Panasonic has announced four interesting attachments for the Micro 4/3 format 14-42mm kit lens (wide angle, telephoto, macro, and fisheye), three of which will fit the 14mm f2.5 prime lens (the telephoto attachment would not make much sense on a wide angle lens, now would it?).
source: http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/pressrelease/conversion_lens/index.html
With all of the high quality lenses now available for Micro 4/3, these attachments will need to be inexpensive. Assuming they are, they will be lots of fun! Let's see if Panasonic marketing selected the right price point!
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This is cool but I very much doubt they will be cheap. If I had to guess I'd say they will cost between two-three hundred dollars. Interesting that the 20mm is not compatible (I'm glad I have the 14mm). Considering how popular this lens is, one would think that Panasonic would make the adapters work with it. Perhaps they want give the 14mm a push.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to hearing more about pricing, as you say.
ReplyDeleteThis is great news -- following in the footsteps of Olympus and its 14-42, but going one better with the tele converter.
ReplyDeleteI have the Oly 0.8 WCON-P01 w/a converter lens (14>11mm) and the MCON-P01 close-up lens (about 2x) for the 14-42 II R on my E-PL3 (I don't go for the fish eye, though; don't like fish eyes). They are very light and compact and quick to fit. They make the kit lens -- very good in itself -- into a mini-system within a system.
The results from both are surprisingly good. An f3.5 11mm wide is a pretty useful w/a lens and the results are very good indeed. Sure there is barrel distortion, but it is a simple, reliable distortion and easily adjusted in PP if needed. Likewise the close-up lens which, by the way, can also be used on the 40-150 zoom. My only real complaint about both is that the plastic bayonet mounts are just too thin.
I'm envious of the Panny 2x tele converter lens. I hope Oly brings one out with all speed! The 84mm (168 equiv) is a very handy length and, of course, it retains the f5.6 aperture.
There will be purists who will deride these lenses. Phooey! When you want to go lightweight, truly lightweight, one GX1, one 14-42 X lens, and the supplementary lenses will fit in two pockets; the equivalent in prime or zoom lenses would demand a bag.
One further advantage -- the supplementary lenses are great when dust and moisture are around. You can effectively change lenses without opening up the camera and exposing the sensor to the elements.
So let's hope Panny does the right thing in pricing and takes the long view -- that the w/a supplementary, for example, will whet users appetites for super w/a and ultimate purchase of the 7-14 (or whatever is going in the next round of lens releases) so it ought to be priced to move!
Cheers, geoff