You can now read the first Panasonic 14-42mm X lens review at ePrice (Click here for the google english translation). The image on top is enough to make me say WOW what a lens! A month ago would you ever have thought it would be possible to make a zoom lens that has almost the size of the [shoplink 14796 ebay]20mm f/1.7 pancake[/shoplink]? I guess the answer is NO! ePrice posted a couple of image samples and some youtube videos. And if the google translation tool is annoying you to much there is another good news. The guys over at Clubsnap (Click here) wrote a short 14-42mm X lens preview in native English! More image samples have been posted by Reality Scanner here on Flickr.
Overall I am impressed by this lens. Image samples do look very good, powerzoom is smooth and responsive and it’s so tiny! I already preordered this lens which will be available soon in October!
Here are the direct search links to [shopcountry 25104].
And below you can find all the shops I usually check to see if a the lens is in Stock:
[shoplist 25104]
60 Responses
LOL. It took me a second to realize that biscuits was the translations of pancakes.
Google translate can be annoying, but that can be an indirect benefit at times. When Samsung first released their 20mm wideangle pancake lens they issued the press release in Korean only. So all the “photography” news websites had to use Google translation which rendered pancake lens as “biscuit top lens”. Some sites had the common sense or understanding to change that to pancake lens, while less knowledgeable ones announced Samsung’s new biscuit top lens. This immediately and easily identified a number of sites that didn’t really know what they were talking about and I’ve saved lots of time since by not visiting them.
“I already preordered this lens which will be available soon in October!”
“this lens which will be available soon in October!”
“available soon in October!”
“available soon”
“available”
I lol’d!
Yeah I’m not holding my breath for mine. I don’t look good in purple.
It’s still a slow kit lens with a high price tag.
Olympus collapsible kit is not much bigger – 2cm longer maybe and it’s much cheaper and has manual focus and zoom.
I guess if you absoluutely need motorized zoom…
Motorized zoom isn’t what I need, it’s the extremely small size that’s important to me.
The Olympus lens is OK, but at least 50% bigger and lacks IS.
How does the Olympus lens compare to this from a sharpness standpoint?
I got the original EP1 lens and although everyone shouted about the panasonic 14-45 I find the Oly kit a very good lens.. If this were canon land it would be at least a mid range lens 🙂
Actualy examining the pics, I reckon the Oly wins in sharpness, i guess also contrast (bit of a guess) and I FEEL the panasonic X is quite heavly compensating for CA….
Mind you the GF3 don’t half mess its jpgs up… way too much smeering.
The apature RAW conversions seem better…
So at a peep I’de say the (original, & slightly smaller) Oly betters it for out and out IQ… but this thing looks tiny and seems to have very good IS… let alone a power zoom !!! nice 🙂
At these sorts of sizes, 2 cm is huge, especially when it’s reducing the thickness. I’m currently able to fit the GF1 + 20mm in my cargo pants pocket. With this lens, I could do the same thing with a zoom. That’s a new capability.
+1
Yes it’s still a kit lens, but a very special one! (see the NEX C3 with the 18-55mm, crazy! Tis one is much smaller and better!)
Good work Panasonic!
45-175mm is also reviewed at clubsnap.
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/962870-Review-Lumix-G-X-Vario-PZ-45-175mm-F4.0-5.6-ASPH-Power-OIS-power-zoom
Thanks!
it is like it is – finally people want SAMLL lenses because this is what makes the system big. My goal is to put the camera into my jacket pocket.
up to now it is just possible with my Nikon P7000. (28mm-200mm).
Exactly! I’m not looking for a smaller DSLR (like the Sony Nex), I’m looking at something that I can pocket and which still delivers better quality than a compact.
This lens on a GF3 is almost LX5 small, and with the option of using the 25mm Summilux (only slightly bigger than the Oly kit lens?) the system is much more versatile.
For me a GF3 (or maybe a GFX1, or EP-3) with this lens and the Summilux makes the perfect compliment to my DSLR.
ehm..since the introduction of the pen series it was already possible to put an ep/17mm combo in your jacket pocket…
Obviously the comment referred to the standard kit zoom rather than a prime.
it wasn’t that obvious to me, but since the topic is about the zooms, you are prob right.
