Finally new rumors are coming in and the next two months will bring us may new Micro Four Thirds lenses (and a camera too?). Let’s make a short recap of what we heard these last weeks:
There will be soon a new Olympus zoom lens that starts with 12mm and has no constant aperture. It coule be a m43 re-edition of the current [shoplink 23681 ebay]Four Thirds 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 lens (here on ebay)[/shoplink]. Then we will have two or three new Panasonic X lenses. The two weather sealed 12-35mm and 35-100mm f/2.8 (or faster?) lenses for $1.000-$1500. There is also a rumor saying there could be a third X lens, a new 35mm f/2.4 macro pancake X lens. If we have weather sealed lenses than a weather sealed camera should also follow soon.
And now the question. If all rumors turn out to be correct. Than what is THE one product you are would be interested to buy?
[poll id=”103″]
If you have some rumors to share feel free to send me an anonymous message by using the contact form on the right sidebar. You can also send me an email at 43rumors@gmail.com. Thanks!
98 Responses
I’m obviously interested in both of 12–35 and 35–100, but no chances to have enough money for them. At least not in the near future.
A weather sealed lens does not necessarily imply an upcoming weather sealed camera.
For one, all that is required to seal a lens is a couple of O rings – it is much easier and cheaper than sealing a camera body.
Other than that, lenses having external focusing and zooming, i.e. having a barrel that expands and contracts, pump air (humidity and dust) in and are much more vulnerable than camera bodies.
The lens mockups seem to be made of the same fragile plastic the new Panasonic lenses are made of (Summilux 25mm and two X lenses). While good enough for most practical purposes, if you are expecting those lenses to have the same build quality as the pro Nikon and Canon lenses, or the Olympus HG and SHG lines then you might be seriously disappointed.
So what’s your point? You just need a couple of O rings for weather sealing but a zoom lens is vulnerable because assumingly it is not build to the best quality?
Let me rephase this. One just needs to provide crap quality for weather sealing, and when it is with crap quality and vulnerable, it is of crap quality?
Huh?
OK, I’ll make this much easier for you.
1. Lenses are more vulnerable to dust and humidity than camera bodies.
2. Lenses are easier and cheaper to seal than camera bodies.
3. Therefore (1+2) a sealed lens on a non sealed body actually does make sense.
4. Therefore (3) one should not assume sealed lenses *necessarily* means a sealed bodies to come.
Another point I am trying to make is that judging by the mockups, those lenses seem to be built more or less to the same standards as the most recent Panasonic lenses. If one is expecting these lenses to match the Oly 14-35 and 35-100 (or Canon and Nikon equivalents) in terms of build quality, then one might be disappointed. In the same vein, a weather sealed body, if Panasonic does make one, will not be made to the E-x, Canon 1Dx or Nikon xD standards.
Nowhere in my original post did I mention crap quality – these are your own UNFORTUNATE words. What I acutally wrote was “good enough for most practical purposes”.
I don’t think my post needs rephrasing. If you don’t understand my point you can ask (using inoffensive language might help), or consult someone who can actually read.
Your points made perfect sence to me Frederick.
Thank you for your voice of confidence 🙂
I don’t knoww anyone who would be happy to stand out in pouring rain with an unsealed camera just because the lens was sealed.
A sealed body will come or the lenses are pointless. End of.
So, let me introduce myself…
Nice to meet you. I like both Hungary and Israel 🙂
Please attach video of you standing in heavy rain with your camera out for a prolonged period. Then attach video of you ordering a new camera.
I have done exactly that. I just put a plastic bag over the camera to keep it dry with the lens sticking out. With a telephoto lens with a hood attached it works OK. I would have preferred a weather proofed body too but just having the lens weather proofed allowed me to shoot in rain in a pinch.
Well in that case why not just stick a bag over the whole lot? Oh yes, because it’s a pain using a camera with a bag taped to it.
You can do it but it’s not really a nice solution is it?
Because you cannot shoot through a bag, the lens has to stick out. It is not the best solution but is much better than nothing.
A couple of times I have tried holding the camera under an umbrella but find a bag over the camera does a better job of keeping the camera dry, particularly if there is any wind.
Yes yes yes blah blah. And I could stay indoors and shoot out the window.
