Panasonic 45-150mm Lens Confirmed

Wow. You know, for a minute there, after the release of the two Panasonic X zooms, the Olympus 75mm, the E-M5, the aggressive price drops on Panasonic's Micro 4/3 cameras, and the rumored abilities of the GH3, one starts to forget that not more than two months ago, the entire Micro 4/3 consortium was borderline mentally disabled. For example, only in their twisted little world did it make perfect sense to release six different versions of the same freaking lens (the 14-45mm or equivalent).

Well, Panasonic reminded us in a big way with the release of their new 45-150mm lens. It hasn't been officially confirmed, but a good leak is just as good. This will give us five different versions of this lens available. Panasonic made the 45-200mm. Then they made the 45-175mm. And now they're making a 45-150mm. I'm assuming that they will continue with this trajectory until they create the world's first inverse lens with a focal length of 45-25mm. And don't forget their 14-140mm lens as well! Olympus joins the part with two 40-150mm lenses, just to make sure people don't forget them.

This could all be forgiven if these lenses had very different characteristics. For example, in Canon's gargantuan system, they have many lenses that cover the same focal length. But these lenses are all at very different price targets and speeds. For example, Canon makes three 50mm lenses, but one is only $99, the next is $400, and the next is $1,600!

This just reminds me that, while I hope Panny and Oly are entering a new phase of their optical market development, they are still Panny and Oly, and it may take them a long time to get past that.