Panasonic upcoming fast zooms topic

Hazna

Canon L and some Nikon will always be around.
I love how the 14-140mm looks but it is unusable for video zooming

I need 2 things in a zoom lens:
1 Constant Aperture.
2 Not loosing focus while zooming.

As soon as the BIGGER is out "IF EVER" my lens problems will be done.'
I still have my 5D with my L lenses.

stoney

Rumored to be announced in January. Yes metal barrels. At least $1500.

I might keep 14-45 much longer...

LPowell

I don't buy any of these breathless rumors or speculations. If Panasonic had something wider than f2.8, they wouldn't be coy with the leaked photos, they'd be marketing the hell out of it. The fact is that outside of Leica's contributions, Panasonic has always lagged far behind its competitors in fast zoom lens technology. There's no unprecedented magic formula they can whip out that will match Olympus' f2.0 zooms in a package less than half the size. While I don't doubt they can make f2.8 at the wide end, I'll be very surprised if they're any faster than f4 at max zoom.

stoney

+1. Their fastest zoom has been 14-50mm 2.8-3.5. Spending a lot on their first generation super fast zooms seems risky for sure. That's why I'm going to keep 14-45 much longer.

LPowell

@stonebat - "Their fastest zoom has been 14-50mm 2.8-3.5..."

That was one of Leica's designs...

stoney

Ouch...

stoney

Canon has only 3 EF zoom at 2.8. Olympus has only two zooms at 2.0. Panasonic gotta make a first step and they might pull it.

The photo quality of Lumix G 14-45 just blows my mind. So sharp. It must be one of the best "cheap" kit zooms. Let's wait and see what they will bring out.

perder

some reassuring words from pana rep Mac Berggren:

Hello again Peder,

Unfortunately, I can not reveal much about the new lenses except that they will definitely be the best thing we've ever done in lenses. They turn to a higher level of users so they will definitely have to satisfy all the needs you have.
Aperture will be big :)
The price will be high for these premium optics but do you see our prices, our most expensive products are still around 10.000kr (~$1740) and far from a standard example 70-200 f2, 8.
This value for money, we hope to keep.

Source: http://www.akam.no/artikler/_mdash-_hvorfor_ikke_innebygget_soker/103535 (norwegian)

MarcusBrody

Hey Perder,

What products are at the 10,000kr point over there? Just trying to get an idea of what they might be going for here as electronics prices seem to vary more than currency translations would suggest for some reason.

Does he mean the GH2 with the 14-140? As I can't see any lenses close to that amount offered at the moment.

stoney

Panasonic 14-150 for 43 system had a retail price of $1700. They don't plan to make m43 lenses exceeding the price ceiling.

I'm guessing 12-35X and 35-100X together would be over $3000. It would be out of price range for most m43 camera users. Forget anout getting cheap used ones from aftermarket as there wouldn't be enough liquidity. Prolly target customers are AF100/101 owners. But who would wanna spend over three grands if the lenses emplyee the same fly-by-wire focus mechanism? Hopefully Panasonic isn't that stupid.

danyyyel

Yes but they will get a market from the AF-100 market. In fact it would be a very important move for their Af-100 and future 43 large sensor camcorder. A 12-35 and 35-100 large aperture lens, with fast focusing etc would add a lot of value to their $ 5000 camera. For these users it would not be that high.

perder

@MarcusBrody the highest priced m43 lenses i can see in here is
7-14mm = ~9200NOK ($1600) vs $888
Oly 75-300 = 7000NOK ($1200) vs $750 (MAP-listing is $900 whatever that means..)
Vöigt25mm = 7000NOK ($1200) vs $1200 (BH price is a little inflated)
(norwegian prices to the left BHPhotoVideo to the left)

Norwegian prices always include 25% in VAT, but things are generally more expensive even if you don't factor that in.

stoney

Prolly the X lenses would be godsends for being their workhorses. AF100 has a control port for connecting electronic follow focus. No lens gear required.

stoney

I didn't know that Panasonic is pretty good at weather sealing products.

2.5~2.8 range (???), weather sealing, Power OIS, fixed barrel around $1500. Expensive... but it will bode well with GH2's high bitrate patch settings. I don't think 2.8 is too slow anymore.

itimjim

2.8 is a good speed for any zoom. Obviously we lose some shallow DOF capability in comparison to larger sensors, which I don't find 'that' important.

RRRR

Well, I'll definately consider these if they are f2.. (even if the widest aperture is soft as hell). Price is a bit of a none issue in that case as they will be useful professionally.

itimjim

The only pain in the arse will be the fly by wire focus. Great for ENG/Docu/Events though, like really awesome.

stoney

@itimjim

Larger sensors and the high bitrate intra patches give better low lighting performance. Huge advantage over film.

Not a shallow DOF from 2.8, but Power OIS. 2.8/2.5/2.0 who knows. I just hope the X lenses have special coatings to give nice and warm color rendition.

I'm a fan of MF primes, but I'm all about Lumix m43 zooms for zoom type. Zoom is for convenience.

stoney

I'm hopeful. They will improve the fly-by-wire. Prolly main target customers are AF100/101 owners.

No_SuRReNDeR

As long as they have some kind of OIS and are f 2.0 or even up to 2.8...Im sold.

kentist

i really wish those will be in the price range of this (http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-17-50mm-Aspherical-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000EXR0SI) but alas.. the curse of m43... even our "fast normal" costs upwards of 300usd

stoney

Can someone check out Panasonic booth at CES?

2.8 constant aperture?

stoney

Actually I read a posting from slrclub.com that confirmed 2.8 constant aperture. The poster claimed he checked out the booth today. No way to verify though.

Ain't 2.0, but the constant aperture makes it interesting.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

You can look at our photos at http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/1974/ces-2012#Item_11

balazer

Just to clarify, you mean constant f-number. The aperture gets bigger as you zoom in.

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