Are you in fact saying that you think there will be sealed lenses and no sealed body? That was the original point of the discussion.
I think it would be stupid to have one without the other. Some people disagree.
+1
I certainly wouldn’t be happy to stand out in pouring rain with an unsealed camera – just because I’d rather stay dry.
“Weather sealed” lenses are not necessarily designed to endure extreme weather conditions. Even in moderate weather, a humble o ring can do a lot to keep dust and humidity out. This is certainly the case for people living or visiting in humid parts of the world such as the far east or the tropics, as well as for avoiding humidity condensation in cold weather countries.
There are different standards for enviornmental protection, we don’t know to which standard the new lenses will conform (if you do, please share your information with us).
Judging from the appearance of the mock-ups, I would not expect those lenses to be as resilient as your post suggests. Therefore, if Panasonic does come out with a weather sealed body (which I doubt), most chances it will not have the same ruggedness and resilience the Olympus E-5 (or previous models) has, neither that of the high end Canons and Nikons.
Flame me as much as you want, you bought into a consumer oriented system. Higher-end gear costs more money than what m43 users will be willing to pay.
Nobody is flaming anyone. I just think they’ll have a tough job selling sealed lenses to anyone if there is no sealed body. Imagine the conversation in the store? “And this lens is showerproof sir”
“Wow. But my camera isn’t. Will that be OK?”
“No sir”
“So can I buy a new sealed camera?”
“Erm…no sir”
“So what’s the point of that then?”
“Let me show you this Tesco carrier bag sir. Guaranteed rainproof”
Consumer based system or not, it makes no sense to have one without the other. And we can’t get into a discussion about the quality of the sealing because nobody knows so why do you assume it’ll be inferior?
Splashproof/dustproof would be a boon for a lot of people. But only if it applies to camera AND lens.
There is no such thing as a Canon or Nikon equivalent to the Oly 14-35 and 35-100 F2.0 lenses. They are the fastest zoom lenses ever made.
And now imagine.. What if they were even one stop faster.. OMG! Then… they would even match the fullframe Canikon f/2.8 zooms for what they do! Unfortunately, they are only f/2 🙁 But at least they are both bigger & more expensive! 😀
Btw., the P&S Olympus XZ-1 lens is even faster at the wide end.
mmmm F2 v F2.8… they beat the canon – sorry I forgot you only need a fast lens to make the background blurry… yeh thats why all the canon guys get the F2.8s because you just dont get enough blur with F4!
The oly 4/3 lenses are special – beyond any other (run of the mill) lenses made… (yep I’ll go that far)… not only are they fixed F2, water proof and very good quality… they are telecentric in design… no focus breathing, parralell image output and no distortion or size varience accross the frame… (they can be used for machine reading applications, should you want to) some of the most demanding optics on the planet right there!
If only we had a sensor as good as the 5n to put behind them 🙂
And if only I won the lottery 🙂
Comparing to a lens on a camera with a 1/2″ sensor is totally meaningless. The lens on the XZ-1 doesn’t have to cover nearly as large of an area, so it can be much smaller.
Bingo! Finally a reasonable argument 😉
Now it’s equally meaningless to compare an f/2 zoom for 4/3″ sensor to a f/2.8 lens for a FF sensor of 4 times more the area.. The latter one simply has both better DOF control and absolute light gathering capability! That is called physics.
In other words, f-number alone doesn’t mean anything – it must always be seen as a parameter of a system with another equally important factor – sensor area..
Olympus f/2 zooms may be special designs, but they are also rather glass wasting designs, and in the end, they aren’t any better than comparable FF lenses at a comparable DOF.
> The lens mockups seem to be made of the same fragile plastic the new Panasonic lenses are made of […]
Here we go again, comparing the plastic used in lenses to the plastic used in the Chinese Barby doll knock-offs.
I for would love to see any statistic showing that metal FF lenses are more robust than the “plastic” m43 lenses. But I doubt that even if such statistics existed, it would have favored the metal build: F=ma; U=mgh; meaning that body+lens, weighing say 4 times less, are subjected to 4 time less energy.
+1
Actually the polycarbonate Olympus uses for HG and SHG 4:3 lenses is far superior to metal.
