DxOmark (Click here) just published the Leica 15mm f/1.7 lens test. The lens is very sharp and the only major flaw is the chromatic aberration which you can correct anyway in post processing or in camera if you use it on a Panasonic. Greta tiny lens!
The lens will ship in 2-4 weeks according to Amazon.
Lens preorders:
Black lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Wex UK (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here).
Silver lens at Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here).
71 Responses
That chromatic aberration level looks confusing, it seems to show a higher level for a lower value?
No, DXO data are not confusing. Olympus 17mm lens has more CA than Panasonic. If only Admin would not be so sloppy, and if he would just read once what he has just writen before posting it, this site would be much more enjoyable…
No, I mean that little CA graph, it shows a higher blue level for the 15mm, while the score is only 11 vs 20 for the 17mm… which shows a lower blue level.
Same question. The value and graph conflict with each other.
probably less is better and thus shows a longer bar?
I dunno …
Higher blue is better
Overall, I’m happy with those results. The small size, fast aperture, and aperture ring are all big selling points (I will use it with both an E-M1 and GM1). I really wish it were $100 less expensive, though.
for me, the 15mm is a good value at 599 use as it includes a metal hood, lens pouch and decoration ring (like the olympus 25mm and 45mm). while the 17mm at 500 use does not include any accessory. 🙂
100 usd for crap that you can buy for a dollar and a dime…
Typical Fanboy Response.
facts are facts, one comes with a hood, one doesn’t.
a hood is like a condom, only needed for certain occassions
yes but the consequences of not using it when you should are quite serious. the hood I mean.
how come the score for the oly is higher when only distortion of the pana is a tiny bit worse, all other points equal or better, sharpness of the pana much better. I don’t get that dxo score…
That’s why I’ve not believed the results from this website for a while. lol
Me too – I’ve owned quite a few lenses and different cameras and the DXO results don’t seem reliable, whereas the SLR gear/Imaging Resource ones are generally reliable, so I don’t trust DXO’s results.
That’s what I was thinking, too. Just another hint that the DxO score might be far from being that accurate and sensible measurement they’re claiming it to be.
You have to wonder if their lens corrections are equally wrong, since these measurements are used in their own software.
it’s been known for a long time that DxO’s single-discipline measurements are useful (but they do not take sample variation into account), but the overall score is useless. Once you know that, you just ignore the overall score and you’re good.
The overall score is just there because many people cannot fathom that life is complex.
I thought everything was shaper than the Olympus 17?
Given the earlier reviews, also the lenscap is sharper than MZuiko17mm f1.8 😉
Good to see another nice lens. I love the metal construction on lenses, in fact I really don’t like MZuiko45mm nor PanaLeica25mm that much.. Anyway, let’s hope Olympus will give us a firmware update so that we can use those aperture rings on this lens and on Nocticron (love this last).
15mm is too wide for me, I prefer a 17mm or going wider with a 12mm, therefore I won’t buy it.
One really has to question the DXO overall scoring of these lens which shows the Olympus one slightly ahead overall by 1 point when far behind in sharpness and color aberations? While the Pany lens shows higher distortion that is corrected in the camera is it not in Pany body?
I agree, the rating makes no sense whatsoever. CA is twice as bad on the Oly and sharpness is off by 33%… completely bogus DxO score.
Because DxO praises everything Nikon and Olympus and crap on the rest.
Except for Sigma.. they have been showing them some love recently, but yeah, they’re bias.
DxO is just pimping their software.
I dated a Greta Tiny Lens in high school.
Any pictures?
did you gave to develop her, stop for a bath, then fixer?
Was she into enlarging?
hehe sometimes the replies go into real interesting territories
We must have some fun, and my reply was still related to photography. 😀
oh 🙁
Did you meet in a Dark Room?
Did you get to mount her?
Unfortunately she thought his sensor was too small and she needed a longer flange distance than his mount could provide ;(
I shutter to think what her aperture must have been like – ISO completes the picture!
It seems like a great lens but seriously, what’s with “there is CA but its k because there is Lightroom” bs that everyone and his mom seems to be screaming into the internet? Defringing can lead to much more visible IQ loss than distortion correction. The difference to a properly corrected lens is night and day.
Exactly. I can increase “sharpness” in Lightroom too!
and correcting CA optically can also lead to much worse problems. Or you will end up with something like Zeiss Otus, huge size and price.