> Overall I am impressed by this lens.
And minimum focusing distance is 20cm!
I slowly start thinking that the lens is a hoax: it can’t be that good!!
Edit1 After looking the MFT charts, I start believing in the lens:
http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/systemcamera/gms/lens/g_x_vario_14_42.html
Edit2 ePrice images have finally loaded and confirm the MFT chart. Pretty crappy zoom. But I expected no better at the size. Should be a kit zoom with all next Panny cameras!!!
I’ll admit to being pretty ignorant in my ability to correctly read MTF charts but it looks better than the previous 14-42 and 14-45 (which is well regarded) and it appears that power OIS does live up to the claims so how is it a crappy zoom? By looks better I mean, in comparing the MTF charts – which I admit I may be reading improperly.
MTF charts, explained:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-mtf.shtml
@ kesztio
If that was to me, I scanned it already and still express my ignorance. So your verdict would be better or worse than the 14-42 and 14-45? Dummy00001 says both he starts believing in the lens then says pretty crappy. Those two statements appear to contradict each other.
😀 that was a piece of a (poor) sarcasm.
Everybody’s so enthusiastic about the lens, that no write up actually mentions any flaw or they skimp over/downplay them. And obviously a perfect lens can’t exist.
But MFT charts do not lie and reflect the harsh reality. The lens is of … a standard kit zoom level of quality. But in the end, even to me, the size advantage really outweighs all the disadvantages.
Ok, sarcasm aside then… 🙂 Don’t the MTF charts lead the impression that it is of better quality than the 14-45? Add the tiny size and the power OIS which appears to be for real and it is a bit more than just your grandaddy’s kit zoom, right? 🙂
Mike – the MTF charts are good; you can expect sharpness across most of the frame and quite good levels of contrast, especially at the centre. However, it’s a zoom, so that might all go pear-shaped in the middle somewhere. Dummy seems to have some emotional baggage.
> But MFT charts do not lie
Wouldn’t be so sure about that when charts come from Panasonic’s advertising department…
For example charts of Lumix G 14-45 would want you to believe it’s better lens than 4/3 mount Zuiko 14-42 while in reality it’s the opposite with Panny being optically well worser in nearly everything if you check Photozone’s reviews.
The MFT charts for this lens are great! Compare them to the other panny kitlens’ which are also on the same site.
The X lens spanks them at wide angle and beats them at tele, while being much smaller
Obviously, much better. Hardly surprising as it has lots of aspehrical/ED elements inside.
While at the same time optical design being shrinked makes correcting aberrations lot harder. (14-45 was already seriously undercorrected)
Remember that there isn’t free or even half free lunch in optics… only thing you’ll get for free is marketroids’ excrements, and they’ll happily provide whole bucket loads of that.
Impressive, well done to Panasonic!
I cannot wait for this lens for my E-p3. The size is well worth £350 if the iq is as good as the 14-45
Let second generation of the X lens being zoomable via touchscreen if Panasonic has this new visions.
Not interesting until review is done by Photozone, Lenstip or DxOmark.
Looks like the traffic killed ePrice’s image host.
That’s Google translate. Go to the original page if you want to see the images.
Clubsnap says the lens also reduces shutterlag by 40% (as well as improving AF speed). If true, that’s great, but how does the lens affect shutterlag? Any ideas?
They probably mean that it reduces time from pushing the shutter button to achieving focus confirmation and then taking the shot. Not quite the same thing as shutter lag, but sort of if you like to take shots without pre-focusing, just jamming down. Perhaps the elements are lighter so focus is faster, that sort of thing.
It can close the diaphragm faster before taking the shot.
(the 20mm is very slow and it adds lags when you don’t shot wide-open)
Thanks liquidsilver! That is the explanation from Panny. More speed is always welcome!
