Third party lenses first for M43?

[nemo2]

I am curious why most "alternative" lensmaking companies first introduce m43 lenses rather than nex lenses. It doesn´t make sense to me as there is wide supply of various m43 lenses from both olympus and panasonic while the range of Sony E-mount lenses is rather weak, while the cameras are selling well.

Why these companies (as Schneider etc) prefer the market with rather high concurency than the market where there is little competition by Sony itself?

 

[rxmd]

I can imagine a number of possible reasons:

* M4/3 has a bigger market share overall, so there are simply more potential customers
* M4/3 is perceived as more of a "system", with two major manufacturers and more diverse bodies, so you aren't dependent on Sony
* Entry for manufacturers might be easier because M4/3 is derived from 4/3, for which the standards documents are easily available under NDA
* Many NEX buyers seem to be people who want to reuse older lenses, so with each new lens you'd compete against people's used Summicrons which they already have, making the system less attractive for third party manufacturers

 

[Ken Ford]

* Entry for manufacturers might be easier because M4/3 is derived from 4/3, for which the standards documents are easily available under NDA

I was shocked to learn Sony provides full engineering data to all comers, no reverse engineering needed. Very un-Sony like!

 

[bugmenot]

Third Party support is equal ...

Third Party support is equal ...

Sony has released all the data needed to make lenses with complete electronics control for the E-mount. Very un-Sony like indeed.

However, I do not agree with OP.

As it stands now, the only companies with MFT autofocus lenses out in the market are Panasonic, Olympus and Sigma.

Panasonic and Olympus will obviously release lenses for their own systems.

Samyang, Cosina Voigtlander, and SLR Magic have released MF lenses for MFT system.

Sigma made a 19mm and 30mm lens, and those were designed for an APS-C sensor, and simply shipped with a MFT mount, but were firstly designed for Sony NEX system.

On the other hand, Sony, Sigma and Tamron have all released autofocus lenses for the E-mount already. As you can see here "Sony Releases E-mount Specifications", Sony has already released the required data without any royalty. Samyang and Tokina, as well as Cosina (for Voigtlander lenses) have already expressed interest in releasing E-mount lenses, with Samyang already having released a 8mm f/2.8 manual focus fisheye lens for the E-mount, and has stated that autofocus lenses are coming in 2013 for the NEX system. Also, SLR Magic has released MF E-mount lenses as well, and it is easier to adapt Leica M-mount lenses on the NEX system vs. MFT system (both given the size (diameter) of the E-mount and the 1.5X crop factor vs. 2X crop factor of MFT)

Do not forget that the entirety of the Sony A-mount system can be effectively used on the NEX system with one of two Sony supplied adapters. Size notwithstanding, that is a lot of lenses. Sure, the number of native E-mount lenses are nowhere near the MFT system, but that is changing, and what IS already available is of excellent quality.