what are the best quality M4/3 lenses available for the AF100 Camera?

Shooter said:
.... and to add to the conundrum is "the crop factor".
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In my opinion crop factor is a problem until 35mm focal lenght. I think that on this camera the best choice is tu use lenses that are designed to cover the M4/3 sensor area in the short range. You can use a 24mm full frame lens as a standard lens, but the problem is that you are using a crop of wide angle as a standard lens, that normally has a completely different design. It is the same thing of when you try to obtain a protrait cropping a photo of a group of people shooted with a wide angle lens. From 50mm onwards this is not a concern: you can crop your lens without using a wide angle as a portrait lens. My canon fd 85mm f1.2 is beautiful even cropped: who can give you a 170mm equivalent telephoto so fast? For this reason I'm considering to sell all my lenses till 35mm and buying a Zuiko 14-35mm f2. Its perspective in short focal range is very natural and doesn't appear 'cropped'. Futhermore the lens is supported by the camera and aberrations are corrected.
Some months ago, AF100 prototypes were shipped by panasonic all over the world with this lens in bundle and I think it was a good and understimated choice

Regards

Gary
 
So, Gary, maximum aperture aside, do you think the Zuiko 14-35 is a better lens than the Lumina 14-140?...
 
And it's admits 4 times the light - but how does it feel? Is the focus ring "clunky"?
 
My current thinking; if you've got a bunch of stills lenses, make do if you can because there are surely going to be some exciting lenses coming on line in the near future. I do think the Red 17-50 is a great little lens, but it's $6000.00 dollars. Not saying it's not worth the money, I'd like to have one; it's just redundant for me because I have that range and more covered, albeit with a much larger and heavier hunk of glass.

I'm looking for Tamron, Sigma, and others to rehouse some of their glass specifically for the AF100; could very well be a good price & performance compromise for those who can't justify a very high-cost lens on a sub $5000.00 camera.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo
 
Mac said:
So, Gary, maximum aperture aside, do you think the Zuiko 14-35 is a better lens than the Lumina 14-140?...
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Surely and also Panasonic think this if it has shipped the prototypes to be tested with this lens attached. Look at the last music video by Philip Bloom and look by yourself. The cons of this lens are: cost, weight, short focal range. The second and the third are not a problem, in my opinion
 
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None of those caveats are a problem in this price range.. 2400 bucks for a lens is dirt cheap compared to the Red lens mentioned above, which is also a relatively cheap lens - I paid $17,000 for my Cooke 10.4-52mm super16 zoom BACK IN 1982!

Since I shoot documentaries mostly, the limited zoom range would seem a problem.. But I used to shoot all day with a 10 on a 16mm camera, if I could do it then I can do it now... And the weight is nothing compared to that Cooke.

I also agree that a lot of new lenses will be coming along from other manufacturers... I mean, look above - posts from Italy, New Zealand, Canada, Eastern US, Western Us - all on one page of one thread! There is a huge market looming out there for affordable, quality lenses.
 
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Mac said:
And it's admits 4 times the light - but how does it feel? Is the focus ring "clunky"?
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Focus ring is smooth and very accurate. This is a PRO lens. It is mainly a photo lens, of course, but it is usable for video (no continuous AF) and, fiorst of all, it is supported and corrected by the camera. It is fast (f2 costant), sharp even wide open and it is the only f2 wide angle available. You can use all the digital functions of the camera. Micro four thirds and four third is a system composed by camera + lens. The integration bertween the 2 is stronger than on every other system. We can use manual lenses (I have a lot) but we have paid for other functions and features and these functions need a m4/3 or 4/3 lens. This is the sharper and the faster among 4/3 lenses. Another 4/3 great lens is the Leica D Summilux 25mm f1.4 (true Leica): sharp, sharp, sharp from wide open to f16 and beatiful colors, as only Leica does (about 1000 USD). For your documentaries there is also a Zuiko 35-100mm f2 zoom, same quality. A bit heavy, needs to be supported.

Regards

Gary
 
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