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Panasonic Officially Announces Lumix G X 35-100mm f/2.8 Telephoto Lens for Micro Four Thirds

By Alvin Soon - on 18 Sep 2012, 3:00pm

Panasonic Officially Announces Lumix G X 35-100mm f/2.8 Telephoto Lens for Micro Four Thirds

It's an odd state of affairs where camera manufacturers will announce development of lenses, then officially announce the lens, and lastly announce the availability of the lens (case in point here).

We first saw the Lumix G X 35-100mm f/2.8 prototype at CP+ 2012 together with its sibling the 12-35mm f/2.8. The latter has since been officially announced and brought to market, and now the 35-100mm is being announced (and we assume, will appear in the shops soon).

With Micro Four Thirds' 2x crop factor, the 12-35mm is the 35mm equivalent of 24-70mm, and the 35-100mm the equivalent of 70-200mm. Together, these two lenses form the classic pair of 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses to cover you from a wide to far telephoto range at a relatively fast and constant aperture of f/2.8.

The strength of Micro Four Thirds lies in its rich selection of lenses, from both Panasonic and Olympus as well as third-party manufacturers like Voigtländer, and except for Fujifilm nobody else seems to be catching up. The 12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8 should effectively seal the system's appeal for photographers looking for a mirrorless system with a serious set of lenses.

The Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lens next to a GH3 with a 12-35mm f/2.8 lens attached.

The press release follows:

The World’s Smallest and Lightest* Full-range F2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens with Rugged Design LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm / F2.8 / POWER O.I.S. (H-HS35100)

Panasonic is proud to announce a new digital interchangeable telephoto zoom lens LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm / F2.8 / POWER O.I.S. (H-HS35100) (35mm camera equivalent: 70-200mm) based on the Micro Four Thirds standard.

Crystallizing Panasonic's optical technologies, the "X" lens features superb image rendering for lifelike textures, crisp edge-to-edge contrast, a unique Nano Surface Coating for minimal ghost and flare and natural atmospheres with remarkable transparency.

Featuring F2.8 high speed at entire zoom range, the new LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm / F2.8 / POWER O.I.S. lens offers a practical way of use with its versatile zoom range from a portrait or close-up shot with beautiful defocused background or a zoom shot of moving subject such as sports, birds and animals utilizing a fast shutter speed. This constant aperture can be practically used for video recording, too. 

Comprising of 18 lenses in 13 groups, the lens system realize uniform descriptiveness with its excellent contrast from the center to the corners, equable brightness at entire zoom range and high resolution. Notably, an UED (Ultra Extra-Low Dispersion) lens and 2 ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) lenses minimize chromatic aberration and distortion. Despite its high optical performance, LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm / F2.8 / POWER O.I.S. boasts outstanding compactness and light-weight with approx. 99.9 mm in length and approx. 360g in weight for high mobility.

Panasonic's Nano Surface Coating technology is adopted to minimize the reflection at entire visual light range (380nm-780nm) by applying the extra-low refractive index coating with nano-sized structure on the surface of the lens. It results in the super clear picture with dramatic reduction of ghost and flare.

The POWER O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) which is newly integrated in the LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm / F2.8 / POWER O.I.S. effectively compensates for not only small, fast movement but also large, slow one making it easy to shoot super clear shots even in low-lit situations such as in night time or indoors.

It incorporates a superior inner focus system which enables excellent resolution and contrast from full life-size magnification to infinity. The overall length of the lens is fixed either in zooming or in focusing thanks to its unique mechanism. The inclusion of stepping motor makes the focusing action smooth and silent for use in both photo and video recording. When mounted on the Digital Single Lens Mirrorless (DSLM) cameras of LUMIX G, users can take advantage of the high-speed, high-precision Contrast AF system.

Designed to stand against splash/dust with a rubber ring on the reliable metal lens mount, the sophisticated metallic-finished look of the LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm / F2.8 / POWER O.I.S. suits the profile of stylish camera body of LUMIX G. Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth defocus effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings.

*As of September 17, 2012, as a digital interchangeable lens of 70-200mm F2.8 (35mm camera equiv.).

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