lenses, lenses, lenses...

I have the 14-45mm zoom, 45-200mm zoom, and a 14mm, all Panasonic. I'm not craving anything at the moment but a few favorites are the 100-300mm zoom and the 14-140mm zoom but I can live without them. There are some interesting things coming out from Fuji and Canon and some new M4/3 models on the way so there is no shortage of ways to spend $. My major purchase of 2012 will probable be a Macbook Pro or Air. I'm waiting until March to see the rumored new models or upgrades.

As I mentioned elsewhere tongue in cheek it would be nice to have an f/2 CONSTANT version of the 014140 instead of all these lenses which loose a couple of stops or more as they zoom becuase of this craze for compactness. Panasonic had it right with their FZ20 and have been slipping backwards ever since :-) As Makita say but changed slightly "I want a tool not a toy".
Would an f/2 140mm lens be that big? 70mm diameter plus mounting say 80mm?

Well JC, a 135mm f2 Nikkor is 1.8lbs 79mm D X 120mm L and $1400 so a 14 X 140mm f2 Zoom would be bigger, weigh more and cost more. Panasonic or Olympus would have to think long and hard about how many potential customers there would be for such a large, heavy and expensive lens before embarking on it's design and production.

Unless they just want to do it for bragging rights.

First, glad to see more selection in the micro 4/3 range, definitely needed. How about a teleconverter or two. An off camera connecting cable from Pana that fully works with the Olympus cum Pana flashes. That kind of thing. A macro lens for less than USD 500.00... Make it a system for the system minded. Well thanks guys for the color choices, but shuckeedarns, know what I mean?
I do cringe a little at buying any more +/- 1K lenses when I can, w/o much fuss, still adapt my 50-200 SWD ED lens F 2.8-3.5 when I need that kind of reach and aperture range. And there is the EC-14 which works fine on it too.
No, I am looking closely at the Olympus all plastic barrel (but well loved by its users) 45mm 1.8. Thing is 1)I lean to use of tripods whenever all possible. 2) I can handhold at least up to equivalent 100mm most of the time. 3) I have seen no evidence that the uber PL lenses are so great they are worth the big tab. ( Yes, I would grab the Lumix IS and tough 45mm, but squeamish about its value at 668.00 vis a vis the Olympus. I am only put off by plastic filter threads, which is what I seem to read about that model. Plastic filter threads....hmm....Well I suppose...

After over twenty years owning Canon to do weddings, PR, sports and having owned who knows now many lenses including manual focus MF lenses for weddings I am satisfied with f2.8 lenses. I also after using fixed focus MF for all my weddings I am now satisfied with zoom lenes. Bokeh is nice but any wider open than 2.8 you get eyes in focus and the nose out of focus pictures or half a picture in focus in shooting swimming. I like to have a little pad for focusing errors so I tend, in sports, to try for f4 or smaller if I can get the shutter speed. I have just completed the acquisition of the 18-55, 55-210 and 16 mm 2.8 pancake e mount lenses for my NEX 5n. These are all I need I think. I have never had a complaint about bokeh, sharpness etc. My customers were much more concerned about how they looked. After having the Canon 28-70 2.8L I went to the 24-105 f4L (both are constant aperture lenses). The former was a great lens but for me the latter is more useful. I have managed over the years to do my work with whatever I have had at hand. I cannot understand all this fussiness about lenses for these little cameras including my 5n. I still have to go to the Canon when one has to be so fussy about the nuances of sharpness or to catch fast action with the Canon constant aperture zooms I have. The 5n matches my 5d for most other applications. The pictures I get out of the 5n are just fine for most uses with the Sony zoom lenses I have, neither of which sustain a constant aperture. .

In DPReview's visit to Panasonic's booth they note in the story you linked Panasonic has a sign that says the maximum apertures of these two lenses is "to be determined".

The lenses on display are mockups and could turn out to be NOT a constant f2.8. Maybe f2.8-3.5 or f2.8-4 or something else. Nothing, especially the lens speed, is set in stone.

Yeah, I heard Panasonic made those concept lenses so that they'll have something to show at CES. I don't expect constant f2.8, especially at those sizes. For me, m4/3rd (and MILC in general) is all about compactness, so primes and pancakes take the forefront.

I cannot understand all this fussiness about lenses for these little cameras including my 5n.

What do you mean exactly, Dick?

These two "concept" lenses look too compact to be f2.8 thru out the range. Any comments?

Keep in mind the 4/3 system has a crop factor of 2. A full frame 70mm F2.8 lens needs lens diameter of 25mm. The 4/3s equivalent is 35mm F2.8 would need a diameter of just 12.5mm. The Panasonic 12-35mm mockup appears to list a filter diameter of 58mm and appears to have a lens diameter of at least 20mm. More than sufficient for a f2.8 4/3s lens.