Does the CL recognise other L alliance lenses - or do we need an FW update?

[wlaidlaw]

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I have just bought a Panasonic L mount 70-200/f4 lens. This was an ex demo one which was already cheap at £1200 but then there was a limited time offer today, to buy it on a first come first served basis at just £1000. I jumped at the chance. I assume some of these unfortunate camera companies must be getting desperate for cash. 

I have just downloaded the FW update for my SL601, which has the various L mount alliance lenses added and makes the activation of OIS on these lenses switchable and can cope with manual aperture control, etc I looked for a similar update for the CL  but the last update was 9 months ago and I would doubt it incorporates lens data for many of the L alliance lenses back then. Is it not about time for a CL Firmware update to incorporate recognition and controls for the recently released L mount alliance lenses from both Panasonic and Sigma? 

The price for the Panasonic Zoom Tele lens was less than the cheapest 55-135 Leica T lens I could find and not only is the Panasonic longer focal length but unlike the T lens, it has OIS. 

Wilson

[gteague]

i have this lens and you got an outstanding deal. i haven't yet put it on my cl because it lives on my s1, but i'm fairly certain it will work and provide badly needed ois as well. i did try it on the sigma fp i sold to buy the cl and it worked perfectly. it's a huge lens for these small bodies although it balances perfectly on the huge s1 body.

i have the 16-35/4 on the cl right now.

i just realized you are talking about a cl database for lens corrections or something similar? is that right? i'm sorry i know nothing about that as i don't shoot raw and my raw editor doesn't support the cl anyway. 

/guy

Edited April 2, 2020 by gteague

[wlaidlaw]

To my considerable surprise (and pleasure) and notwithstanding its 10 month old FW, the CL does recognise the Panasonic 70-200. Now I don't know if this is because the camera has it in its database of lenses or if the lens is telling the camera what it is, like the R mount ROM lenses do with an R8/9 but in the lens data in the menu, it is showing 70-200 f4. You also get a warning on mounting the lens, as to potential high battery consumption but as I have 4 CL batteries and use a Mr. Kim case/grip that has a hole for battery changing without dismounting anything, that is not going to be a problem for me. I am very pleased how fast auto-focus is with this lens, given its 107-306mm EFOV on the CL. I would think it could certainly be used for sports photography, if that was what one wanted. Another minor well thought out point, is that the foot of the tripod mount is Arca compatible and as that is what all my tripod/monopod heads are, very useful.

It is a far more manageable size and weight than the 90-280 that I had but sold due to these factors, which meant I just never wanted to carry it around. It is only a little bigger and no heavier than the 24-90 on my SL. Optical performance seems excellent and the OIS works extremely well but final judgement will have to wait until I do some printing to A2 size or at least A3+. A very good buy indeed, especially at the "give away" price I paid for it.

Wilson

[papimuzo]

Congrat Wilson. Have a great pleasure to use it. I'm wondering if one time I spare some money for it...😀.

Waiting to see some pict you made with it.

Keep yours and yourself safe.

[Boojay]

I'm sure you will enjoy it Wilson.  I had one for a few months last year, did post some images from it with the CL I think, sold it because it felt just a tiny bit big on the CL, I had bought it used and basically got my money back for it so nothing lost.  Now I have the SL2 really wish I'd kept it, would be better than the adapted Canon 70-200 I am using now. Remember the lens stabilisation worked well, looking forward to seeing what you make of it, seems you got a bargain.  

 

 

 

 

[ramarren]

Looks like a nice lens.

It's good to know it works well on the CL, but happily I don't have much need for an effective-FOV-equivalent 105 to 300 mm zoom lens. Another nice lens I don't need to spend money on! I barely spend any time using lenses longer than about 90mm, and have only used my 135 and 180mm prime lenses once or twice each! 

For those that need the reach, it looks like a fine piece.