[peterb]

Hi David,

Yeah, I think that this Venus HD may be a significant milestone for Panasonic and I find it interesting that this version appears on this first MFT (micro four thirds) effort of theirs. Sort of a line in the sand saying, "Hey all you naysayers, we got it right finally. Now see what we can do."

Hi James,

As far as I know, on record, Leica had absolutely NO input whatsoever on the thing. That said, the kit 12-45mm kit lens boldly says 'Vario' on its barrel, which, to me, is a bona-fide (and possibly even copyrighted) Leica word. The optics of the lens have been well received as it is a zoom with aspherical elements that from my experience and others seems to have excellent sharpness, contrast and very little chromatic aberration across the zoom range.

And my guess is Panasonic is taking a huge loss on this kit lens with an aspherical element to give the MFT a realistic shot at proving its viability as a system to be reckoned with. If Leitz didn't have a hand in it I'd be surprised. Perhaps Leitz was consulted briefly. Or, at the very least, as I had mused on another site, after having produced a number of genuine Leitz-designed optics for previous Panasonic (and Leitz) digital cameras (while Leitz was on record as a partner), perhaps the folks at Panasonic picked up a thing or two about lens design simply by closely observing a renowned master after having assembled so many! Also, if you look at some of the super optics that Olympus has created for their DSLR's considering the gushing reviews at these f2.0 stellar pieces of glass it's clear (no pun intended) Olympus is no slouches in the optics department either. So Panasonic, who's really the newcomer in the non-tv camera biz certainly has palled around with some formidable photographic partners. But who knows?

I do find it odd that Leitz dropped their support for 4/3's since (A) they were a part of it and (B) the micro four thirds which all three parties (Olympus, Panasonic and Leitz) must have known at the time meant all sorts of tantalizing possibilities in body design when a mirror box was no longer necessary as a consideration in lens design which, to me, must have been in Leica heaven. But Leitz is a bit of a go-it-alone kinda company with a lot of pride (and stubbornness I suppose) in continuing what they consider perfection. The M8 demonstrated that their concept is still viable in this millennium, especially when you consider they've been coming out with uber improved optics for the line nearly every three months (a new f0.95 Noctilux????). And the S2 seems to be an Oskar Barnack/Ur-Leica all over again (hmmm 1913...2013...not bad) by fiddling with a very large format sensor and managing to fit it neatly in a body a little smaller smaller than the top Canon and Nikon offerings but with optics and an imaging that would give Hasselblad and other medium format makers pause (although the issue of legacy commitments to existing medium formats is certainly something in Hassy et. al.'s favor).

Peter