There are different grades of polymers. All m43 so far tend to be cheaply, but reasonably well made. I see no reason to expect future body and lenses to have much better build quality nor extreme weather resilience.
As in my previous post – like it or not, you bought into a consumer oriented system.
I hope the 12-35mm is f/2.
Me too, f2 is something that would really draw attention to the m43 brand and blow NEX out of the water, even if it was super expensive, it would show that m43 is a more varied system to buy into.
So u don’t mind if it is as expensive as current 43 setup?
m43 or 43, it doesn’t change the production costs.
I dont care how much it costs – I wont be able to afford it 🙂
So why not – lets have F1.4 – F2 variable apature…. the system would suddenly have the best lenses on the market! and negate most of the advantages of FF!
Well that’s the one big issue with m4/3’s vs NEX isn’t it? One of these m4/3’s lenses will pretty much have to be f/2 since that’s what it takes to equal f/2.8 on the NEX system (from a DOF perspective). However, even from a simple light gathering perspective since the current NEX sensors have 1-2 stops better ISO you still wouldn’t loose anything in that department by shooting at f2.8 opposed to f/2. Sony already has an f/2.8 zoom planned for 2012; and if these lenses are only f/2.8 zooms all they’ll have to do to match them is make an f/4 zoom.
So blowing NEX out of the water seems unlikely, but they should at least allow m4/3’s to compete with Sony for high end users.
The high end area I think m4/3’s should focus on is this weather sealed rumor. Outdoors enthusiast like me would love to have a high quality compact weather sealed camera. Unless you want a dinky waterproof P&S currently the smallest option is the Pentax K-5, which isn’t small at all. The ability of m4/3’s to make smaller lenses than its APS-C competitors is a huge bonus for that market. The less weight and bulk the better.
a f2.8 nex zoom with the same focal range will be exactly twice the size m43 zoom…and this is a real advantage…;)
“One of these m4/3′s lenses will pretty much have to be f/2 since that’s what it takes to equal f/2.8 on the NEX system (from a DOF perspective).”
Believe it or not, some of us care about apertures for their light-gathering power rather than for minimizing DOF. An f/2.8 lens would be fast enough to let me replace my clunky DSLR system in more situations, and it would be faster than any of the zoom lenses available in the NEX system.
Sure, I’d rather have an f/2 lens, but not at the expense of extra size, weight or cost.
+1
I would have gone full frame long ago if thin DoF was an obsession.
+1
Bang on! I often shoot at f/2.8 wishing for MORE DOF but unable to go up to f/4.0 because of the low light conditions. Ramping up the ISO only gets you so far.
@Gianluca
A NEX f/2.8 zoom will certainly be larger than a m4/3’s f/2.8 zoom. No arguments there, but I’m now sure how you came to the conclusion it will be twice as large. Currently the closest matching lenses in the two systems from a design perspective are the Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 and the Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, and they are very close in size.
Besides, as I said, at least for some of us (not all of us, see Ranger 9’s comment); a Sony 16-50mm f/4 would equal a m4/3’s 12-35mm f/2.8. I suspect two such lenses would also be nearly identical in size.
14-42mm x lens is half size than 18-55mm nex, 24mm f1.8 new is 3 time bigger than pana 20mm f1.7.
50mm f1.8 sony is twice 45mm f1.8mm olympus and it has a shorter focal length.
I was referring to the old 14-42mm lens (you could also use the 14-45mm as an example). As it is a similar design to the Sony 18-55mm. The new 14-42mm X lens is a totally different concept in lens design, and is something Sony could copy if they so choose. One could also say the Sony 16mm is far smaller than the Olympus 12mm, but they are totally different optical designs, so that’s not fair at all. You have to compare apples to apples.
The Sony 50mm vs the Olympus 45mm is a more fair comparison, but the Sony also has image stabilization built in, which again keeps it from being a truly fair comparison. But the size of those two is still very similar.
“..and is something Sony could copy if they so choose…” yes of course, but the true story is that you can put the new gx1 with the x lens in your jacket pocket and you can’t with your nex.
And this is apples to apples…so right now is easy to believe that sony new will be 2 time bigger than m43 lens.
Sorry, I thought we were discussing future rumored lenses, and using current lenses as nothing but a reference.
