14-42mm X lens review at Photozone (and lots of other new lens reviews)
Image courtesy: Photozone.
I have plenty of new Micro Four Thirds lens review to show you today 
Panasonic 14-42mm X:
Sebastian Milczanowski from Photozone (Click here) tested the 14-42mm X pancake zoom: “surprisingly compact albeit not superb kit zoom lens as some might have hoped from its “X” designation. Size- and weight-wise it is hard to beat so if you are looking for an ultra-compact standard zoom solution – well … this is it. The price is also alright considering the whole package.”
At the moment of posting this four X pancakes are for sale at $259 at Amazon (Click here). For that price this lens is a must go. I like the lens because of the compactness. If I really need top image quality than I will go for the lens below:
Panasonic 12-35mm X:
That this lens is good we already know. But if you still need to hear more nice words here is the 12-35mm X lens part five review at Soundimagesplus, the full review at Frugalfilmmakers and at Steve Huff.
In Stock and price check by clicking those links: Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Olmypus 75mm:
The 75mm lens is still available in Asia only although some stores (like BHphoto) already shipped the first preorders. Here are the links to two “Asian” tests at Nikkei and at DCfever.
In Stock and price check by clicking those links: Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Tokina 300mm and Panasonic 45-150mm:
Not a mainstream lens but it’s nice to have Tokina as partner of the m43 group with the new 300mm lens. It has now been tested at Camerastuffreview. One more small news: Panasonic Lumix Vario 45-150mm Sample Photos at ePhotozine.
That’s it!
david
10 months ago |The Tokina review seems to show a ridiculously low resolution. It’s hard to believe that the lens is really that bad.
Tokina fan
10 months ago |Take a look at the full size images posted at the main Tokina site:
http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/tokina/ogawa/images/300mm/00.jpg
http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/tokina/ogawa/images/300mm/03.jpg
These images are not tack sharp, and you can’t expect that from a mirror-lens.
Sharpness of the images is in accordance with these reported MTF values.
avds
10 months ago |User feedback for the 14-42 X PZ on Amazon (3 out of 5 stars) and B&H (4 out of 5 stars) goes against its shiny specs and reviews. The lens is conceptually stellar, but just doesn’t seem to deliver consistently enough.
carpandean
10 months ago |Note the dates on the reviews, though. At Amazon (I haven’t checked B&H) since March 17 (about 1 month after the first review), the only review below a 4 (most were 5′s) was someone who dropped the camera on the extended lens and wasn’t happy that it didn’t work. In the comments, he even admitted that 3 stars was too harsh.
A lot of the early low reviews reported the double-image problem that (empirically) doesn’t seem to be affecting newer lenses. I’d highly recommend it as a very compact lens with decent performance. However, I’d also recommend taking a few test shots at the troublesome shutter speeds when you get it just to make sure that your copy is OK.
Thurin
10 months ago |What’s the source of this information? If they fixed the problems with this lens, I might consider it.
avds
10 months ago |Extensive reviews suggest that the problem is actually associated with some cameras’ noisy shutters, the GX1 being the worst of all at speeds around 1/60. The problem affects various lenses inlcuding Olympus ones, but it is only the two Lumix X PZ lenses which exhibit clearly perceptible image quality degradation (at least in certain samples).
Mar
10 months ago |Why not just get oly 14-42 for fraction of the price. Panny lens is bit shorter than oly when collapsed, but the difference is not that significant.
Atle
10 months ago |The lens is 27mm, vs 50mm for the Oly 85% longer is hardly insiginificant.
Thurin
10 months ago |What’s the source of this information? If they fixed the problems with this lens, I might consider it.
Thurin
10 months ago |Oly is 50mm long. Pana is 26mm long. That’s a considerable difference for me.
ha
10 months ago |Looks like the finish of 45-150 is similar to 12-35 lens. Violet-black metal.
Me
10 months ago |They are not violet! Panasonic uses violet only for prototype / pre-production lenses.
Tim van Vliet
10 months ago |Got my 75mm in a shop in Netherlands. http://www.cameranu.nl. I walked in and they had it was saving for it so i got early!! And cancelled the pre-order.
If you want to see what i did with it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timvanvliet/
All pictures have exif info attached. Nothing “pro” Just snaps.
bbking
10 months ago |Hey, thanks for that! I enjoyed flicking through them.
marsupial2go
10 months ago |The 14-42mm x lens is obviously a consumer lens, but with anticipation can be very helpful, e.g., outdoors on a small body kickin’ around town, but also for serious shoots, particularly video. It’s quiet, small, and reaches to 84mm (equivalent) or about double with ETC. Good companion for the 45-175 x.
I paid more for that lens a few weeks ago, and a lot for the tele x several months ago…can’t always wait for price drops. Buying lenses these days is akin to the stock market, up and down, don’t know when.
Tom Ø.
10 months ago |That is a real bargain for the 14-42x. I see they are popping up as separated kit on ebay for about $300 … considering it for my GF3 so my wife would use it. I’m happy with the 20mm on it.
gordon1000
10 months ago |I am disappointed with Photozone’s review of this lens, they didn’t even include a single sample photo with shutter speed between the problematic rage 1/100 to 1/250 sec @42mm.
Esa Tuunanen
10 months ago |That really isn’t feature of lens but of loud and lousy shutter in Panasonic bodies so they covered lens itself well.
Though some mention of problem would have been approriate.
avds
10 months ago |What I gather from the internets is that the cause of the problem is likely in the noisy Panasonic shutters indeed, but the only two lenses that tend to reveal visible IQ degradation are the two X PZ lenses. So it appears that these lenses are still part of the problem.
bart
10 months ago |In the ‘old’ days, OM cameras would have a similar issue with specific lenses. That was a case of system vibration at specific frewuencies. Certain combinations would introduce resonance at those frequencies. The OM ‘issue’ was caused by the aperture. A wel known ‘problem’ combi was a 4 with the 600/6.3 tele.