Panasonic wide aperture zoom lenses for m43

PhotographyBLOG has pictures of pre-production lenses at CES 2012.

These are Panasonic lenses for Micro Four Thirds:
12-35mm f/2.8 (24-70mm equivalent);
35-100mm f/2.8 (70-200mm equivalent).

<http://www.photographyblog.com/news/panasonic_12-35mm_and_35-100mm_lenses>

 

They are fairly compact, which probably means their max aperture at
full zoom is f5.6.

 

The maximum aperture is a constant f/2.8 throughout the zoom range.

Otherwise the lenses would be referred to as "f/2.8-5.6"; they aren't.

 

Sorry, you are right, I just looked at the other shot showing the top
of them. This is annoying. Olympus was supposed to offer a fast zoom
like this, and they didn't.

 

they look nice, even if they are "only" f2,8 constant. These two
lenses could make a very nice travel set, assuming that they can
produce high-quality images. Panasonic seems to have kept the zoom
ratios somewhat modest, which is a good idea.

 

Just wait until you see the prices.

The maximum aperture and zoom ratios may be modest but it seems that
these lenses are going to be eyewateringly expensive. ;-)

 

A 12-35mm f/2 would be nice. Isn't that supposed to be one of the
benefits of smaller sensors?

 

Well, typical zooms seem to be 2-3x the price of their 4/3rds
counterparts. They certainly do not have HG or SHG build quality so
who knows what the price might be.

 

I'm also not sure the idea that m4/3rds buyers won't buy expensive
lenses is probably wrong. I knew people who owned E-520s and E-620's
($500 each) who also had HG Olympus lenses, about $700 and up.