On Lenses For Small Cameras

The year 2009 will surely be remembered by photographers as that which finally saw the long-overdue arrival of the large-sensor compact system camera. Indeed ever since compact digicams were first introduced, the obvious next step seemed to be to develop the basic concept with larger sensors and interchangeable lenses; so much so that the only real question has been, what's taken so long? But now that Olympus and Panasonic have blazed the trail with the likes of the E-P1 and GF1, and Samsung has shown its hand in the shape of the NX10, it seems only a matter of time before all of the major manufacturers jump on board and produce their own competitors in this potentially lucrative new market segment. But while we've certainly been pleased to see these new cameras, we've been less impressed by the lack of imagination shown by the initial lens ranges. So in a (probably futile) attempt to steer the manufacturers in what we think is the right direction, here are our suggestions for what they should be making.

Who's it for?

To understand our line of thought, let's just take a step back and think about who's likely to be buying these compact beauties. The camera manufacturers seem convinced that their market consists primarily of people who currently use compact digicams, and might be tempted to upgrade to an DSLR but are put off by the size and complexity. They therefore seem to be designing their initial lens selections along such lines, with a profusion of uninspiring slow zooms. However, we think this at best half the story. Interchangeable Lens Compacts (we'll call them ILCs from now on) are also hugely interesting to serious photographers looking to complement their bulky DSLR systems with smaller, more portable alternatives that still provide excellent image quality - users who will want lenses that offer more creative options.
What's it for?

We now need to define the purpose that our lens set is to be designed for. The standard set of zooms - wide, normal, and telephoto - allow general purpose photography in good light, but we're aiming for something a bit different. Because the vast majority of photographs are taken of people, and we spend much of our time interacting with our friends and family indoors. So let's have lenses which will allow us to capture these memories - from wideangle group shots, to across-the-table portraits - easily and discreetly, and crucially using the subtlety and quality of natural light.

One of the most important concepts in marketing a new product is that of the Unique Selling Point (USP), which in a nutshell is the key advantage that you can offer a potential buyer over the competition. And the most important USP of ILCs is that they offer DSLR-level image quality, especially at high ISOs, in a significantly smaller package that's much more easily carried. Lose either half of the equation and there's little reason to carry one over either a small-sensor compact or a DSLR. To complement the camera, the lenses therefore have to be small - ideally little more than an inch and a half in length.
Is that a zoom in your pocket?

This brings us to a pet peeve of the new systems; kitted out with the standard zooms, they have no huge portability advantage over an entry-level DSLR. This is especially true of the DSLR-alike Panasonic G(H)1 and, to a slightly lesser extent, the Samsung NX10; and there's therefore little incentive to carry one ahead of a lightweight APS-C DSLR. On the other side of the equation, in many shooting situations a slow kit zoom on an ILC also offers little practical advantage over a good fast lens on a high-end compact such as Panasonic LX3, while being much bigger. Olympus has addressed this to some extent with its clever collapsing 14-42mm zoom for the Pen series - but there's little doubt that the most compelling option in terms of size is always going to be provided by compact, 'pancake' primes.
We like pancakes
It's no coincidence that the cameras we've probably most enjoyed using over the past few months have been the Panasonic GF1 and Olympus E-P1 when kitted out with the fast Panasonic 20mm F1.7 ASPH Pancake lens. These, we feel, make the most of the micro Four Thirds system's key strengths, offering much better low light image quality than any small-sensor compact while still being far smaller and more portable than any DSLR (and reasonably described as 'coat pocketable'). So it's nice to see that Samsung has followed suit, with its 30mm F2 for the NX10. Unfortunately, though, Ricoh's A12 33mm F2.5 prime for the GXR doesn't quite fit the bill here - it's just a bit too bulky.
Our friends like pancakes too

Small, pocketable cameras with high image quality are obviously attractive to photographers for their sheer portability - the best camera is always the one you've got with you. But equally importantly, they can you help you get better pictures for a slightly a more subtle reason, as they tend to be less intimidating to the subject. If you arrive at a party with your DSLR and F2.8 zoom then you're obviously a 'photographer', and when you turn that large lens on your friends and family they'll often just get self-conscious. Turn up with a small camera and you'll be rather less obtrusive, making your subjects more relaxed and your pictures much more natural.
Free us from the tyranny of on-board flash

