(FT5) Hot Image leak!!! Panasonic new 14-42mm is a …Pancake!!!
Wow guys! I am astonished. I honestly never thought that we would ever see a such small Micro Four Thirds zoom lens!!! It’s actually just a bit bigger than the 20mm f/1.7 pancake!!! And you can easily see the powerzoom button on the lens! The lens name is Lumix X 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6. It is an aspherical lens and voilà…it has O.I.S. (Optical Image stabilization!).
I am not a zoom fan but THAT lens could be one of the best news for Micro Four Thirds ever! Compare that tiny zoom with all other kit lenses from Samsung, Sony and whatsoever is coming from Nikon. The Panasonic lens is smaller and has many new features (see powerzoom, OIS, inner focusing and so on!). That is really a revolution more than an evolution. Dear Panasonic, you impressed me! A hug to all Panasonic engineer’s! As you knwo that lens will be announced on Friday along the new 45-175mm lens!
Thanks Ignazio for sending me that. I do not post the link to the source yet as I am sure Panasonic would force them to shut down the site and I want to search for more info first 
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Recent comments
Comment from Scott Wheadon: Just leaving a quick comment to say I'm ...
Comment from El Aura: 'Light Gathering Ability' == total numbe...
Comment from ton: Wow! Last time I checked this post yeste...
Comment from Scott: Not impressed with this lens. Who is it ...
EC 2
6 months ago |Could that second switch at the bottom be the MF power switch? Power zoom and power manual focus: Panasonic could add some camera remote control to trigger zoom and focus without touching the body itself. That would result in a vibration-free footage. Am I dreaming?
A lot of power
6 months ago |That’s quite a bit of power sucking going on.
Wonder how much worse it will make the G3 battery.
mick / Lumix
6 months ago |Yes please ! this is what µ4/3 was invented for, small and light. This lens on a G3 will really make DSLR’s look silly.
a_lesss
6 months ago |Made quick mockups to see how it looks on GF1
http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/7997/mockupgf1new1442.jpg
http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/633/mockupgf1new1442closed.jpg
Looks nice!
What do you think?
admin
6 months ago |Cool! Can I post them on 43rumors?
oluv2002
6 months ago |i already wanted to try a mockup by myself, fortunately you did a great job before me.
with this lens the GF1 makes the LX5 obsolete. i really love what panasonic achieved, although i still have no clue how they managed. i hope this special technique can also be applied to other upcoming lenses.
a bright zoom (12-50) about twice the size of the new 14-42 (maybe the size of the 25mm leica) would kill all other mirrorless systems!
El Aura
6 months ago |Really? The crop factor of the LX-5 relative to a m43 camera is about 2.15. The LX-5 has maximum f-stops of F/2.0 – F3.3, multiplied with that crop factor this would correspond to (in total light gathering ability) f/4.3-7.1. That is about half a stop faster than this lens.
In the end you cannot fool physics.
oluv2002
6 months ago |Strange math you have, besides you have to consider the worse iso performance of the LX5 sensor not to speak of the rather sluggish operation (AF, RAW writing times etc.)
Above all I don’t always use a lens wide open, but rather occasionally. Most of the time (in my case landscape etc.) i stop it down to the sweet spot and i am more than sure that the GFx with this lens will blow the LX5 out of the water regarding overall image quality.
El Aura
6 months ago |Noise is mainly a function of the number of photons your sensor collects (which is the number of photons impinging on your sensor multiplied with the sensor’s efficiency to convert them into electrons, called QE, quantum efficiency).
For a given scene brightness, a given shutter speed this is proportional to the square of the f-stop * sensor size * QE.
LX-5 long end: (1/3.3)^2 * 7.89 x 5.81 mm * 0.46 = 1.94
GF-1, 14-42 @42: (1/5.6)^2 * 17.3 x 13 mm * 0.33 = 2.37
which is not a big difference.
In the shadows, read noise is also important but here the LX-5 is actually beating the GF-1.
El Aura
6 months ago |Of course, with the GFx you pull a 20 mm f/1.7 (or a 25 mm f/1.4) out of your pocket and beat the the LX-5 by two to three stops. But not with the kit lens alone.
Martin
6 months ago |> i stop it down to the sweet spot
The same can be done with the LX5 lens, can’t it?
> and i am more than sure that the GFx with this lens will blow the LX5 out of the water regarding overall image quality.