Power OIS is awesome! Night shot 1/6s @ 14mm handheld is quite sharp (one take!), 0.4s on 84mm handheld sharpness is acceptable, WOW
Hmmm, that’s too sad for Oly body users. I have just read a report in Japanese site (kakaku.com) from a guy who asked olympus support that Power OIS is automatically killed on Oly bodies, as the lens has no on/off switch.
If you’re looking for full-size photos, only ePrice has them. However, the lens was used on the GF3, which does really weird stuff with JPEGs. They are oversharpened and there’s lots of “plasticky” noise reduction going on. I’m personally not a fan of that look.
The size of this biscuit is indeed compelling but I can’t get past the wee zoom switch. I don’t care that it is motorized, all focussing on m43’s are motorized (focus by wire). A ring for “zoom by wire” would totally solve this, and make it more ergonomic without sacrificing the compactness. Do that Panasonic and I’ll order two.
I assume that Dummy00001 is kidding us by say the pictures confirm the MTF results yet says the pictures are bad? If you look at both the MTF results they do look very good indeed higher than almost any other lens I have seen tested and the pictures are also very good. An added bonus with the close focusing ability this lens will also be able to serve as a macro lens for flower pictures. Perhaps Dummy0001 is referring to the out of focus backgrounds not the objects of the pictures!
I took hope and expect these Xlens to become the kit lenses for all of Panys m4/3 cameras in the near future.
how is this panasonic x14-42 compare to the panasonic 14-45mm in terms of sharpness? I’m still deciding on the pre order. I really like the 14-45mm sharpness but desire more out of focus. Please reply. thankyou in advance.
Panasonic’s MTF charts put its performance similar to 14-45 and that’s what I would expect it to be at most regardless of more aspherical elements and marketing hype because of all the shrinking what’s been done to optical structure.
Out of focus blurring/softening again is different thing and if you want less DOF and better separation of target from background you’ll need either bigger apertures or physically more separation between distances from lens to target and from lens to background.
Just to clarify, the ePrice article says the 14-42mm will go on sale in Japan at the end of October (the last ten days). It’s then expected to be available in Taiwan in November along with the GF3 bundle. I guess we shouldn’t hold our breathe at seeing it any time soon in the west …
🙁
i waited 3 months for the Leica 25mm.. now i have it. but it just does not satisfy me enough. waiting on the 45mm zuiko. and now the X 14-42mm.
until then… my G3 is incomplete
This will make a great partner for the GF3 and E-PM1, esp for home video but tbh I’m much more interested in the 12-35 and 35-100 lenses.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.focus-numerique.com%2Fsurprises-panasonic-ifa-2011-news-2811.html
Any leaks/patents etc that might tell us apertures admin ? I’m guessing fixed f/2.8 but hoping for at least a f/2-2.8 variable. The rumor before was for a 12-50 f/2.5-3.3 ? Is that rumor busted now ?
This is like the collapsible lenses that come on every point and shoot camera – but for the price of two point and shoot cameras.
Eeewwww! I couldn’t *bear* the thought that my Device of Artistic Expression has anything in common with THOSE pedestrian baubles.
This lens is a great achievement for Panasonic for sure. Yet I’m looking forward to have fast zoom than this super kit lens.
With regard to the 12-35, I think i would require f2-2.8 to be tempted away from the fast prime options (12/20/45mm). I assume the 12-35 will be launched with the new GH3. Admin, when is this likely?
The 14-42 X lens is coming soon in the UK. Its now listed (out of stock) at my local dealer for £299. See http://www.mathersoflancashire.co.uk. Seems a reasonable price although I would much prefer to buy it with a GF7!!!! 😉
The person who uploaded X14-42mm pictures to Flickr also uploaded 2.5/14mm prime. It looks like their sharpness is about the same, but the contrast and bokeh of 14-42mm (wide position) is not as good as 14mm prime.
What you guys think?
Anyone know whether the 14-42 X works on a GF1? Are there firmware issues? As far as I know, Panasonic does not update the GF1 anymore.
Yes. It wont display the focal length on screen, and have fixed focal “stops” at 20mm etc. but that’s all.
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