But that said, no, it’s still not easy to believe the NEX lenses will be 2x the size. When comparing similar designs that simply isn’t the case. Yes, Sony’s lenses are larger, but the difference is basically non existent when comparing similar lenses like the Sony 18-55mm/Panny 14-45mm, Sony 16mm/Panny 14mm, Sony 50mm/Olympus 45mm. It all comes down to a matter of design choice. While I applaud Panasonic for using creativity to solve the issue of zoom lens size, a power zoom is still not something that appeals to me at all. I prefer a nice mechanical zoom. I would rather just use a prime lens for times when I need a small lens.
Also, for the record I don’t personally have a horse in this race as I own both m4/3’s and NEX gear. Further, I typically recommend m4/3’s to friends/family interested in upgrading their cameras. But I reccomend m4/3’s due to AF speed, not due to lens size. A NEX-5n with 18-55mm is hardly a burden to carry.
Thats not true. Olympus has had 2.0 for years and it didn’t draw anybody
+1
One more vote for F2. After comparing lens prices, I think 1300 EUR is too much for constant F2.8 zoom, since APS-C F2.8 zooms are 350-700 EUR.
No pig in a poke buying here.
Would have to know if camera is any good in ergonomy and controls. (+ would prefer in body stabilization for getting it to any lens)
And without real high end body I’m not going to spend further money to any expensive lenses whose real optical quality is also questionable considering m4/3’s track record.
The 12-35 and the macro lens might interest me, but then again lets wait to see the prices, for me this is always the problem XD.
btw, this poll should have more than 1 option available to select
We need options for 12-35 F2 and 35-100 F2 lenses in the poll. Or has their aperture been confirmed to be F2.8?
+1 for f/2 options.
Lots of negativity, yet all these products will advance mft significantly. I voted for the camera because I expect the gh3 to be a real step forward with silent electronic shutter, better EVF and better AF tracking- I am not so bothered about weather sealing. Only specs and tests will prove anything of course.
Tha camera body, if it will be an upgraded GH2.
If the 12-35mm is f/2.8, then what is there to be excited about? That’s only one stop faster than the 14-45mm and 14-42mm on the wide end. 2mm wider is nice, but does that really warrant the rumored high cost?
Every rumor on this site raves about upcoming products that are consistently dull. Remember the buzz about the gx1? Did that live up to the hype for anyone? This rumor blog reads more like a press release rumors blog.
What’s the last m43 product that was truly great?
Rob
“What’s the last m43 product that was truly great?”
– GH2
– GX1
Maybe the Oly 12/2 and 45/1.8 as well but I am a Pansonic guy.
“Maybe the Oly 12/2 and 45/1.8 as well but I am a Pansonic guy.”
Haha, great comment : )
Don’t forget to add Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH.
Oh, and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 7-14mm F4 ASPH.
And Samyang 7.5mm f3.5 umc fisheye!
And Voigtlander f/0.95 25mm.
I’m sorry, what am I doing here? You are probably right, I can’t remember the last m43 product that was truly great… :O
The 20/1.7 and 7-14mm were announced in 2009. I’m not sure about the Samyang fisheye because I haven’t heard anything from anyone who has it. The 25/.95 does seem to be popular, for a $1000+ manual focus lens made by a third party announced over a year ago. The GH2 (which is what I use) is hardly great, it’s an incremental improvement over the GH1, it was also announced over a year ago and is looking dated compared to the competition. The GX1 is great? Looks like a pretty incremental upgrade to the 2009 GF1 if you ask me, but we’ll see when people actually get their hands on it. Hardly looks great though.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned the 25mm/f1.4, as far as I’m concerned thats the last (and only) “great” product Panasonic has introduced in quite a while. I do like the 45/1.8, between that and the 25, those have been on my GH2 80% of the time lately.
Anyways, I guess I’m just venting, but a lot of the products Pan-Oly has been introducing lately seem pretty mediocre, mild upgrades or underwhelming, overpriced lenses. Maybe I’m just jealous of the excitement the Sony guys get to have over the NEX-7. Not excited enough to get one of course…
But come on Panny, give us a great camera already. No more of this 460k rear lcd that wasn’t even cutting edge in 2009. Or the resistive touchscreen you have to firmly jab at to use. Or the 12mp sensor that keeps getting recycled in various forms, with very mild DR / high ISO performance differences from it’s 2009 form. The barely noticeable EVF upgrade on the GH2 looks like childs play compared to the 2.4 MP OLED EVF that Sony’s using…
And now they are touting (leaking) info on a 12-35mm thats probably going to cost $1500+ and rumors seem to point at f2.8, only one stop faster than the 14-42mm kit lens on the wide end.
