keith_anderson7 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 <p>Do Panasonic and Olympus do a good enough job that they're not needed as much as for the NEX (eg there's an obvious NEX niche)? <br> Does Tamron, SLR Magic, etc, like the NEX better?<br> I wish the m4/3 community had a bigger selection of lenses. Where the heck are they?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_earussi1 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 <p>I believe Sigma makes some.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_rubenstein Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 <p>A NEX lens is designed for an APS-C sized sensor, so the basic lens design is the same for a large range of cameras. M4/3 uses a smaller sensor and while a lens designed for a larger sensor would work fine, buyers (myself included) wouldn't want a lens that was bigger and heavier than necessary. M4/3 really needs a lens designed specifically for that format, and it's probably not a big enough market for the 3rd part lens makers.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosvanEekelen Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 <p>The statement "several 3rd party NEX lens manufacturers and not for m4/3" seems to be a bit premature at the moment. AFAIK several manufacturers have indicated that they are going to produce lenses for both systems but the actual number of 3rd party lenses is small for each system.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ariel_s1 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 As Bruce says, you can just use similar lens designs for nex cameras, but not for m4/3. Historically, the way that the third party lens manufacturers have been able to be competitive is to design a single lens, and then offer it for multiple camera systems. This lets them defray the costs among multiple mounts. With m4/3, you have the smaller sensor, so any lens that would be designed for the system would mean that the Olympus/Panasonic users would bear the full amount of development costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phototransformations Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 That having been said, there have been a few manual-focus m4/3 lenses released by 3rd party manufacturers. I hope Tamron eventually gets into the game. They seem to be masters of making smaller, lighter, but still decent lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred_c1 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 <blockquote> <p>Does Tamron, SLR Magic, etc, like the NEX better?</p> </blockquote> <p>Did you check their website? http://noktor.com/products.php<br /> http://www.photozone.de/olympus--four-thirds-lens-tests/685-slrmagic_12_16<br />http://www.patriceouellet.com/olympus-epl-2-and-slr-magic-toy-lens-35mm-f1-7-for-micro-43/</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred_c1 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 <p>Sony is a major shareholder of Tamron. It's not surprising that Tamron comes to their help with the NEX's small selection of lenses.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronhartman Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 <p>Bowers/Rokinon has a 7.5mm fish eye lens specifically made for micro 4/3. Also, Voightlander has a 25mm F/0.95 lens coming, maybe available in some areas. I would think both of these companies have more coming.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickArnold Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 There is only one lens on the market for NEX cameras at present; that is the Tamron 18-200. That lens is designed for the Sony E-mount. NEX cameras can be used for all sorts of lenses, with limitiations, with adapters. ' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhindle Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 <p>Well, Samyang and <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=voigtlander&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=18377925342492420334&sa=X&ei=sl_3TpmbG4iXOpH4zKcB&ved=0CFgQ8wIwAw">Votignlander</a> both manufacture lenses for Micro Four Thirds and Sigma has signalled their intention to do so. That siad, the NEX market is somewhat easier to break into than the Micro Four Thirds market, bearing in mind the gaps in the E Mount lens lineup at the moment.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg M Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Tamron has never supported the four-thirds mount, DSLR or Micro, and I do not expect they ever will. Ditto with other third-party companies like Tokina. Sigma stopped making four-thirds lenses and I would not hold my breathe looking for micro lenses any time soon, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred_c1 Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 <blockquote> <p>Sigma stopped making four-thirds lenses and I would not hold my breathe looking for micro lenses any time soon, either.