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I was wondering if anyone has any insight into whether retractable lenses such as the new 14-42mm Panasonic power zoom for its micro four thirds cameras might be soon available on larger APSC sensor cameras?



I don’t know what’s involved in producing the new Panasonic lens, whether it’s a remarkable leap in lens technology, or an adaptation of the compact camera zoom lenses scaled up to the micro four thirds sensor.



My reason for asking is that I’m thinking of upgrading my GF1 camera and would like to jump to an APS-C sensor, but I don’t like the big lenses. The new Sony NEX-7 has fantastic specs compared to the new Lumix GX1, but whopping big lenses that negate the advantages of the tiny camera.



There’s also the Fujifilm X100 which is to be updated with an interchangeable lens version in the next few months. Great camera, but big lenses coming?



Either the X100 update or the NEX-7 would be killer cameras versus the GX1 if only they had retractable lenses.



If you know about lenses, what do you think the chance of that happening anytime soon? Could Fujifilm easily release such a lens with its improved X100, or is it highly unlikely?



Or might Sony see the great advantage in smaller lenses better proportioned to the tiny NEX-7 rather than the oversized phallus it must dangle for a workable zoom? If it’s easily feasible, why hasn’t Sony done it already? Surely they’ve thought of it.



I understand no one has a crystal ball, but with the idea for such zoom lenses out there now thanks to Panasonic, is it just a matter of adopting the retractable lens technology of compact cameras to larger sensors, or are huge technical issues going to make it a long wait?



I’m sure lots of people have opinions that are little more than guesses, but some people actually understand the technical issues and could offer an educated viewpoint. Any helpful comments would be very much appreciated.

[Brightcolours]

Why do you want APS-C?



that panasonic X lens can collapse because of 2 things.



1. It lacks zoom and focus rings. Focussing and zooming is done via less intuitive levers.



2. It has very small max. apertures, meaning the glass elements can be very small and allowing the lens to be designed to "collapse" when not in use. Equivalent f-values for APS-C would be f5-f7.1.



If one were to produce an f5-f7.1 lens, in order to keep the glass so small that one could produce a collapsable lens, what would be the advantage of APS-C over m4/3rds for you?

[Guest]

It's all speculation. If you want to go APS-C you will have to wait anyway if you don't want the lenses that are available now.



That said, I would not base a decision about changing systems on the size of one small-aperture zoom lens. Even if Sony or Fujifilm manage to build a small kit lens, won't you ever shoot with other lenses that add to the weight and bulk of your kit?

I am not you and don't know what you shoot, but I could not choose anything mirrorless but Panasonic because of the 45/2.8 (the only decent macro lens in any mirrorless system). The Samsung macro lens is a brick and would not justify the slightly larger sensor.

[tjobbe]

for Samsungs NX APS-c you get two kind of lenses. One set of pocketable ones as three Pencakes and one pancake zoom all of which are same size as mFT counterparts and beside the issue with the 16mm are all of them great when it comes to price versus IQ. All of them come without stabilization.



One more pancake at f1,8/55mm should be released first half of 2012 so with the NX200 you do get a camera for (larger) pockets.



The other ones are five larger sized Zoom and primes where especially the f1,4/85 is a large one. Those are as bulky as the ones Sony has release and those are better used with a DSLR style camera as NX11.



For Samsung (similar to Panasonic) not having to care about any DSLR legacy those two setups might make sense.