A cornucopia of lens choices
To read the whole series on the Panasonic G1, click here
If you want compact optics on the G1 then your only choice right now appears to be the lenses Panny specifically designed for the body. So far (double everything for 35mm equivalents) the 14-45mm kit and 45-200mm meet that description. Both have IS so just imagine that super compact long zoom at 200mm (400mm) – hand held! Others allegedly in the pipeline include the 20mm f/1.7 Pancake (yes please!) and a rather exotic and costly 14-140mm super zoom. Let’s hope Panny adds a macro once they realize the target audience is far broader than they envisaged. Olympus lenses for their Digital Pen will fit but – I’m not sure of this – may have some limitations. The Panny lenses have two more electrical contacts on their rear so there must be some sort of difference.
Now before Panny came up with the ‘micro four thirds’ body, they first issued a ‘four thirds’ one – meaning larger and heavier, as are the lenses. Olympus did likewise. That format always struck me as a waste of capital investment. All of those ‘four thirds’ lenses will fit using a custom adapter and, once again, I suspect there are some limitations when it comes to function. Leica also makes a few lenses in the four thirds format, though they do look pretty bulky to me. Maybe someone could enlighten me?
But it really does not stop there and, of course, this long time aficionado of glass which says Leitz Wetzlar (back in the days these lenses were hand made by Germans of the old generation) on the bezel is rather thrilled to note that adapters exist to mount your Leica screw or M rangefinder lenses on the G1. This is possible owing to the very slim body in the G1, meaning that the short flange-to-film dimension of those great M lenses is not so short as to prevent infinity focus on the G1. Plus, you get to use the EVF and its magnifier facility for accurate focusing.
Now, before we get too carried away, there’s the focal length doubling to take into account. That translates into Leica M wides being a waste of money if the kit zoom which comes with the G1 is any good. After all, why pay the enormous premium for a 21mm Asph Elmarit which can cover a 24x36mm frame when you end up with a rather uninspiring 42mm fixed focal length lens of modest f/2.8 aperture?
However things get a little different if you really want fast long lenses. How about a 90mm Summicron with an effective length of 180mm? A 180mm f/2, that is? Or that fabulous 180mm Apo Telyt R (this fits the Leicaflex, but there’s also an adapter for Leicaflex lenses available) for a ne plus ultra 360mm f/3.4?
So far, nosing around the web, I have spotted the following adapters:
- Leica M (and LTM with a screw to bayonet adapter added)
- Leica R/Leicaflex
- M42 Pentax thread
- Canon FD
- Canon EOS – but without electronic controls so full aperture use only
- C mount (movie camera lenses)
- Contax/Yashica
- Exakta (remember those?)
- Hasselblad (no kidding)
- Nikon F
- Minolta
- Olympus OM – some nice glass there
- Olympus Pen – from the F/FT half-frame wonders of yore
- Pentax 645
- Pentax 6×7
- Rollei 35mm
- Zeiss Contarex (wow!)
So it’s not as if the G1 is lost for choice if you are into older optics! I’m hopeful that a Canon EOS adapter with aperture control (this is all electronic, so some circuitry will have to be added) is not too far away. The thought of my 400mm f/5.6 Canon ‘L’ on the little Panny amuses me no end.
Here, from an eTheft vendor, is one of my favorites:
G1 with the Leitz Canada 90mm Tele Elmarit
I used on of these sweet little Tele Elmarits for ages on my M2, M3 and M6 (the less said about the latter, the better) and simply loved it. The Ontario, Canada factory was equal to Wetzlar when it came to quality control as this lens, my 90mm Summicron-R and the 180mm Apo Telyt-R attest.
Well, the camera finally arrived last night but, as with Pandora’s Box, I’m letting it sit a while to heighten the fun of the moment when I open everything. I was always a sucker for Christmas, regardless of the time of year. Hard to believe that three and a half wonderful years with the contents of that box have passed. The Canon 5D was a quantum leap in camera technology and remains superb in just about every way. The G1 has a lot to live up to.