</p> </blockquote> <p>http://www.43rumors.com/ft3-first-micro-four-thrids-lenses-from-sigma-to-be-officially-announced-on-january-10th/</p> <p><img src="http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc498/43rumors/sigma_30mm_m43.png" alt="" width="640" height="477" /></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_rubenstein Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 <p>That Sigma 30/2.8 just exemplifies my point. The lens is designed to cover the image circle of an APS-C sensor, and as such, it's an answer to a question no one asked. The Panasonic m4/3 25/1.4 looks to be the same size, but two stops faster.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_anderson7 Posted December 26, 2011 Author Share Posted December 26, 2011 <p>I didn't think about the 3rd parties having an easier time adapting existing designs due to the larger NEX sensor, that's a good point. One thing I miss after switching from a dSLR to m4/3 is the more plentiful lens lineup for the dSLR. Not that all of the lenses were good or anything, but having lots of choice is good.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szrimaging Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 <p>Sigma has promised lenses, so it's only a matter of time. That said, Panny and Oly have been pumping out lenses, and as far as a new line goes, I think they are doing a good job getting an entire ecosystem out there. A few of their choices (mainly on the Olympus end) do puzzle me, but over all, not too shabby.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg M Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 <p>We heard about a 30mm f2.8 some time ago.</p> <p><a href="http://www.cameragearguide.com/1816/cp-2011-sigma-announces-development-of-micro-four-thirds-and-e-mount-lenses-shows-off-prototype-30mm-f2-8-e-mount-lens/">http://www.cameragearguide.com/1816/cp-2011-sigma-announces-development-of-micro-four-thirds-and-e-mount-lenses-shows-off-prototype-30mm-f2-8-e-mount-lens/</a></p> <p>"A matter of time" with Sigma can be a matter of a lot of time. It has been so far and that 30 has not yet shown up anywhere for purchase, and you see that one pictured is a Sony E mount, not micro four-thirds.</p> <p>Sigma is the last company I'll ever be looking to for lenses for my Pen outfit.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhindle Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 <p>Any lenses that Sigma produce for Micro Four Thirds will likely be a lens that was first designed for NEX, and will therefore be bigger than any equivalent lens from Panasonic or Olympus. What Sigma may bring is lenses that are simply not available from Panasonic or Olympus.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg M Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 <p>I did not even consider that, but you are right. In the attached post below there is an image at the bottom of the page of the NEX and Panasonic G series cameras with the respective Rokinon/Samyang fisheyes made for the two systems. Check out the size difference between the two...</p> <p><a href="http://forums.steves-digicams.com/olympus-micro-four-thirds/194042-rokinon-7-5mm-f3-5-fisheye-3.html">http://forums.steves-digicams.com/olympus-micro-four-thirds/194042-rokinon-7-5mm-f3-5-fisheye-3.html</a></p> <p>There's absolutely no reason for any micro four-thirds lens being as big as the equivalent for the NEX, but you can bet if they can do that and keep additional development costs down, that's what Sigma will probably do.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred_c1 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 <blockquote> <p>That Sigma 30/2.8 just exemplifies my point. The lens is designed to cover the image circle of an APS-C sensor, and as such, it's an answer to a question no one asked. The Panasonic m4/3 25/1.4 looks to be the same size, but two stops faster.</p> </blockquote> <p>Is the Panasonic a Macro lens like this one? It's coming out next year. Is it something bad having a larger image circle? This is not a big lens. Or do you prefer CCTV lenses that barely cover the m4/3 format?</p> <blockquote> <p>and you see that one pictured is a Sony E mount, not micro four-thirds.</p> </blockquote> <p>"Sony E et Micro Quartre-Tiers." The French have their own language.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg M Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 <p>The Panasonic f2.8 macro is probably a better choice for any Panasonic user, even at the premium price, with built-in image stabilization if it's important enough for a user spending extra for a dedicated macro lens. Assuming the rumors guy has it right and this is going to be a macro lens. That's not mentioned in the article from last February, on the lens itself shown above or in the FRENCH description. The rumors guy also seems to think all those lenses he listed for four-thirds are still available too, which would be completely incorrect. </p> <p>Bigger image circle means bigger than it needs to be. If you're in this system for overall smaller lenses, then yes, bigger at any amount is not better, especially whe it comes to primes that can be made not just small, but tiny. Dedicated micro four-thirds lenses made by Olympus and Panasonic that are optimized for the format, whether that's considered barely covering the image circle or not. It does cover it and they work great without hogging the additional bag space.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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