2010 Micro Four Thirds Lens Roadmap: What's Missing?
Sunday, September 13, 2009

With any new system, it is impossible to cover all lens needs right away. Thus manufacturers need to prioritize according to commonly used lens types and market demand.

Here's what we have so far for Micro Four Thirds:

Ultra-wide:

  • Lumix 7-14mm f/4 (difficult to locate in United States)
  • Lumix 8mm f/3.5 (fisheye, due in 2010)
Wide:
  • M. Zuiko 17mm f/2.8
  • Lumix 14mm f/2.8 (due in 2010)
Standard:
  • Lumix 20mm f/1.7 (due soon)
  • M. Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6
  • Lumix 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 O.I.S.
  • Lumix HD 14-140mm f/4-5.8 O.I.S.
Telephoto:
  • Lumix 45-200mm f/4-5.6 O.I.S.
  • Lumix 100-300mm f/4-5.6 O.I.S.
  • Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 O.I.S. (1:1 macro, due soon)
So what's missing?  That depends on who you ask, but I find it curious that neither Four Thirds nor Micro Four Thirds have a standard portrait lens in the lineup.  Sure one can use the Zuiko Digital 50mm f/2 macro, but that lens is slow to focus, requires an adapter, and has a smaller maximum aperture than I'd like in a lens which should ideally be suited to indoor situational photography.  The recently announced Leica 45/2.8 will also likely be a good portrait lens but again on the slow side.  We also have the Sigma 50/1.4, but that too requires an adapter is quite a heavy lens to pair with a Micro Four Thirds camera and standard lens.

What I'd like to see is a high quality optic with the following characteristics:
  • Fixed focal length between 37.5mm and 67.5mm
  • At least f/1.8 speed and preferably f/1.4
  • Quick autofocus
What else is missing from the roadmap?  What lens would you like to see for your Micro Four Thirds camera?

Posted by Amin

Comments (19)

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Andrew's avatar

Andrew · 812 weeks ago

I've been using the Olympus 12-60mm lens on the E-P1 and as expected it is much better than the m4/3 14-42mm kit lens. So, I would like an m4/3 12-60mm : ) Also a very high quality prime in native m4/3 mount. My Olympus 17mm kit lens looks to be a dog with air bubbles in the glass. The Zeiss m-mount lenses are far better, but naturally have their limitations. I would love 28mm and 50mm primes, with at least f2.8 if not f2 or even faster. I love f1.5 on my Zeiss 50mm. I also wish the Panasonic 7-14mm was more easily available.

Frankly, the mount adapters are nice, but the more I use them the more I wish there were more native m4/3 mount lenses available. All in good time I hope.
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Anonymous's avatar

Anonymous · 812 weeks ago

The biggest problem with the M43rds line up is that there is only one fast lens available across the entire lineup, the 20mm/f1.7. The zoom lenses are particularly slow, for example, the 14-140mm zoom is already f5.0 at 30mm. I'd really like a fast wide such as a 14mm/f1.4 and a fast telephoto like a 100mm/f2.8.

Another big hole in the line-up is that only one of the lenses provides AFC in 1080p movies, the 14-140mm kit lens. AFAIK, the GH1 is about the only digital camera that can provide any kind of good continuous AF in movies, so it would be nice to see Panasonic flesh out that niche with a range of "HD"-branded lenses. Most of all I would like a fast HD zoom with a constant aperture.
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Prognathous's avatar

Prognathous · 812 weeks ago

I'd like to see these two:

- 14-25/2.8-3.5
- 40-65/2.0-2.8

Both zoom lenses have less than X2 zoom ratio. Personally, I don’t think such a ratio is an essential minimum for a zoom lens. I’d rather trade the range/ratio and get (1) better portability, (2) less optical compromises, (3) better maximum apertures for the price, and (4) higher flexibility than a prime lens.

28-50 (equiv) is perfect for street photography, and 80-130 (equiv) is perfect for portraits.

As for weight, the current ZD 50/2.0 Macro weighs 300 gram so a 40-65/2.0-2.8 non-Macro should weigh about the same or even less. The current ZD 25/2.8 weighs 95 gram so a 14-25/2.8-3.5 shouldn’t weigh much more than 150 gram.

