GH2 New Panasonic Fast Zooms

Grisnjam said:
The article I linked in the second line?
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And, yeah, I'd seen that, but that's "43rumors.com", not an official announcement from the company. I'm looking for any shred of evidence to support this claim.

I mean, that's the same site that's been telling us for over eight months that there's a 12-50 f/2.5-3.3 lens coming. Which, if these new lens announcements are to be believed, would imply that the 12-50 was pure fantasy all along. So I don't want to see references from speculation from rumor sites, I want to hear actual confirmation from the company.

Anyone who reads Japanese who can translate those two buttons on the lower right corner of the roadmap picture?
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/l/im/dc/articles/1108/26/l_hi_pa11.jpg
 
Barry_Green said:
Okay, still not seeing it. I mean, yes, there's the picture we've seen of the 12-35 and 35-100, which doesn't show any aperture. And there's the roadmap picture, which shows two lenses coming in 2012. Does anything in the Japanese writing in that roadmap picture say "large aperture"?
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I am guessing so from this line in the translated report, "In addition, a published roadmap lens, large aperture zoom lens for X-Series (12-35 mm and 35-100 mm) in the next year were revealed to be submitted.", but I don't read Japanese.

Folks from Panasonic have said in past interviews they are working on bright zooms so this is not a huge surprise ....
 
Who has said they "are working" on bright zooms? The only reference I've ever seen was a slide like eight or ten months ago that said that a "bright zoom" was "under consideration".

Just trying to separate the actual reported facts from the rumor-mill speculations, that's all. Seriously, people have argued to no end with me about the 7-14 OIS lens and the 12-50 2.5-3.3, and both of those were obviously complete fantasy now.

I would love love love for the "bright zoom" and "large aperture" claims to be accurate, but they can only be accurate if they're statements actually made by the company. That's why I'm asking for a source or confirmation from the company themselves.
 
Barry_Green said:
Who has said they "are working" on bright zooms? The only reference I've ever seen was a slide like eight or ten months ago that said that a "bright zoom" was "under consideration".

Just trying to separate the actual reported facts from the rumor-mill speculations, that's all. Seriously, people have argued to no end with me about the 7-14 OIS lens and the 12-50 2.5-3.3, and both of those were obviously complete fantasy now.

I would love love love for the "bright zoom" and "large aperture" claims to be accurate, but they can only be accurate if they're statements actually made by the company. That's why I'm asking for a source or confirmation from the company themselves.
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Understood. Answer is rumor at this point. But I am excited :)
 
http://image.itmedia.co.jp/l/im/dc/articles/1108/26/l_hi_pa11.jpg
Well that roadmap has two unknown lens' on it on the bottom right. the first two characters on each of the unknown lens' I can make out: 大口 before it gets too distorted to tell..

Which means "large" in japanese. the caption below the two pictures (one being the road map the other being the 12-35mm and 35-100mm) says:
公開されたレンズロードマップ（写真＝左）、投入が予告された大口径ズームレンズ（写真＝右）
which translates into:
Lens roadmap was published (= left photo), large aperture zoom lens has been the subject up (right-photo)

Unless the caption is totally misguided, and it's talking about something else being large... like .. nevermind, I'd say it's good evidence that that's what they are. but take it for what you will :)
 
New Photos here:

http://digiphoto.techbang.com.tw/po...series-of-two-constant-aperture-lens-lumix-gx

ef0edf480476ad017a43f7667c00ed86.jpg

7a4938500aaeb593c4e86ad60a28604f.jpg
 
Barry_Green said:
Gack -- why didn't whoever shot those, just lean over a little higher to catch the writing on the front?!?!
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The text seems to say they are mock ups and that the exact stop number was not annoucned so I am not not sure it would have mattered .... but I thought the same thing.
 
Jordan Scott Price said:
Very few zooms are faster than 2.8 because of the engineering that requires.

Take a look at the Zeiss LWZ.2 Lightweight 15.5-45mm T2.6.

Look at the size of that lens, its price, and the focal range. It's a wide angle-only zoom and still only T2.6.

