Four-Thirds lenses
Owing to the cooperative nature of the Four-Thirds standard, several manufacturers currently produce lenses for it. Whereas a company like Sigma usually produces lenses for another company's cameras without the official blessing of that company — and therefore must design its equipment through reverse-engineering — as it is signed up as a Four-Thirds partner it has access to all the design specifications and technologies as laid out by Olympus in the Four-Thirds white paper. All 4/3rds lenses are fully compatible with other 4/3rds system equipment.
Note: Owing to the size of the Four-Thirds system sensors, the focal lengths of the lenses below should be doubled for their effective focal length equivalents in 24×36mm format.
Contents
Olympus Zuiko Digital lenses
All Olympus Zuiko Digital lenses are designed from the ground up to match the 4/3rds image sensor format. Similar to Canon's EOS system they have fully electronic mounts, with no mechanical connections to the camera bodies at all — meaning even manual focus is achieved via an electronic 'focus-by-wire' system.
Olympus divides its Zuiko Digital range into three tiers of features, build quality and price.
Terminology
- ED — 'Extra-Low Distortion' elements to minimise refraction and reduce chromatic aberrations
- SWD — In Olympus' second generation of lenses, the 'Supersonic Wave Drive' motors promise almost silent, very fast autofocus. Olympus claim that coupled with the E-1's successor they will provide the world's fastest autofocus system in their class.
Super high grade lenses
All the lenses in this series are dust- and moisture-sealed, and expensive.
- Zuiko Digital ED 7–14mm F4
- Zuiko Digital ED 14–35mm F2 SWD — Planned for release some time in 2008
- Zuiko Digital ED 35/100mm F2
- Zuiko Digital ED 90–250mm F2.8
- Zuiko Digital ED 150mm F2 — With Sigma's 'Hyper-Sonic Motor' autofocus technology.''
- Zuiko Digital ED 300mm F2.8
High grade lenses
All the lenses in this series are dust- and moisture-sealed.
- Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F3.5 Fisheye — Produces a full frame image, not vignetted like many 35mm fisheye lenses. With Sigma's 'Hyper-Sonic Motor' autofocus technology.
- Zuiko Digital 11–22mm F2.8–3.5
- Zuiko Digital 12–60mm F2.8–4 SWD — Planned for release some time in 2007
- Zuiko Digital 14–54 F2.8–3.5
- Zuiko Digital ED 50mm F2 Macro — Maximum magnification of 1.04× life size
- Zuiko Digital ED 50–200mm F2.8–3.5 — To be replaced by the below 'SWD' verison
- Zuiko Digital ED 50–200mm F2.8–3.5 SWD — Planned for release some time in 2007
- Zuiko Digital 'Telephoto Macro' — This lens is planned for release in 2008, no specifics on focal length as yet.
Standard lenses
The lenses in this range are 'consumer grade'; they are not weather-sealed and have lower build quality and optics.
- Zuiko Digital 'Ultra-Wide zoom lens — This lens is planned for release in 2008, no specifics on focal length as yet.
- Zuiko Digital ED 14–42mm F3.5–5.6 – New, lightweight standard kit lens for E-410 etc
- Zuiko Digital ED 18–180mm F3.5–6.3
- Zuiko Digital 35mm F3.5 Macro — Maximum magnification of 2x life size
- Zuiko Digital ED 40–150mm F4–5.6 – New, lightweight telephoto kit lens for E-410 etc
- Zuiko Digital ED 70–300mm F4–5.6 — Planned for release some time in 2007
Sigma Four-Thirds lenses
The majority of Sigma lenses released for the 4/3rds system are simply adaptations of lenses Sigma previously released for APS-C or 35mm formats.
Terminology
- DC — Lenses marked with this code are designed for digital sensors, and therefore do not have an image circle large enough to suit the full-frame bodies of the system they are mounted for (not a problem for a 4/3rds CCD).
- DG — Lenses with imaging circles large enough to fit 35mm sensors/film (again, not a problem for a 4/3rds CCD).
- EX — Lenses with a better external finish, reportedly to reflect the superior build and optical quality.
- HSM — 'Hyper-Sonic Motor'; this is effectively Sigma's 2nd generation of quieter, faster autofocus motors (and is also in some Olympus 4/3rds lenses)
- ASP — Lenses with one or more aspherical elements, to minimise distortion and allow smaller, lighter designs.
- APO — Lenses with low-dispersion glass to minimise chromatic aberration.
Standard zoom
- Sigma 18–50mm F2.8 EX DC Macro
- Sigma 18–50mm F3.5–5.6 DC
- Sigma 18–125mm F3.5–5.6 DC
Telephoto zoom
- Sigma APO 50–500mm F4–6.3 EX DG HSM
- Sigma 55–200mm F4–5.6 DC
- Sigma APO 135–400mm F4.5–5.6 DG
- Sigma APO 300–800mm F5.6 EX DG HSM
Macro
- Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro
- Sigma APO 150mm F2.8 EX DG HSM Macro
Single focal length
- Sigma 24mm F1.8 EX DG ASP Macro
- Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC HSM
Panasonic Four-Thirds lenses
Relative newcomers to the DSLR market, Panasonic (Matsushita) has released one camera body — the DMC-L1 — and two lenses for the 4/3rds system. Its lenses are co-branded with Leica, something it began with its Lumix compact digital cameras — it is understood that these lenses are Leica-designed and Matsushita-built.
Panasonic's lenses are unique among those made expressly for the 4/3rds system in having an aperture ring. When used on a Panasonic or Leica body, the aperture can be adjusted with this ring rather than the camera's buttons or dials.
- 14–50mm F2.8–3.5 Leica D Vario Elmarit ASP Mega OIS — kit lens for the DMC-L1 featuring optical image stabilisation (previously Panasonic used this system in its Lumix series of compact digital cameras).
- 25mm F1.4 Leica D Summilux ASP
Panasonic has also announced the pending release of a telephoto zoom lens with OIS.
Conversions to the Four-Thirds mount
The distance between film plane and lens flange of the Four-Thirds system is unusually small, two millimetres less than that of the Konica AR system.[1] This allows enterprising people to adapt older SLR lenses for these cameras.
Lenses with the Konica AR mount can be adapted. The process is destructive — the lens will no longer be usable with a Konica body — but the only parts needed are spacer rings.[2]
Lenses with the Canon FD mount can also be adapted. This similarly renders the lens unusable with a Canon body. It is more complex than conversion of a Konica AR–mount lens, and it also requires the mount of an AR-mount lens.[3]
Adapters for the Four-Thirds mount
Various companies produce adapters that will mate lenses intended for other SLRs with Four-Thirds bodies. For example, there are "RayQual" adapters for the Minolta MD, Nikon F, Olympus OM, Leica R, M42, Contax/Yashica, and Pentax K mounts.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Bergfors, "Konica to FourThirds Modification".
- ↑ Bergfors, "Konica to FourThirds Modification"; Bergfors, "Hexanon 40, F1.8 to Fourthirds Conversion".
- ↑ Bergfors, "Canon FD to FourThirds Mount Conversion".
- ↑ "Fōsāzu-yō maunto adaputa" (フォーサーズ用マウントアダプター, Four-Thirds mount adapters). An additional page illustrates the Minolta MD adapter.
References
- Bergfors, Jörgen. "Konica to Four Thirds Modification". Fourthirdsphoto.com.
- Bergfors, Jörgen. "Hexanon 40, F1.8 to Fourthirds Conversion". Fourthirdsphoto.com.
- Bergfors, Jörgen. "Canon FD to FourThirds Mount Conversion". Fourthirdsphoto.com.