We still don’t know anything certain about the optical quality of the new lens, so you really can’t be so sure…
Ark-kun
6 months ago |Why is f/4.3-7.1 faster than f/3.5-5.6 ??
El Aura
6 months ago |Sorry, ‘that’ was referring to the m43 lens (which does not make much grammatical sense, I admit). What I meant was that the 14-42 mm + GF-1 is only about half a stop better in light-gathering ability than the LX-5.
amateur
6 months ago |Can you enlighten me what is “light gathering ability”?
So far I lived with the idea (as many others), that F-stop of a lens is a F-stop, no matter if it is on DSLR or compact camera.
Say compact Canon S95 F2.0 is having better lens than bigger F2.8 Canon G10, although they do use the same sensor.
So it is also sensor dependant? E.g. Will F3.5 on micro 43rd system be faster then F2.8 on compact sensor?
Thanks for explanation!
El Aura
6 months ago |‘Light Gathering Ability’ == total number of photons counted by the sensor, as I said above that is photons reaching the sensor (which is scene brightness * (f-stop)^2 * shutter speed * sensor surface area) times the efficiency of ‘counting’ those photons, ie, turning them into electrons (called QE).
Same f-stop but a sensor twice as large naturally means twice as many photons.
And the main component of noise is photon-shot noise which decreases in relative terms (and noise is relative measure, the variance around a mean) with increasing number of photons.
A_less
6 months ago |Of course you can post them!
mick / Lumix
6 months ago |Do not know how you do mock ups but it looks great. Sincere thanks for posting it.
Jason
6 months ago |ADMIN- you said you were going to post the price….?
gusda
6 months ago |Fantastic very impressive
I wonder what the other zoom lens will look like hopefully the same
I definitely got to get this 1 I will get rid of the older ones
gusda
6 months ago |It’s got power stablization instead of mega which is 3 stops better I love it
Jim
6 months ago |Hang on!! Mega claims to be 2 stops better than hand – so your saying 5 stops better than unstablaized!!! thats reliably sharp images @ 1 sec shutter speed at 28mm equiv!….
I won’t belive that till I see it! – I’ve pulled off such shots on the TZ7 but not reliably and I find the smaller cams seem to do better at IS than large sensor cams….
My guess is you will at best get 2-3 stops over no I.S.
I
6 months ago |I don’t think it is so revolutionary. All compacts are equipped with such a zoom. That’s one of the main reasons why I am frustrated with compacts, especially because you can’t put a filter on the lens (the situation seems to be the same with this lens, i don’t see the filter thread). And don’t get me wrong – I value compactness very much. I just don’t want to give up the feeling and the ease of use that you have with a real lens with manual zoom (and if possible focus).
GreyOwl
6 months ago |37mm diameter is engraved (printed) on the front of the lens.
EddyKilowatt
6 months ago |It looks like there is a trim ring just inside the front of the lens… that could unscrew to reveal 37mm threads. *Could* unscrew. Let’s hope! I likes me some polarizer shots too.
YouDidntDidYou
6 months ago |future micro four thirds cameras will probably come with a built in ND filter
Jim
6 months ago |be nice but i dunno….
Thevoiceoverman
6 months ago |Which is one of the coolest and most useful things about the XZ-1.
pdc
6 months ago |The gauntlet has definitley been thrown down – the GF3 plus this compact 14-42 is going to do extremely well come Christmas – just hope they don’t choke the supply line. Of course, IQ will reflect the compromises one has to make in such a lens design. For the more serious photographers the G3 and GHx line with the larger lenses should produce good IQ for all but huge enlargements and very low light imagery. APS-C and larger sensor cameras are getting harder to justify. The Nikon Coolpix Pro, with a 4-lens offering from the get-go, should similarly do very well at Christmas as consumers will be drawn to portability and “good enough” IQ. Good on Panasonic for leading the charge.
EddyKilowatt
6 months ago |“APS-C and larger sensor cameras are getting harder to justify.”
There’ll always be a place for maximum performance, and big sensors will still be persuasive in those places.
What IS getting harder to justify are teeny-body APS cameras, clinging to the end of large APS lenses. In some ways, the worst of both worlds: tiny bodies and controls, bulky heavy doorway-knocking pedestrian-jabbing lenses.
gmat
6 months ago |I would not call “APS-C” a “big sensor”. For maximum performance there is full frame or better, medium format.