Prog.
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Harold GLIT's avatar - Go to profile

Harold GLIT · 812 weeks ago

what is missing ?
well first because of the 2x crop factor , the most needed lens is a 2.8/12mm ( non pancake) because this is the only line ( well with the regular 4/3 E line) not having this new standard lens for landscape and street photography
the next one is that portrait lens like 42mm (85mm equivalent) around 1.4 ( I would be fine with a 2.0 but know that would not be enough for all the crowd who thinks that EVERY portrait has to me made with shallow DOF)
so yes these are the 2 most urgent ones
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Chez Wimpy's avatar

Chez Wimpy · 812 weeks ago

For me the 12mm is crucially absent... between f2.8 and f4 I would take f4 if it meant pancake (assuming no optical compromises either way... its gonna be hyperfocal from the get-go with or with-out that stop!). A 40/1.7 or 50/1.7 is doable with a *very* short profile... again, great for a pocket-able set of lenses to go with the small body.
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Linh's avatar - Go to profile

Linh · 812 weeks ago

I'll reiterate the 12mm. 14 is close, but would have like to see it as a 12/3.5 or something. And a 35~40/1.8 or so pancake to compliment the 20/1.7. I could forgo the macro, but at $800, I'll wait and hope for a pancake =)

I decided to pre-order the GF1/20 kit, so I'd like to see that 14-45 either cheaper, or a 14-45/2.8 O.I.S. for a little more. Another portrait zoom such as a ~35-100/2.8 would be nice too. 45-200 is too much for me.
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Alex's avatar - Go to profile

Alex · 808 weeks ago

it is missing a 25mm f/1.4 in micro4/3 format that have AF with vidéo :-)
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Seto's avatar

Seto · 806 weeks ago

I'd like to see a wide angle lens around 10-12mm (prime or zoom) at f/2.8 or faster. They did it with the normal 4/3 with the 11-22 f/2.8-3.5 lens. I am expecting much more from olympus for 2010 as they have a rather weak micro 4/3 line up this year. the panasonic lenses are all nice but they are expensive. Hopefully olympus can shake things up next year.

Pancake or slightly-larger-than-pancake primes are nice too.
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Alex's avatar

Alex · 805 weeks ago

~50 mm f/1.8 or faster
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bob Crowley's avatar - Go to profile

bob Crowley · 796 weeks ago

Not only is there a missing portrait lens, but also any prime lens in the important 11-15mm (about 24mm equiv) range. Still no digital system has an equivalent to the superb Sigma 24mm macro we love in 35mm. Here's your chance, Olympus.
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Sdu's avatar

Sdu · 789 weeks ago

it's also missing a longer telephoto lense. Something in the 400mm range. Or maybe a 300mm f/4 that we could pair up with a 1.4x
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MadsR's avatar

MadsR · 783 weeks ago

More small but fast primes in all ranges.
Faster zooms in native mount with fast AF. (A µ4/3 version of 12-60 f2-4 would be nice... Also a 70-200 f2.8 would be fantastic)
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Claude's avatar

Claude · 780 weeks ago

30-50mm prime with f1.4-f2 AF Mega OIS ;)
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Seth's avatar - Go to profile

Seth · 776 weeks ago

Fast primes. Enough said!
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Murray's avatar

Murray · 776 weeks ago

I'm probably in a real minority here, but I'd buy into Micro 4/3 if there was a 300f4 so I had a lightweight bird photography setup. Maybe the 100-300 will be adequate but I'd be surprised.

Periodically I wish someone would stick a 135 f2.8 lens on the sensor from say a Canon S90 and you'd have a 600mm equivalent f2.8 that was tiny.
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gordo's avatar

gordo · 775 weeks ago

30 f/2 or faster pancake.
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Mats's avatar

Mats · 774 weeks ago

I agree with Andrew: a m4/3 12-60mm 2.8-4 with the same quality as the 'regular' 4/3 lens
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Jerry's avatar

Jerry · 772 weeks ago

I agree that f/1.8 or faster prime lenses are really NEEDED by Olympus and Panasonic right now. Low-cost Micro Four Thirds cameras like the E-PL1 could become a major critical success if there were more fast, compact primes available with auto focus.

Yes, there are adapters for connecting manual focus primes or standard Four Thirds lenses, but these compact Micro Four Thirds cameras really need compact Micro Four Thirds primes to go along with them. There is a reason that so many Micro Four Thirds owners rave about the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 prime. We need more fast primes for the Micro Four Thirds mount!
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Freddy's avatar

Freddy · 770 weeks ago

A small 12mm lense, and a fast portrait lens (~ 50mm f/1.4). Please.

A micro Four Third vertion of the excellent Zuiko 12-60 /2.8-4 is also wanted. But the primes first.

It would be nice if Panasonic and Olympus could cooperate closer. As it is now, they both make their own versions of nearly the same lenses. There are so many holes in the lens lineup that they should work together to make the lineup more or less complete before they make double versions of lenses with the same focal lengths.

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