Panasonic has announced the LUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 full-frame zoom. This is being aimed as a lightweight, affordable zoom.
The lens covers a rather small 20mm to 60mm focal length range and it doesn’t have a fixed aperture. It also doesn’t have image stabilization.
It weighs in at just 350g (12.35 oz) and the housing of the lens uses a dust/splash resistant design that is claimed to withstand use under harsh conditions even at -10 degrees Celsius. In addition, a fluorine coating on the front element repels water and oil. The front filter diameter is 67mm.
The 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 has a close-up capability of 15cm (5.9″). Panasonic claims that the lens uses a mechanism that suppresses focus breathing, which you don’t want when shooting video. A stepping motor is also used and Panasonic says it provides fast, precise, and near-silent autofocus performance.
Optical Design
The optical design of the lens comprises of 11 elements in 9 groups, with the use of 2 aspherical lenses and 3 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) lenses. These are claimed to effectively suppress both axial and lateral chromatic aberration of magnification. Astigmatism is also corrected with these aspherical lenses, achieving high resolving performance. A UHR (Ultra-High Refractive Index) lens is said to achieve uniform image quality from the center to the edges of the image while contributing to the downsizing of the lens unit.
Price & Availability
The Panasonic LUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 full-frame zoom is now available to pre-order for $597.99 USD. It is expected to start shipping on July 20th.
Thoughts
At first glance, a 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 zoom doesn’t sound over appealing, and for a lot of serious video shooters, it probably won’t be. It is, however, quite affordable as far as full-frame Panasonic lenses go, and with the various image sensor modes, you can choose from on a camera like the S1H you could cover quite a lot of focal ranges with this one lens.
