Egami spotted a Pentax patent describing a 14mm f/2.5 lens. The curious thing here is that the desing seems to be close to the [shoplink 16258 ebay]Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 lens[/shoplink] design! Just compare the lens elements images I posted on top.
After Sigma and Konica-Minolta also Pentax designs lenses for the MFT system?
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Panasonic 14mm lens store links: [shopcountry 16258].
40 Responses
I’m no optics expert, but they don’t seem to match exactly.
Same here.
+1
a lot of distinct differences with the element shapes, which is the whole point of an optics patent, so I’d say they are not the same lens … other than similar 14mm f/2.5 offers
Plus one !
These kinds of topic again…
Slow rumor day…
How dare you tell the truth?
Elements 3,4 and 6 aren’t even close.
it is similar, but not the same, but lots of lenses are similar, many are related. maybe the used the same program to design it.
It says 14mm _F2.8_ in the Egami post
it’s usual on patents to write small different specs.
Discovery! All lens the same because all use round glass!
Not to beat a dead horse, but the wikipedia entry on Double Gauss lenses demonstrates the variations on the theme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-Gauss_lens
But this is not a double gauss design. It’s retrofocal, as it has to be because the register of m43 is already larger than 14 mm.
Apart from that, it stands to reason that Panasonic outsourced some of its optics development. Why not? And whoever did it sure did a nice job!
To clarify: my point was not that this is a double Guass design, but that within a given design, there are many variants.
Yes, that’s true. Particularly if you allow as many aspherical surfaces as in this design.
Flange is not an absolute limitation of how far back a rear element can go when focusing. See Canon EF-S lenses as an example – they go so far they would hit mirror of FF Canons. m43 does not have mirror, shutter some way back, so they have some space. Given how cheap and small 14mm and 14-42 mm are, I guess they can go back 5mm easily.
Just like two eggs! 😀
Simple mentality.
Seriously??….looks similar is not the same as exact.
There is at least a couple elements in there that looking somewhat similar are far from identical. Please oay attention to detail.
First Olympus didn’t design the 75 then Panny didn’t design the 25 and now this and when I looked at all if them there was differences.
Egami or Oragami needs thick high spec glasses it seems.
Hey Admin,
Don’t make confusing.
Patent describes lens length is about 7cm.
So they are completely differ from Panasonic pancake
Stop posting these stupid “egami noticed a patent” posts. They’re 100% always wrong and just make this site look ridiculous.
Admin has no clue, thats why he uses small sensors
It will be interesting to see how it resembles, or not, the coming Leica 15mm. I do hope that the Leica does not need FW correction of CA, and has slightly better edges.
Any rumors BTW?
Leica 15mm? Wow. How will that compare with the Pany 15mm with the paid-for Leica name on the lens? Or maybe that Chinese Kodak camera with the non paid-for Leiica name on it – perhaps made in the same factory as the Pany version?
Should be quite a competition until someone notices the real Leica cost ten times as much, but might be worth it for some.
if so, so what?
so what?
so what?????????????????
BTW, before, Pentax provide its technology to Samsung.
I wouldn’t be surprised. Pentax makes great lenses. I love the Pana 14mm F2.5 lens. It’s way underrated! 🙂
I wrote a short review on my own site which is still under construction about the amazing 14mm lens with image examples. I love this lens:http://talkingtree.org/2013/07/my-love-for-the-panasonic-lumix-14mm-f2-5-pancake-lens-perfect-for-landscapes/
Well, this is no real secret that well-known optical companies not only manufacture lenses for their own systems but sell optical components (like whole lens units for compact cameras and/or laser-beam focusing units for optical drives) and sometimes even just optical formulas to everyone who’s willing to pay for it. Zeiss e.g. has been doing that for decades; Leica and Angénieux (this french company was in the past as notorious as Leica, Zeiss and others) do that too. The most well-known optical formulas are Leicas Summicron- and Elmarit-designs, which can be found under different names in a lot of cameras resp. lenses from the most different brands… Especially the Japanese market isn’t as closed as it is believed to be; it is indeed (relatively) closed to foreign companies, but among themselves the Japanese camera and/or lens manufacturers do cooperate A LOT (like sharing know-how and cross-selling patented technology) more than most of us use to think…
It is the same optical formula but it isn’t the same lens! What should have been the news here is that Pentax filed patents for 3 m4/3 lenses! It would be super if Pentax joined m4/3. They are are great company with tons of experience in both lens and camera design. The 3 lenses listed are nothing super special but if priced right I would consider them, especially the 17mm f2.
The Russians even stole the machining tools from the Zeiss factories, and began their own production with Zeiss glass! So I have an East German Zeiss and a Russian one 🙂
Speaking about the 14/2.5, I use it daily. With Oly cameras however it is prone to purple flooding if Sun is low and in the frame. The ‘Leica’ perhaps would avoid it.
The Russians never *stole* those machines, the ownership was and is perfectly legal. They were given to them by the Germans as World War II reparations – a small price to pay for what they had done in Russia.
I don’t think it’s always so easy with higher moral ground: thanks to “Vorsprung durch Technik” Soviet Union and USA made it to the moon (quicker) or got Zeiss lenses. But today’s ejector seats are so safe because it was tested on concentration camp prisoners, which g-force the human spine can withstand.
We shouldn’t be so judgemental because there’s always more than one side to the story
LOL I am a big fan of Russian glass, whatever the origin. However if you read the Eastern sites, you’ll see that many optical diagrams are pre-war Zeiss, so they stole those too 🙂
It is a great pleasure to take piccies with those, very simple coatings contributing to dreamy atmoshpere and yet with good resolution even today. They also have some good reconnaissance FE lenses of their own make, and invented original formulas as well.
Zeiss Jena OTH was the only cheap way to have real metal and glass zeisses, still going strong today with m4/3 🙂
It is always a pleasure to show fellow Westerners some benefits of Communism, RIP.
Pity I just sold the lens to give way to the incoming Summilux 15mm . Overall this lens it’s a good lens but just not fast & sharp enough .
The 14mm is one of the highest resolving lenses, according to Lensrentals. Either you have a bad sample or you are unable to appreciate it.
They don’t match! Not a single element does, actually, if you look closely. They are also grouped in a different way…
Don’t quite the same.
This one by Pentax, “Leica” one by Minolta…
Pay one to design it, other to manufacture it, third to use their name on it… and transfer and charge the cost back to us.
Srsly, admin. BOth have as much in common as a VW and Fiat.