Lumix X 45-175 mm

C

christiangrevstad

Member
I though it would be interesting to create a discussion for this new HD zoom lens.
Personally I don't have any zooms yet, but I've been thinking of adding three more lenses before I shoot my short next month.


I like the 45-175mm partly because it can double as a still lens for street photography: On the AF101 I don't zoom alot because 90% of my work is fictional. But an occational slow zoom is of course a nice tool.

I already have the

Zeiss ZF 18mm
Voigtländer 25mm F/0.95
Leica-Lumix 45mm Makro

and would like to add
Samyang 8mm
Lumix 7-14mm

and as mentioned

Lumix X 45-175mm.

Any thoughts on the lens?

Hopefully this will be available in about a weeks time.

Here's a test someone did with a still camera:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/thre...Z-45-175mm-F4.0-5.6-ASPH-Power-OIS-power-zoom

Pretty vivid colors:

P9047518.jpg
 
Don't touch it. I had a close look at it at IBC and it's REALLY badly made. Extremely light and completely plastic. I thought it was junk.
 
Isn't the use of plastic in stead of metal partly what makes this such a light weight lens? At 210g. and 9cm - that will really come in handy for unobtrusive street-photography close-ups.

For me it comes down to the IQ rather than the build quality, it will be interesting to see as the lens gets tested, but the MTF-charts look pretty good at the tele end. Some footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eqIzlA-h6c

For a lens with this range, with silent AF and Zoom, + zoom by wire, I think this looks pretty good. In the end, a lot will depend on the variable zoom speed, I have to be able to do controlled, slow zoom. I wouldn't mind getting the 35-100 but that will be three to four times the price, and not available until next year.

I don't really see any better alternatives at this price range, or am I missing something?
Of course, I wish it had constant aperture..
 
Fair point, at the end of the day image quality is what matters, but it just felt badly put together to me, can't imagine it lasting long. yes, lightweight can be a good thing, but I got the feeling this was definitely designed more for GH2 use than on the AF101. I didn't see any images from it (apart from the lcd of course) so couldn't judge there.
 
only if its cheap enough .
i like that the barrel doesnt extend. and its reaaaly tiny. makes it more a discreet stills shooter. i hate the aperture though..pretty slow

im more excited on the upcoming lenses though. 12-35 and 35-100. ive got $2k saved up for those lenses
 
Looks like it will be about $400 - $450.. seems like a great price to me..

Agree it ought to be a bit faster, or at least a constant f/4 would have been nice. But I am assuming if you set the aperture to f/5.6 and then start to zoom then it can be constant through the range. Does anyone know?
 
Has Panasonic confirmed that this lens will even work with the AF? All I have seen are the still cameras in the press releases.
 
bkatcher said:
Has Panasonic confirmed that this lens will even work with the AF? All I have seen are the still cameras in the press releases.
Click to expand...
Right, I've noticed this too, but reason tells me it should be fully compatible, or....?Maybe Barry or Jan can confirm this?
 
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christiangrevstad said:
I am assuming if you set the aperture to f/5.6 and then start to zoom then it can be constant through the range. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...

All of the variable F-stop lenses that I've seen that do this, always leave some noticeable exposure change during a zoom shot, which is why I've grown to hate these cheap slow zooms. I would much rather pay more for a zoom that optically has a constant F-stop, and does not rely on electronics to achieve this.
 
Sorry for asking a probably obvious question, but does this mean that the 14-140mm will do the same thing? What exactly is it doing? adjusting exposure multiple times during a zoom?
 
Where in that article did you see "Panny's X lenses all suck"?
From what I read, Pana said that their choice of lens design implementation wouldn't have met Leica standards (size and OIS most likely).
Simply sounds like different design philosophies to me.
Ken
 
The way I understand it Panasonic's 'Multi-Actuator Floating Inner Focus System', which is illustrated in one of their ads, is based on electrionics in order to keep the size this compact (9mm), a system which is probably not Leica's cup of tea.

Hatsoff: yeah the aperture closes from f/4 to f/5.6 as you zoom in..
 
Yeah, lpowell, it's a huge stretch to say "Leica says Panasonic's X lenses suck". First of all, nowhere in that article was Leica quoted! It was a Panasonic guy who said "these lenses wouldn't have met Leica's standards." As far as I know, Leica has never commented on the X series.

Apparently the reason they wouldn't meet Leica's standards is is because they rely on digital technology (most likely such as chromatic aberration compensation and barrel distortion correction) instead of doing it purely optically. Which was likely dictated by the decisions to make them cost what they do, and by the 14-42 folding down into a tiny size, etc... And the reason that might be a problem (I presume) is because if you put that lens on a camera that doesn't have the appropriate digital compensation, then it might not look too good. Just like how the first series of Panasonic lenses looked a lot better on the Panasonic bodies than they did on the Olympus bodies of the day, because Olympus didn't have the same technology for dealing with them.

I'd rather have perfect optics than have to rely on digital correction. But if the net result is the same or close to it, then the X lenses might be perfectly fine for many (or even most) customers. To say "Leica says they suck" is about the most incorrect summation that I've seen posted outside of one of the more notorious rumor sites.
 
Is it possible to get this lens to focus while zooming or do we need a software update for that? I tried it today but could not get it to work. When pressing the push focus there was no reaction and switched to the auto focus button on the side of camera only gave me a "only MF" message. It seems to work beautifully on my G1.
 
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