Jim
6 months ago |medium format does not do as well as you might think…. yeh so its 40Mpix but thats only 2 Nex 7 shots together and medium format is worse than m4/3 for high ISO….
dumbo
6 months ago |medium format is normally used for studio fashion / portrait shoots or landscape, so yeah, very low iso’s are used.
its the soccer mum crowd that need the high isos for their pictures of their kids at birthday parties
Duarte Bruno
6 months ago |Come on Admin!
Gives us prices and availability!
Is it going to make kit?
Jedd
6 months ago |5.6 on the long end is not that impressive…
Mr. Reeee
6 months ago |Size is the selling point, not speed.
Can’t wait to see image comparisons between current Panasonic and latest Olympus kit zooms.
Jim
6 months ago |if they can make the kit this small how small will a 12-60mm F2.8 – F4 be with this tech!??? about the size of the current 14-42mm kit? – that would be nice
TheEye
6 months ago |Speed would be a selling point for me, not size.
Joh.K
6 months ago |@admin: does the lens still support manual zoom (and focus)?
YouDidntDidYou
6 months ago |he doesn’t know yet, maybe the rocker has a dual function…
YouDidntDidYou
6 months ago |got a feeling they will be using the technology from this powerzoom for the powerzooms they need to introduce for the professional video market within the next 12 months.
Mike
6 months ago |The 0.2m against the 0.3m of the 14-45 Closed focussing distance looks great too. Better than the zuiko zoom!
Nelson
6 months ago |Power OIS can still be reasonable sharp @ 1/4s vs mega OIS already struggling in 1/8s
samshootsall
6 months ago |Great lens and Idea butI didnt see anybody saying about using this lens WILL deplete the battery so much faster…
Mike
6 months ago |Just if you zoom a lot or poer on/off youre camera often. Would be great if the focal length steps could be configured via the camera menu (with firmware update). Then you can switch fast between 14, 25 and 42mm (or any other focal length you like). Like a Tri-Elmar. Should save power and makes zooming faster!
radbag
6 months ago |never liked the glass quality (or slow speeds) of it’s predecessor.
looks sexy though….should not be beaten by a LX5 which I am certain costs less than this wonky lens
I am not jacked about this one.
Ageha
6 months ago |The size is great (!) though I prefer manual zoom.
Martin
6 months ago |Is heavy post capture digital processing the clue ?
Miroslav
6 months ago |360 comments! More comments than for all those Sony novelties on SAR. Congrats, admin, you’ve managed to surprise us all
!
M
6 months ago |Come on guys, let’s continue the party! Let’s get to 400 comments -would that be the record ever on this site?
admin
6 months ago |Yes it would be a record
Ehm, so let’s talk about something. “M” how is the wather today?
Mauro
6 months ago |Oh I live in Denmark, so it’s summer here (translation: crappy as usual).
No seriously, admin you did and are doing a great job and one of the best things you managed to do with your time and dedication is to create this nice feeling of community among m43 users when you reach out to this site of yours, a community that is growing bigger and more diverse every month (at the beginning mostly enthusiasts and few daring professionals but more and more P&S upgraders and so on these days -at least judging from the comments). You managed to keep it open and ads-free, which I personally like a lot. It is always a pleasure coming to your site for news -rarely they are disappointing!
So take care & keep up the good work. Next celebrations will come when the “enthusiast compact” models from P&O will roll out. Oh how I love these news
Mauro
admin
6 months ago |Denmark? Love northern countries. And I usually go there in winters only (Sweden, Berlin, Belgium and so on). And Thanks for your kind works!
a_lesss
6 months ago |Admin, are you waiting for the 400 comments to post more rumors about thoses lenses? Do not wait too much if announcement is really tomorrow
admin
6 months ago |No. Rumor is coming very soon
naoyuki_oi
6 months ago |The lens seems to have Nano Surface Coating.
Good News.
Ardi GF2
6 months ago |It takes forever to load 380+ comments from a Blackberry. Takes even longer to read half of them. LOL
Scott
6 months ago |Not impressed with this lens. Who is it for? People that are serious about photography need more than 5.6 on the long end. If you want to shoot video with it, then the pwr zoom isnt any good because the image will get darker as you zoom in. Well you might say just set it at 5.6 and it wont change but people buying this lens probably shoot on “auto”
ton
6 months ago |Wow! Last time I checked this post yesterday was only 100+ comments. Getting closer to 400 post! Seems majority are excited on this pannasonic X lens, including me =)
Scott Wheadon
6 months ago |Just leaving a quick comment to say I’m enjoying your blog…