Panasonic will refresh four lenses to fix an annoying quirk with close-up photography
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Credit: Gareth Bevan / Digital Camera World
When I snap close-up photos of small shiny objects like wedding rings and car details, I repeatedly come across a challenge: trying not to catch my own reflection in the photograph. But Panasonic is refreshing four popular lenses with a fix.
Panasonic Japan will refresh four popular lenses in mid-September. One of those lenses is the full-frame L-Mount Lumix S Pro 70-200mm f/4 OIS , while the other three are Micro Four Thirds optics: the Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ASPH Power OIS , the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 II ASPH , and the Lumix G 42.5mm f/1.7 ASPH Power OIS .
The announcement – which comes from Panasonic Japan and has not yet seen official announcements outside of Japan – brings a relatively small refresh to four existing lenses.
Credit: Panasonic
But one of the changes is that the markings on the front of the lens are more muted. The darker markings on the front of the lens will help the lens better blend into the shadows. Of course, that doesn't matter much when the reflection is strong enough for the photographer to show up, but that will help the lens to better blend into the shadows – and it serves as a reminder why most cameras are black.
Outside of the tweak to the font markings, all four lenses now use a fluorine coating to help repel fingerprints off the front of the lens.
Panasonic Japan marks the new full-frame 70-200mm f/4 OIS as rated to 6.5 stops when mounted on the Panasonic Lumix S1R or S1 , which would be a half-stop improvement over the current version of the lens.
The Panasonic Lumix S PRO 70-200mm f/4 | Credit: Future
Panasonic Japan says that the kit lens for the GH7 and G9 II will be gradually replaced with the refreshed version of the 12-60mm. The lens brings the same optical design and image quality with the new fluorine coating and uses new engraved lettering on the front of the lens instead of the white lettering.
The two Micro Four Thirds primes, meanwhile, will use gray lettering on the front rather than white.
Panasonic Japan says that the four new lenses will begin shipping in mid-September.
You may also like
Explore the best Micro Four Thirds lenses or the best L-Mount lenses .