One of the key advantages of the larger sensors used in DSLRs and ILCs over the fingernail-sized versions used in conventional compacts is their much better high ISO performance. This, in turn, allows shooting hand-held in lower light, including the ability to shoot indoors using often just natural light, and without needing the camera's built-in flash for anything more than a little bit of fill. This gives much more attractive pictures, free of the dreaded 'rabbit in the headlights' look typical of direct flash shots from small sensor compacts. So we'd like to see lenses that facilitate this kind of shooting - and that means large aperture, fast primes - ideally F2 or better.
Image stabilisation can't replace a fast lens

At this point, we need to stress that a slower, image stabilised lens can't replace a fast prime. You may be able to hand hold it in the same light, but the slower shutter speed this entails means that moving subjects will blur. And like it or not, people tend to move quite a lot, so fast shutter speeds are desirable, especially when taking unposed candids. Obviously the ideal here is to use a fast lens on a camera with in-body image stabilisation, which gives you the best of both worlds.

The other advantage of a large maximum aperture is that it gives a shallow depth of field, allowing the use of selective focus to isolate your subject from the background. This is one area where slower macro lenses tend to fall a little short - as you can't always rearrange your subject so the background is further away.

The lenses we'd really like to see

The lenses we'd really like to see now for ILCs are therefore fast, compact primes covering a range of focal lengths from wide to short telephoto. They should build around the kit zoom, offering distinctly different capabilities (significantly wider, longer, or faster), and all give fast focusing - preferably internal. Obviously aperture has to be balanced against size - with the aim of keeping the length to around 1.5-2" (38-50mm). This may sound ambitious, but if we think in terms of simply scaling down 35mm designs it should be achievable (for example Canon offers a range of 35mm-format primes from 20mm F2.8 to 100mm F2 which are all less than 3" in length). Here the Micro Four Thirds standard has a potential advantage over APS-C in theoretically allowing smaller lenses. 

So, without further ado, here are our suggestions for the kind of lenses we think would make most sense to complement a compact-body  Micro Four Thirds or APS-C camera a la E-P1 (all focal lengths 35mm equivalents): 

Wideangle:

A wideangle prime should not just be small, but also complement the wide end of the kit zoom. Panasonic's upcoming 14mm F2.8 falls a little short in this regard - it's no wider, and only two thirds of a stop faster, so on paper offers relatively little extra. We'd like to see something usefully wider, faster or both.

Suggested lenses: 24mm equivalent, F2.5 and / or 28mm equivalent, F2

Normal:

Here Panasonic and Samsung have both got things pretty well spot on. Freed of the constraints of either the SLR mirror or rangefinder frameline conventions, both have created fast compact pancake lenses which are close to being 'perfect normals', with focal lengths about equal to the sensor diagonal. This gives what many photographers consider a more natural perspective than the conventional, but slightly-too-long 50mm equivalent lens. Let's hope the other manufacturers follow their lead.  

Suggested lenses: 40mm equivalent, F1.7 or 45mm equivalent, F2

Short Tele:

What we want here are fast portrait lenses, which allow both fast shutter speeds in marginal light and shallow depth of field. Again these should complement the kit zoom, being significantly faster and/or longer. There seems to be a lot of interest in using adapted 50mm manual focus primes on micro Four Thirds, for example - so let's see native lens designs to do that job.

85mm equivalent, F1.8 and / or 100mm equivalent, F2

We genuinely believe any manufacturer brave enough to bring out a system with such a lens set (alongside the conventional kit zooms) would find themselves selling pretty well everything they could make - witness the current wave of enthusiasm around the Panasonic 20mm F1.7. This could give the modern equivalent of the classic high-end 35mm systems such as the Leica/Minolta CL or the Contax G1/G2, but with enough automation and crossover appeal to sell to a broader range of users.
One thing's for sure

If there's one thing we can be sure of in the intermediate future, it's that by the end of 2010 the ILC marketplace will be much more crowded that it is now, and Panasonic, Olympus and Samsung will be feeling the heat with strong competition from some other major players. Now whether any of the big hitters is willing to gamble on a system aimed firmly towards the higher end of the market remains to be seen - but the coming year is bound to be an exciting one for photographers of all levels.