Re: Panasonic and Leica Policies
I couldn't quite understand this either. It draws sales away from their micro four thirds lenses which are late in arriving on the market to boot.
It makes perfect sense to me as a way to sell a G1 or GH1 as a supplementary camera to the well-monied gents who already have an extensive M and/or R lens collection. Not everyone is as enthusiastic as we are about reading up on adapters in forums, buying from third-party Chinese vendors, etc; some of those conservative M/R lens owners probably will be more comfortable with a "factory-supported" solution. At any rate, it's easy enough to add the adapters to the product line; if that's all it takes to snag some incremental camera-body sales, why not pick up that extra money?
The 20mm example will have to sell for peanuts if and when they finally release it, as by then supposedly many will have heard of the adapter/second-hand lens route.
Don't underestimate the advantage of autofocus for many users. I'll probably want the 20 myself for that specific reason, even though I'm up to the kazoo in adapters.
Also, if you need a 20mm lens, the adapter/second-hand-lens route has a lot of potholes in it. If you buy a C-mount lens, you've got to deal with sensor coverage issues, the possible need for machining the mount, the possibility of "corner smearing," and in some cases awkward ergonomics. If you buy an M-mount lens, well, none of the 20/21mm options are exactly cheap, especially after you've added the cost of the adapter. If you buy an SLR lens plus adapter, you've negated the Micro Four Thirds advantage of compact size.
Could it be now that the "marketing-masterminds" at Panasonic have changed track and are thinking way ahead (video) and the simple G1 is just an initial stepping stone to be discontinued shortly to make way for more GH1 type combo-cameras? Could this indeed mean (hopefully)* that the micro four-thirds still camera idea becomes Leica-only territory?
I think that's a rather long, tenuous bridge of speculation... although it wouldn't surprise me if the GH1 eventually supplants the G1 entirely, especially if manufacturing costs are similar and if the GH1 is such a hit that they need the manufacturing capacity.
On the other hand, since they've already made the upfront investment in the G1 and since it has gotten some positive attention (Pop Photo Camera of the Year, for example) it would make sense to keep it in the lineup so they could offer a lower-cost model to people who aren't interested in video.