Give us something to really be excited about not this incremental stuff. Something that really takes vision.
Rob
If customers had unlimited budget and the back strength of a human fork lift, f0.95 constant zooms on mf image circle would be common.
“What’s the last m43 product that was truly great?”
SLR Magic 12mm T1.6, announced a month ago. No such thing for APS-C, AF or not… You’d have to look in full frame lenses to find 24mm F1.4 lenses.
@Rob: You are kidding, right? ‘Only 1 stop faster’ lol.. What about the long end? Also ‘Only 2 stops faster -> not worth the money’ for you? 😀
From what I’ve seen, the SLR Magic 12mm is a novelty lens. Anytime Steve Huff describes something as having “Mojo” or lots of “character” you know it’s got some serious deficiencies that he’s trying to polish up in his overly enthusiastic shilling type of way.
The autofocus Oly 12/2 is far more interesting to me, but I can’t justify the $800 for that. Not sure if I’d call it “great”. “Good” maybe.
Rob
Two stops faster than the tortoise slow 14-42 on the long end hardly qualifies it as ‘great’. And I suspect most use of that lens will be right at the 12mm side. I understand the videographers will dig anything quick with constant aperture, but for the rest of us, 35mm is pretty short and in that no-mans-land of awkward focal lengths. If I get it, I’d probably be swapping for the 45/1.8 instead of zooming out most of the time.
The lens interests me for shooting people indoors (like weddings, parties), where wide, fast and zooming is good. But f2.8 at $1500+? Ugh.
Rob
“What’s the last m43 product that was truly great?”
Despite the fact that a spare battery costs 100 Euros (!) in the EU zone, it is GH-2.
Now, Panasonic are giving 100 Euros cash back on the GH-2. 😉
The GFs are languishing on the shelves of vendors unsold (in addition to the G2, G3 and the like) and they keep churning out new batteries and a different model to go with it. 😉
What ? Another whetherseal camera ? That will be interesting . Hope it’ll be another rangefinder style camera not GH3 .
I just can’t wait to know the exact aperature for X lens 35-100mm , faster than F2.8 please .
My only hope for us on a budget would be, for olympus to price the 12-60 below $800. I surely like the constant aperture of panasonic x lenses, but it is surely out of my budget range
Do we have further infos about the maximum aperture of the upcoming Oly lens as 4.5@60mm would be a bit disappointing?
Nevertheless I prefer 12-60 than 12-35 as 12-60 should cover most of “standard” requirements.
Still curious…
In the poll it says 12-60 f2.8-f4.5 the current Olympus is f4 at 60m not f4.5 so the new version would be the same or does admin know its f2.8 -f4.5
Corrected! Thanks!
I would buy the 12-60mm IF (and a big if) it was as good as the 12-60mm Olympus released before…
I would also buy the macro if it was cheaper than the current macro, which for what it is costs too much (for my needs anyway)…
it seems that the oly 50mm f2.0 macro, is being pushed back again..
You can have a nice macro lens for 250 euro: buy a canon FD 50mm f3.5 macro with life size extender and an adaptator ! That what I did and I’m very happy with it. Shaprness is excellent good from f5.6, manual focus is very accurate with magnifying mode, the only problem: the extender is not very pratical…
Be carefull: Kippon adaptors are bad, I had one anf it had a lot of play, I finally bought a novoflex…
As for me, I’m a zoom man 🙂 Versatility is more important to me than pocket size. I’m even willing to sacrifice a little bit of brighteness for it (compared to primes).
It will be interesting to see how the two 12-x zooms compare: in brightness, range, optical performance in general, construction quality, price. I feel the Panasonic 12-35mm will be the more ‘serious’ glass – brighter (constant f/2.5?), internal zoom mechanism, wheather sealed. OTOH the Oly zoom will be probably both more versatile and (perhaps) more affordable. So.. I’ll wait for reviews, user experiences and also for a stabilized price.
