Quote Originally Posted by jgredline
I guess I need to look at the inner workings of a lens...When I see some of my primes and I see the size of the glass, it does not surprise me that they shoot sharper pics...
I'd really compare images rather than lens guts. Just make sure to remove any sharpness variables (tripod, cable release or self timer, etc) so that the test is as fair as it can possibly be. Older zooms used to be a lot physically bigger and heavier - look at older 80-200 variable aperture zooms in the 4-5.6 range like the Vivitar Series I. It's almost the size and weight of an 80-200 f2.8 (plastics have something to do with it, but lots more glass in the older lenses). I'd take a new inexpensive 80-200 over one of the old ones any day. They've come a long ways!