I imagine the new short zoom will be at best a hair under 2.8. I don't see how the wide-normal-tele zoom mentioned would even make it under 2.8. It would have to be huge.
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This won't be cinema lens quality though...so the size and weight may still be managable...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546539-REG/Olympus_261011_14_35mm_f_2_0_ED_SWD.html
 
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I don't want to get too involved in speculation about these lenses, but it's worth noting the history of other Panasonic m4/3 lenses. Panasonic has previewed mock-ups and prototypes before in exactly the same way. They are only exhibited in Japan and the Far East, but not elsewhere. All the mock-ups exhibited translated into real lenses in the near feature. I clearly remember both the 45mm macro and the 100-300mm zoom being trailed like this. Don't take any notice of the decals, because they are just stick on transfers, and on the 45mm macro there was an hilarious typo, with the decimal point being in the wrong place. Also the 45mm macro was exhibited with Panasonic decals, and released as a Leica. The one thing Panasonic has never done from what I can remember, is ever release information on the max aperture. I suspect this is because the final productions specs aren't finalised until the last moment. The previously exhibited lenses appear to be mock-ups rather than working prototypes. The 100-300mm zoom ring was mid-way, with no lens extension. Also, when a photo finally emerged of the front element, there was no aperture information, and not even any filter thread.

What I'm saying is that I don't think anything more can be learned by peaking at the images, because they are possibly mock-ups, and anyway the decals are stuck on and what they say might not be accurate. Having said all this I have no doubt they are genuine, but I doubt the final specs will come out until they are announced. The source of the other story here appears to be DCWatch.Impress. I don't know much about Japanese photo websites, but normally DCWatch.Impress is the first to post sample images and reviews of new lenses and equipment. Whilst the link is to the actual page, it translates reasonably well with Google translate.
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20110826_473211.html
 
I’ll bet they are f2.8, thus equivalent to the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8. They don’t look big enough to be f2.0, which as you say, would be incredibly expensive. I have the Nikon (full frame) 200 f2.0, and it is massive (and heavy) compared the the 70-200 f2.8.


I like to use the GH2 for both photos and video when hiking in the woods in the winter and spring, but find the 14-140 (mostly f6.3) way too slow for photographs (plus its IQ is only so so). My option is to lug along a D3s and 70-200 f2.8 or choose between it and the far larger EX1R. The attractiveness of these new smaller camera to many people is their ability to use them both for video and for stills, and to do so with a camera only a fraction of the weight of their normal cameras. A lens two to 2.5 stops faster will be very welcome.


http://gallery.me.com/billh96007/100510/Baghera%2CCody-woods%2C4-7-11-635/web.jpg?ver=13027089320001


http://gallery.me.com/billh96007/100510/Baghera,Cody,woods,589/web.jpg?ver=13027089300001
 
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Originally Posted by Barry_Green
Gack -- why didn't whoever shot those, just lean over a little higher to catch the writing on the front?!?!
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DrDave said:
Totally. I mean, totally. It's a camera, not a martini.
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I think the answer is in my comment above. If it's like all the previous prototype m4/3 lenses that Panasonic has exhibited like this, then the front doesn't have any aperture information. If you look at the photographs you can see that the logos are just stuck on decals, and are not the type you get on production lenses. The pattern has been that whilst Pansonic gives the focal length of the lenses, they keep the max apertures secret. I remember this, because it's what happened before. There were shots from the sides, and everyone asked why no shots of the front element for the aperture info. Yet when a few images from the front did get posted, sadly there wasn't any information. My guess is that whoever took the shot didn't post an image of the front view, because there wasn't much to see. As I said above, the 100-300mm "prototype" didn't even have a filter thread on the front, let alone any aperture information. I think the max apertures will be last info anyone learns. If it's like before, we'll only know this when the lens is officially announced.
 
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Barry_Green said:
Gack -- why didn't whoever shot those, just lean over a little higher to catch the writing on the front?!?!
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As I suspected, someone did lean over and catch the front view, but there wasn't much to see. If you look on the images and report on the link below you'll see there is no aperture information and all the markings are just stick on decals. In fact you can see there's not even any filter thread. From previous Panasonic form I think we can be fairly certain that these lenses will appear in the near future. To my knowledge all the previous lenses Panasonic has exhibited as this type of mock-up/prototype have emerged as actual lenses in about the next coming year. However, the one thing that has never come out until the lenses have been announced, are the max apertures.
http://origin-www.trustedreviews.com/news/new-panasonic-x-lenses-spotted
 
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