Looking forward to see the 35-100mm as well. The big question here – is it f/2.8? Or even a bit brighter? (I don’t suppose so.) Anyhow… probably my next purchase after the WA-normal range zoom.
+1. Both the upcoming Pana X lenses and the new Oly normal zoom seem very interesting at least on paper. While i’m more interested in Panny’s offering, Oly’s would be much more convenient for ultimate flexibility and portability. Let’s just hope that:
1) The new X lenses have top notch optical quality. We know panny can do that (think 20mm, 7-14mm zoom or the panaleica 25mm).
2) The Oly lens is comparable to the four thirds version in IQ and craftmanship. Let it be black with rubberized rings, no silver bling, please!!!
As for a new “pro” pana body, in my opinion it should have a build quality comparable to the GF1, with a metal housing and quality buttons. The GH2 seems flimsy and toy like in comparison.
Exciting times at the M43 camp!!!
Pan said their new lenses didn’t have the best optical quality. They said they were fixing it with software
I agree with Nico Foto: The only negative to say about the new m4/3 is that the 12 and 45 mm are in silver bling. This really draws people’s attention which is not always what you want.
I also agree to the critic of the GH2: Poor ergonomy for it’s DSLR-like design. I acually prefer the smaller G3! Let’s hope a GH3 is re-designed to something better and also more strurdy appeal of GF1/GX1.
(And real quality EVF, and better DR, and……)
If you use a standard black hood the silver is hardly noticeable… I prefer black as well however
Silver is good. Look what can did with an ugly gray lens. When u see a gray lens with s red ring you know what they are using
@kylberg – I imagine ergonomics are somewhat subjective. I wanted to get a smaller 2nd body to my gh2. I opted not to get it because I felt the ergonomics were lacking – nothing to grip
I voted for the 35-100 because it’s the focal length range I most need to fill in M4/3.
About the only reason I drag out my DSLR anymore is for situations in which I have to deploy my 70-200/2.8 “grenade launcher,” and I do so reluctantly because that beast is so appallingly heavy to lug around and handhold during a multi-hour event. A nice sharp 35-100/2.8 would move my DSLR system one big step closer to retirement. It would be a very useful range for low-light event video, too.
A 12-35/2.8 would be a nice addition to the line as well — but personally I would rather cover that range with single-focal-length lenses, which is now easily possible within M4/3 (not so much within the NEX or Samsung systems.) The 20/1.7 and 45/1.8 I already have, plus a 35-100, would cover probably 95% of my photo situations.
The only jokers in this deck: What is Fuji going to do? And what might Canon do? I suspect that for a lot of us, major lens investments are going to be “frozen” until this part of the picture becomes more clear.
As someone who has opened up a few Panasonic cams and lenses, I would like to say the following:
1. Frederick Hew’ posts are in line with reality.
The 14-45, for example already has a great construction (“weather sealing” if you go by the O ring present near the mount like the “weather sealed” lenses from say, Nikon).
2. There is NO (I repeat no) room inside for sealing cams like the G1 or the GH-2. They are literally crammed with everything so tight.
Either they have make bigger bodies (I hope they do) or shrink everything inside.
I voted none of the above in the poll. This “weather seal” is yet another marketing hype. Please, no more of the same cams and stop churning out these more or less the same lenses. Pay some attention to the lighting and such, for example. Electronics in this area is so advanced, it is hard to believe that only a primitive flash is available from Panasonic for their m4/3rds sized cams. A real shame.
+1
I too wish the GH body was a tad bigger and shaped more ergonomically for hand holding with a heavier lens attached.
I had enough with 4/3 and M4/3 .. BUY SONY THEN!!!!!!!!
Why just Sony?! There is Ricoh/Pentax, Nikon and Samsung. Lots of choices. ha,ha! 🙂
12-35/2.0. it would become my main lens.
i’ll sell my other lens to offset the cost.
The X lenses sound interesting, but we will have to wait to see how they compare to the Leica lenses, if there are any coming. I’ve had the 25mm Summilux for two weeks now and have been blown away by the results. I have an arsenal of Nikon lenses, and bodies, but the Leica 25mm on a G3 blew them away. I have the file and 20×24 print to prove this. I hope the Xs are great. I have the new 45-175; still testing.
