Panasonic 8mm Fisheye Lens

Panasonic has added an 8mm fisheye lens to their Micro Four Thirds system lens lineup. Offering a full 180-degree angle-of-view, the new LUMIX G Fisheye 8mm f/3.5 lens has a focal length equivalent to a 16mm lens in the 35mm (full frame) format. The Lumix G 8mm fisheye lens should work with any Panasonic Lumix G or Olympus Pen digital camera and offers the widest focal length yet for Micro Four Thirds format digital cameras.

It’s exciting to see the Micro Four Thirds format and other compact, mirrorless system cameras taking hold. These cameras offer much of the performance of digital SLRs in a package the size of a high-end compact camera. The number of dedicated lens options has been one of the weak links for the Micro Four Thirds format. The 8mm fisheye lens is the seventh Micro Four Thirds mount lens from Panasonic. With three available Olympus Micro Four Thirds lenses and one more on the way there will be at least eleven dedicated Micro Four Thirds lenses by late this year. Thanks to the forward thinking and commitment of Panasonic and Olympus the Micro Four Thirds format is really starting to become a viable system. And it’s nice to see a new lens that’s designed for more specialized use than the variable aperture zooms that make up most of the current Micro Four Thirds lens options. I would definitely want the new 8mm fisheye lens in my Micro Four Thirds camera bag for travel stories or event coverage.

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