Panasonic developing new prime lenses for Micro Four Thirds?

According to 43rumors.com, Panasonic are currently developing new Micro Four Thirds prime lenses, which are due to be released in Q4/2010 and/or Q1/2011. One of these is expected to be an MFT version of the Leica D Summilux 25mm f/1.4. Another lens people would love to see according to a recent 43rumors poll is a 12mm prime.

The rumor is graded FT4, which means chances are pretty good it’s actually going to come true.

M.Zuiko 14-150/4-5.6 lens reviewed by dpreview

Olympus’ new 14-150mm Micro Four Thirds superzoom lens has received the dpreview treatment. You can find the review here.

I don’t care much about this lens, but it looks like it’s a rather solid performer. Also, it’s smaller and lighter than Panasonic’s 14-140mm equivalent (albeit lacking in-lens image stabilization) and focuses comparably quickly.


Buy the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4-5.6 lens from B&H Photo Video Audio!

M.Zuiko 14-150/4-5.6 first samples

Via 43rumors.com. A Flickr user has posted some first sample shots taken with the announced Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-150mm f/4-5.6 lens, which is estimated to be released to the mass market by the end of june.

So if you’re interested in this lens and would like to evaluate its performance before buying it, you might want to consider taking a look at these shots.

P.S.: Even more pictures can be found in this translated japanese forum discussion.

Why Micro Four Thirds is ideal for street photography

  • Micro Four Thirds cameras are small and unobtrusive (even less obtrusive than a rangefinder camera),
  • MFT cameras are light and easy to carry,
  • the larger depth of field due to the smaller sensor enables you to shoot at f/4 with the same d-o-f as with f/8 on full-frame, yet twice as fast shutter speeds.

Cologne, Germany | Olympus E-P1 + Lumix 20/1.7 @ f/4, 1/200 sec, ISO 200

For more thoughts and pictures see my thread in the dpreview Micro Four Thirds Talk discussion forum.

Two more articles on legacy lenses with m4/3

Via 43rumors.com.

The first one is from August 2009, by enfoquemanual.com, written in Spanish and English. It’s mainly about C-mount lenses (including a nice list of usable lenses between 8 and 75mm), but also mentions some old M39 and M42 screw-mount glass.

The second one is more recent, by focus-numerique.com, written in French (but easily translatable via Google translate). This one also mentions C-mount lenses, but also covers a broader field of legacy lenses and adapters.

Have fun!