected to lose money at least on the 90mm, and that probably all three lenses would never earn back their development cost.

What? So why make them at all?

Because, I was told, the availability of the three tilt-shifts would serve as an enticement for pros thinking of switching systems from Canon’s main competitor. The company would never make any money on those specific products, but it would make money from all the other products those “switchers” would buy after they switched.

OK so far, but now read this:

Once, I ran into an even more fascinating phenomenon: a photographer who had switched to Canon because of the tilt-shift lenses, but who hadn’t actually bought any of the tilt-shift lenses!

What was that about? “I just like to know they’re there,” he told me, “so I can buy them if I want to.”

Does this sound familiar…?