We talked about what’s the new lenses for micro four thirds a little while ago. And while we had very little official word from both Olympus and Panasonic to work with to plot out a roadmap, we did have plenty of insights courtesy of the ever-present rumor mill.
Today, we’re re-visiting the L-mount alliance to see what’s cooking in the pipeline and what lenses could we be getting this year.
If you need a little refresher, L-mount lenses (see our favorites) is a platform shared between Leica, Panasonic and Sigma, giving way to a serious mirrorless full-frame alternative to arise and compete with the leading camera manufacturers.
Let’s start with Panasonic’s updated roadmap for the L-Mount…
Panasonic 18mm F1.8 Lumix S
The S-Line has been getting a lot of relatively affordable f1.8 primes lately. The last entry to the fast prime family was the S 35mm f1.8, joining the ranks of the highly regarded 85mm, 50mm, and 24mm f1.8 Lumix S lenses.
With the updated roadmap Panasonic released a few months back, we can see that an 18mm f1.8 is in the works along with an unspecified wide-angle zoom. We unfortunately don’t have more details about this fast UWA prime, but it’s certainly looking like it’ll be a good entry point for astrophotography and real estate work for creatives in the L-mount system.
Unspecified Wide Angle Zoom from Panasonic
The other new entry in Panasonic’s updated roadmap is an unspecified wide-angle zoom. Now from where it sits on the graph, it’ll most likely be a 16-35mm zoom lens.
Knowing that Panasonic’s already got a 16-35mm f4 in the S-series lineup, then it’s easy to deduce that we’ll be getting a premium, UWA-standard zoom with a fast f2.8 aperture very soon. The 16-35mm f2.8 is an amazing all-arounder that can do everything from landscapes, real estate videography, vlogging, and everything in between. So if you’re just about ready to get the f4 version, maybe waiting a little bit for the more premium 16-35mm is a good idea.
Sigma 28-70mm f2 Art
Sigma has always had a thing for pushing the envelope a little further. We all know how the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 shook the videography landscape, which they followed up with a full-frame 24-35mm f2 a couple of years later.
This time around, Sigma’s cooking something up that can go head-to-head with Canon’s RF 28-70mm f2. L-rumors found a patent from Sigma for a 28-70mm f2 for full-frame mirrorless systems which should be more than good enough to know that this incredibly fast zoom is on the horizon for the L-mount.
Sigma 14-30mm f/4 C
Along with the uncovered patent for 28-70mm f2 is the 14-30mm f/4 for full frame mirrorless cameras. Now Sigma already has the impressive 14-24mm f2.8 Art on offer, so they could very well be gunning for a more affordable UWA zoom with an f4 version.
If they can get it on a more compact barrel and shave enough weight, the 14-30mm focal length would be a great Swiss army knife of sorts for general photography, travel and vlogging. These are of course just speculations but I’m still excited to see how this one turns out!
4 Upcoming Fast Prime APS-C Lenses from Sigma
If you’re shooting with an APS-C Leica, you should be feeling pretty ecstatic by now. Because L-Rumors just found four new fast prime lenses in the works from Sigma.
- 20mm f/1.4
- 23mm f/1.4
- 28mm f/1.4
- 33mm f/1.4
The APS-C offering from Sigma, while not lackluster, doesn’t really get as much attention as their full-frame counterparts for obvious reasons. Still, this is a very welcome development for sure.
Sigma 20mm f/2.0 DG DN Now Available for Preorder
The I Series of lenses from Sigma is positioned as a “premium compact” alternative that won’t break the bank. And from what we’re seeing from the reviews, these lenses do punch above their weight class.
The widest I Series you can get at the moment is a 24mm f2 so if you wanted something wider, the 20mm f2 f/2.0 DG DN is presenting itself as a really good option. Just announced last February, the Sigma 20mm f/2.0 DG DN is now available for preorder for $700, and is available for both Sony E-Mount and L-mount.
Sigma to Announce Two More Follow-ups for the Sigma 20mm f/2.0 DG DN
Sigma is on a roll and it doesn’t look like they aren’t slowing down any time soon. An insider told L-rumors that the third party manufacturer is planning to announce two more lenses right after the official word for the Sigma 20mm f2 got out.
Leica APO-SUMMICRON-SL f2/24mm ASPH.
Unlike its 28mm counterpart, we haven’t actually seen anything about the f2/24mm ASPH yet. The only thing we know about it is that the 24mm f2 was scheduled to be released sometime last year, according to Panasonic’s L-mount page.
The delay could only be attributed to the global chip shortage that had already put a wrench on the camera industry’s product timelines. Seeing the promotional pieces for 28mm f2 however, it’s easy to imagine the 24mm being a hefty lens in every sense of the word, as the longer lens is about 1.5 pounds in weight and will run you a little over $5k.
Laowa 85mm f/5.6 2x Ultra Macro APO for L-mount
Laowa first broke into the camera market with the first-ever 2:1 macro lens. Then came the Zero-D line of lenses and of course, the wonderfully quirky probe lens.
Now they’ve just announced another one for the books: a compact, lightweight 85mm f5.6 macro lens for the L-mount that can be had for $500. Being a Laowa lens, it’ll be manual focus only but being a dedicated macro lens with a game-changing magnification to boot, this is hardly a deal-breaker.
3 Laowa Lenses Make their Way into the L-Mount
Three lenses from Laowa have just debuted in the L-mount. One of which is the excellent, wide-angle 12mm f2.8 Zero-D, or zero distortion, that delivers phenomenally on its promise. That thing has close to zero barrel or pincushion-ing, making it a great choice for the budget-conscious creative wanting to dabble in ultra wide-angle work.
- Laowa 15mm f/4 Wide Angle Macro
- Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D
- Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO