Why are there several 3rd party NEX lens manufacturers and not for m4/3?

<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>

<p>I believe Sigma makes some.</p>

<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>

<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>

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.

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.

<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>

<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>

<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>

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.

'

<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>

 

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.

<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>

<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>

<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>

<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>

<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>

<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>

<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>

<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>

<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>