What is Lumix thinking?!

[newfoundmass]

2 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Yes, would be nice if Panasonic released cheaper primes (don't have to be weather sealed, f1.4, or made out of carbon, or whatever. Just give us those cheap "nifty fifties" that other systems would have, such as Canon 50mm f1.8 EF lens that would sell for only a little more than a hundred bucks. Or similar for Nikon, you can even go for less than a hundred bucks from B&H if you don't mind buying a Nikon refurbished lens. Although it seems the switch from DSLR to Mirrorless means the cheapest first party lenses seem to be a bit pricey now, the cheapest Canon 50mm for RF is US$199 vs US$125 for EF mount)

I see also personally the issue of lack of third party support as an even bigger sticking point, normally if you pick any mount, then filter for only AF lenses then sort by price, you'll see a tonne of cheap lenses being offered. 

For example I have to go more than half way down this page of Z Mount AF lenses before I discover the first Nikon branded lens:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/Mirrorless-Camera-Lenses/ci/17912?sort=PRICE_LOW_TO_HIGH&filters=fct_a_focus-type_5738%3Aautofocus%2Cfct_lens-mount_3442%3Anikon-z-mount

Let's compare with the situation for L Mount:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/Mirrorless-Camera-Lenses/ci/17912/N/4196380428?sort=PRICE_LOW_TO_HIGH&filters=fct_a_focus-type_5738%3Aautofocus%2Cfct_lens-mount_3442%3Aleica-l-mount

They have between one and zero 3rd Party Lenses which are cheaper than the cheapest first party lens. ("one or zero" depending on if you count Sigma as third party lenses or not, as normally you would, but then again they do make L Mount cameras) 

I recently put together a very cheap Fujifilm lens kit (12mm f2 / 21mm f1.2 / 25mm f2 / 56mm f1.7), which if I'd tried to do the same for L Mount (to use with say a cheap S1 or S5 mk1) might have cost twice or even thrice as much. 

Yeah, the only affordable third party lenses are the manual primes that companies like TTArtisan have made for RF, E, and L mount. From what I've seen they are pretty good, too, but even those are a little pricey when you consider that the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4 is only a hundred dollars less than the Lumix 50mm f1.8 when it's on sale. I think it's probably worth spending the extra $120 to get the Lumix with auto focus even though it's a little slower.

Hopefully Viltrox, Meike and others that released auto focusing lenses for E-mount start releasing them for L-mount. I think it'd be a kick in the arm.

[Thpriest]

Meike have released some for L mount. Josh Cameron reviewed one I think.

[newfoundmass]

1 hour ago, Thpriest said:

Meike have released some for L mount. Josh Cameron reviewed one I think.

I didn't see em at B&H. I see they sell them directly from their site though. Interesting. I think I will wait for B&H or Adorama though to carry them before I take the plunge, as it'll be easier to return them if necessary, etc.