Has anyone seen what the hood looks like for this thing?
Yes, it’s nice and has same construction as Olympus 45 1.8 with a removable ring at the front and then replaced by the hood.
well, if you’re a Lumix shooter, such as myself, the lens is Better than the Olympus 17mm, as we won’t even see the CA. Throw in the Lens hood (which should come with it) and the Aperture ring, and it’s a no-brainer.
Comes with a hood. The Leica 15/1.7 is like a mini Nocticron in operation.
The 1.8/17 did with many Lumix shooters when it came out with a buzz.
In a similar fashion, I strongly believe that this lens will appeal to a lots of Olympus shooters.
If you like the FoV and the whole package, it *is* a no-brainer.
Burp! Can’t Oly include CA correction in camera in 2014? Or shall we wait for 3014?
My bloggie, it’s mean!
Photo & Poetry
http://amalric2014.blogspot.it/
EM1 and EM10 already have CA correction.
Great then! Thanks for the info.
dxo scores sadly don’t include software correction. Doesn’t really make sense not to include, since the lenses were designed like that.
Stop spamming comment threads. No one cares about your blog
Actually i like his blog, alone the fact that he is italian makes him more likeable than any arrogant american!
italians vs. americans in arrogance lol…that’s like comparing the image quality of the em5 vs gh3.
I am just throwing this review to the wind, (but not Greta Tiny!). Have to wait until SLRGEAR or someone else more reliable turns in a review for it to mean anything to me.
very different lenses too. the 15 is like a 30mm and the 17 a 35mm. Distinctly different fields of view. Gonna gut it out with my 12mm Oly, 20mm Panny, 45mm oly’s.
I am interested to see what’s the price for this lens and GM1 body like when de-kit start popping. Anyone experienced about the time it takes for this kind of high expectation de-kitted lens to pop on market?
really they both work quite well…I actually think that sharpness is overrated…I’m not saying I want blurry images….but my 17 1.8 is very sharp…I know of others who have a copy that is soft…mine is not as sharp as the 45 1.8 but it is not very far behind…good enough for me doing street photography…actually I like shooting street photography with a 28 mm lens so the 15 could be worth a look…if it focuses fast enough….could always set it up like a rangefinder
What do you mean by “set it up like a rangefinder”?
Hyperfocusing, probably.
You can do it with every lens, but it would be better to have a distance scale on the lens barrel, as in MZuiko17mm f1.8
Well I’m still using an olympus 17/2.8 which, according to pretty much anyone who tests lenses rather than actually making them, is hopeless. However I can still take perfectly good pics with it and then print them big enough for exhibition purposes. Some people actually buy those prints!
You know what? If you want either of those focal lengths, buy the lens. Put it on your camera and take some pics. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed whichever one you bought but if you are, send it to me – I’ll be happy with either of them…
I still don’t understand why the Olympus bodies can’t make use of the aperture ring on the lens. That’s obviously a deal killer, from the start. I thought the lenses and mounting electronics were largely identical in all of m4/3.
What’s the deal here?
Oly just doesn’t support the Panny feature.
Just like Panny bodies do not support Oly’s teleconverters.
Oly hasn’t produced a single lens with aperture ring – Panny hasn’t produced a single teleconverter.
Pany doesn’t have a teleconverter? You mean the DMW-GTC1 doesn’t exist?
I wouldn’t have objected against a mechanical aperture ring.
Olympus had a chance to support the aperture ring back when Live View was new on Four-Thirds bodies and they chose not to do it then. The E-330, DMC-L1, and Digilux 3 all arrived about the same time, but Olympus didn’t care to support the aperture rings of the Leica lenses.
I’m not surprised with it .
I’m going to get this lens .
Silver looks sweet .
For some reason B & H withdrew there silver pre-order..and I only see pre-orders elsewhere available for the black 15mm….wonder what is going on there?
In US , I believe black is favorite color . All Leica branded lenses should in black & that is the universal rule .
Silver only for someone fancy like me .
I prefer the Olympus 15mm because its even smaller than the Panasonic and it has better plastic.
hahahaha
It is also great to throw and watch it skip on puddles…
“sharper than the olympus 17mm lens” I see.
What prime lens is not sharper? The Olympus 17mm, both of them, are well known for their ordinary resolution.