1- These are Panasonic mock-ups, the real lenses will look different.
2- A Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens will likely cost the same as the Canon / Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 lenses, so expect to pay $1,000+
3- 12-35mm f/2.0 and a 35-100mm f/2.0 will cost as much as the Olympus 4/3 equivalent, so expect to pay $2,000+ for each of these lenses.
4- My guess is that Panasonic will produce a 12-35mm f/2.4 lens and a 35mm-100 f/2.8 lens, and both will cost around $1,400 each.
+1
That’s what I expect too. Hopefully the street price will go down after some time.
The price of the 7-14 did go down after 2 years. Are you willing to wait that long to save $200 or $300 per lens?
If I want anyone of them badly, I won’t wait.
Yep. My plan is to wait at least 1 year 😉
I like to go out in the rain. OK, so I live in the Pacific Northwest of the US and not going out in the rain isn’t really an option.
A weather sealed camera would be ++ great.
I live in the rainy Pacific NW US, too. So a moisture-resistant “GH3” body gets my vote.
Oh, and Panasonic: Please add a headphone jack (or full-time live audio out the A/V port), and cleaner 8-bit dithering (or 10-bit) video compression. Cheers.
I lived on Puget Sound (Pacific NW) for a few years and MOVED because of all the goddam rain. 😉
RE: Fragile Plastic
I think it’s important to define a realistic scenario and peer group before labeling the durability of a product. My sledge hammer is pretty fragile compared to a wrecking ball.
RE: Weather Sealing.
Is the weather sealing going to be designed for a parent shooting a soccer game in the rain or a journalist covering an ocean rescue? It’d be a nice addition to increase the longevity of the lenses.
RE: Speed
Why would someone who needs a paper thin DoF consider spending $2000 on a MFT+Lens considering that’s so close to the price of a full frame camera? It’s just plain silly to complain about a wider DoF as a completely disembodied specification.
I’m a photojournalist and product photographer. For what I shoot, people typically want more in focus than less. So, paper thin DOF is not desired by my clients.
As a result, Olympus has an advantage, for what I specifically do, as I can get more DOF with greater light gathering abilities (not having to stop down and compensate with higher ISO).
I shot a football game recently, in a complete downpour for 2 1/2 hours, with the E-5 and 150f2. The two canon shooters were holding umbrellas with plastic draped over their cameras, nikon shooters were not to be found. The photos produced by the E-5 with the 150f2 were incredible, with all the rain falling down.
Although razor thin DOF is the latest trend, there are still certain needs for more DOF. In addition, the weather resistance of the E-5 and SHG lenses is really a nice treat!
So…my vote is fore more weather sealed cameras and f2 lenses! 🙂
I don’t care if there’s a mirror or not…I just want to keep using that 150 f2! 🙂
not like the 150 and F2 is a deep DOF…. I actualy totaly agree the m43/43 system is the perfict ballance as far as DOF goes – enough to seperate things should you need to @F2 but also enough to keep things sharp @F5.6…
Thin DOF seems to be like Mecca to some… While probability is that lot more photos have been ruined by too narrow DOF than too large DOF.
Also they seem to forget that beside DOF aperture is connected also to shutter speed and ISO.
While best pictures of storm structures are always taken from outside rain (where you see more of the cloud and rain doesn’t hinder visibility) as stormchaser ability to take pictures/video in rain would be nice for situations when you get overrun by storm.
Without bulk of all the stuff needed by SLR design weather resistant mirrorless body could be also smaller and lighter than E-5 so I’m partially hoping that Oly would soon make such weather resistant high end mirrorless body. (they just need that PDAF like Nikon 1)
Have you contacted Olympus about their lack of development for higher end segment?
Unlike Panasonic they give you way to contact their “headquarters” instead of basic local consumer support.
http://asia.olympus-global.com/contact/
Looks like I’m the minority looking forward to a macro and it’s possibly going to be a pancake woohoo!
So, in the poll, are you talking 4/3s or MICRO 4/3s?
Shall I assume that these will be available after Christmas?
I hope, the Pana 2,4/35 mm will really be a pancake.
Does the Olympus 12-60mm f2.8/4 rumor meant that Olympus will not be announcing fixed aperture zooms this year?