Sadly I have to admit to being a tad blinkered as a Canon owner when it comes to the AF101. If you own Canon glass your options to use it with the Panasonic AF101 are very limiting, there are two choices the Kipon which failed me after 3 months light use and the Birger which is taking ages to appear and will be an expensive option.

I think Erik Widding CEO of Birger Engineering has bitten off more than he can chew with his electronic Canon mount and has been a technical nightmare made worse by the fact that good old Canon don’t allow anyone to see the EOS lens technical drawings that would make life a lot easier for those making adapters like Birger, or so I am told.

This brings me to my recent decision to off-load my Canon gear in favour of Nikon, again, just before I moved over to Canon I had a Nikon D3 and some expensive “Nano” glass which I now regret selling.

You have two choices with Nikon glass DX and non DX, DX glass is made for APS-C sensors which are smaller than full frame 35mm sensors, you can use DX glass on “FX” full frame cameras but the camera auto crops and only outputs a 5MP picture. This is where a micro Four Thirds camera like the AF101 scores, you can use all the Nikon lenses which gives you a massive choice and some sexy glass.

I decided to plum for the 17-55 F2.8 DX zoom lens as my standard lens on the AF101 which gives a crop equivalent to a 34-110 lens and the new Sony FS100, once again the Sony Super 35mm chip is almost the same size of the APS-C sensor so your choice is so much bigger. The Nikon lenses do not need power to enable the iris allowing adapter manufacturers like MTF a free reign to develop Nikon to mFT (AF101), Nikon to Sony E (FS100, VG10) and the Nikon to Sony F3 mount, all readily available off the shelf.

I am handing back my loan lens the Lumix 7-14mm mFT which I thought I would miss till I bought the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 DX lens which gives you a crop equivalent to a 22-32mm lens and it’s a cracking piece of glass, sharp as a tac, this in my opinion beats the 7-14 Lumix hands down for sharpness and does not have nearly the same distortion at the edges that the Lumix suffers from and the Tokina is f2.8 with a manual iris.

I have been blinkered waiting for the Birger mount, hanging onto my semi redundant Canon glass when there is a whole new world out there if you buy into some Nikon mount glass, you even have a choice of Zeiss FP.2 glass which is the SLR version of their CP2 glass…same glass less money.

I am always being asked if there is a good stock lens to have on the AF101 and I can now add the Nikon 17-55 f2.8 DX lens as a good all rounder.

Carl Zeiss will present two new mounts for the Compact Prime CP.2 lenses: the E mount and the MFT mount. The MFT mount is particularly suitable for the new corresponding professional camcorders, while the brand-new E mount is perfect for the new Sony cameras like the FS100 Super 35 mm NXCAM camcorder. The MFT mount has only just become available during March 2011 and will be a cracking addition to the Panasonic AF101 with it’s large 4/3″ sensor.

The new E mount is expected to be available beginning in June. Exactly a year ago, Carl Zeiss introduced the Compact Prime CP.2 series during the NAB Show in Las Vegas. They are the first lenses with interchangeable mount developed specially for filming with HDSLR cameras. Since then, there has been significant demand for these lenses among cinematographers and still photographers. Carl Zeiss is now adding a new chapter to its Compact Prime CP.2 success story.

“With these new mounts, we respond to many of our customers’ wishes asking to use the lenses on these new HD video cameras,” said Holger Sehr, Product Manager for Cinematography lenses at Carl Zeiss AG, Camera Lens Division. “Thanks to the interchangeable mounts, now for five different camera systems — PL, EF, MFT, F and E mount — our Compact Prime CP.2 lenses deliver superb flexibility, can be used in many different market segments, and are attractive for both end-customers and rental houses.”

With the interchangeable mount and the 24×36 mm full-format image circle illumination, these latest members of Carl Zeiss compact lens family are extremely versatile. During the NAB Show, Carl Zeiss will present all nine fixed focal lengths of Compact Prime CP.2 series from 18 to 100 mm, which thanks to the new mounts can be used for a wide range of cameras — from SLR to professional camcorders through to professional cine and television film cameras. Moreover, the Compact Prime CP.2 lenses are highly compact with a robust construction, so that they can withstand any demand of cinematographers and photographers on the set.

If you have the need to purchase a set of Compact Prime CP.2 lenses our friends at CVP can offer you a set of 5 for only £11,199 plus 20% vat. The only problem with this news is that it’s fine if you are going to stick with a micro Four Thirds camera but if my experience with video cameras is anything to go by there is a good chance the next camera I own won’t have a micro Four Thirds (mFT) mount on it.

At the price point of these lenses I think you would be safer to buy a PL mount which would give you far more options if you decide to leave the mFT mount after all the first four large sensor camera’s…eg. Sony VG10, Panasonic AF101, Sony PMW-F3 and the Sony NEX-FS100 all have PL to E, F3 and mFT making the PL mount the most versatile of all choices.