Samsung's 2010 lens roadmap revealed

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There are no public displays of any brand new Samsung NX system products, not even any pictures, only a simple press release, but that release has stirred up a great deal of interest here at PMA 2010.

We've already seen the NX10 camera body, even though it's not quite shipping yet, plus three lenses; the 30mm f/2 pancake, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS standard kit zoom, and the 50-200mm f/4-5.6 OIS. From the Samsung press release, here is the full lens line up we can expect by around the end of the year:

NX10 LENS TECHNOLOGY SPECIFICATIONS

Pancake Lens - 30mm / F2
(Jan 2010)    

Standard Zoom Lens - 18-55mm / F3.5-5.6 OIS
(Jan 2010)    

Tele Zoom Lens - 50-200mm / F4-5.6 OIS
(Jan 2010)    

Standard Zoom Lens - 18-55mm / F3.5-5.6, Non OIS
(H1 2010)    

Compact Zoom Lens - 20-50mm / F3.5-5.6
(H2 2010)    

Wide Pancake Lens - 20mm / F2.8
(2H 2010)    

Super Zoom Lens - 18-200mm / F3.5-6.3 OIS
(TBD)    

Macro Lens - 60mm / F2.8
(TBD)    

With the budget market clearly in mind, it's interesting to see that there will be a version of the 18-55mm kit lens without image stabilisation. The 20-50mm (30-75mm equivalent) zoom is unusual in its range. I'm guessing this modest 2.5x zoom will be designed to be ultra-compact and be aimed at users needing a flexible but small walk-about lens. The 20mm f/2.8 pancake is pretty much expected, with a 30mm equivalent focal length, this prime optic could be a classic of the range. It's pretty much obligatory to have a super-zoom, and the 18-200 range is a familiar one in APS-C sensor terms, providing a 27-300mm equivalent range. And you can't have a respectable lens system without a macro, so the 60mm f/2.8 Macro (90 mm equivalent) will round off the system nicely.

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