Panasonic sees wide angle with new X series lens (hands on)

Panasonic adds a 12-35mm f2.8 lens to its premium X series. The lens barrel won't have that reddish cast in shipping models.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Specs

• 14 elements in 9 groups (4 aspherical lenses, 1 low-dispersion lens, 1 high refraction lens)


• Image stabilization


• 7-bladed aperture


• Minimum aperture f22


• Closest focus 9.4 inches


• 58mm filter


• 2.9 inches long, 10.8 ounces

With the announcement of a new 12-35mm f2.8 lens in its X series of Micro Four Thirds (MFT) lenses, I am now officially confused by Panasonic's lens marketing. The X series lenses do seem to have a slightly better build quality and design than the plain old Lumix G models, composed of more metal and less plastic, but all the usual markers that manufacturers use to differentiate between classes of lenses -- coatings, wide apertures, features -- are absent. When Panasonic first announced the X series I had though that X would be defined by the power zoom or video-optimized quieter stepping motor (designated by an HD), but there are non-X HD lenses (like the veteran 14-140 f4-5.8), and the new 12-35mm lacks power zoom. There are non-X lenses with Panasonic's Nano Surface Coating plus low-dispersion (UED) and high refraction (UHR) lenses, like its Leica-produced DG Summilux 25mm f1.4. And Panasonic doesn't have enough lenses in its lineup to use price as a di... [Read more]



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