ePhotozine (Click here) posted the full Leica 15mm f/1.7 lens review and writes:
The Leica name is like a seal of quality for Panasonic’s Micro Four thirds lenses, and this lens lives up to the reputation in many ways. One surprising way that it doesn’t is with the price. Yes, it may be more expensive than the closest equivalent lenses, but it’s not the kind of price that would have your bank manager asking questions.
The lens gets “reocmmended” with 4/5 stars.
15mm Lens store links:
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).
93 Responses
reocmmended you say.
joking aside.
It looks like a good lens but for $799 AUD it’s a bit of a hard bite
Ouch. It’s less than 600 USD.
Learn to shop online buddy. Cheapest I found very easily is $625AUD local stock with Australian Panasonic warranty.
Even at $625! I would pay $400 for that.
I wish it had a mechanical manual focus option with hard stops. Just can never get used to a lens that does not have mechanical focus, stuck buying vintage lenses…
Same here. Focussing with a well-made mechanical ring is such a joy. The aperture ring makes me SO happy, though.
Distortion seems to be the main reason to lower the score to 4/5, but isn’t this automatically corrected, even on olympus bodies?
I don’t know about Olympus but, yes, JPEGs produced by a Panasonic body will not show distortion.
Back in the day when I used an unimpressive kit (GF2 + zoom) I realized that Lightroom could read out the lens parameters from the Panasonic RAW file and did correct distortion automatically. Particularly at both ends of the zoom range this could lead to a quite significant change of the geometry which I did not always find pleasing. Put another way:
– it is helpful if a lens does not produce a lot distortion.
– if you are concerned with parallel lines there will be no issue if you keep the above in mind.
Correcting such a huge distortion has a visible impact on the image quality (stretching/interpolation), it’s not only the borders but also the center of the image that is impacted.
“The aperture ring may not function with some Olympus MFT bodies”.
So it works with some?
at the summary they wrote AR doesnt work on some m43 bodies…we all know its oly bodies
Oh man. That’s a big buzzkill. I hope Olympus plays nice and issues firmware updates. Or plays even nicer and adds aperture rings to their lenses.
Was keen as for this lens but reviews are not sounding great.
Sigh, it’s starting to look like we have another “good” standard prime.
It has to be the single biggest problem with m43. The lack of a truly stellar 17mm (or thereabouts) is infuriating.
17mm f1.4 (or 1.2)….anyone?
(Don’t tell me about the Voigtlander, I need an AF and will be selling mine when I can find the receipt)
Second that. Looking seriously at Fuji X100s but already got the Ricoh GR instead of oly 12mm (due to quality difference) so not keen on learning yet another set of controls. Olympus should just update 17mm with better optics, the mechanical focus ring makes it compelling.
I’m kind of shocked by the amount of distortion. I was planning to get this for my Blackmagic Pocket, but that’s not happening now.
I compared it to the Oly 17mm 1.8 and it was not any better. Strong CAs at large apertures, softer corners and higher distortion than the Oly and the aperture ring is usesless on Oly bodies. But it was a little bit sharper in the center. It´s a wash…
Hmm, for my Panasonic GM1, I was thinking adding to my collection this lens or the 7-14mm… (no budget for both!) but from your comments below, I might just go for the 7-14mm since I’ve already got the 17.5mm Voigtlander and 12-32mm kit lens…
@ All for NZ: the question is indeed difficult. What I find off-putting with the 7 – 14mm is F2.8. I would be perfectly happy with F2.8 on APS-C but on m43 (especially given the considerable price tag) it is less than impressive. F1.7 is a world of difference.
@ Tom: Yes it was a difficult decision. At the end of the day, while the kit lens 12-32mm isn’t too bright at all, at least I have a similar focal length of the 15mm, albeit sacrificing the f1.7 brightness. However, I actually don’t have any wide angle lenses currently on me. Of course if the f4 was f2.8 the price will be double too… 🙁 sigh lenses, all so expensive.
If you check the review from Olympus 17mm you can see the Oly lens is better. http://www.ephotozine.com/article/olympus-m-zuiko-digital-ed-17mm-f-1-8-lens-review-21464
Yes Oly is better at price only!
Not only the price, check the resolution chart. I have the old PanaLeica 25mm f1.4 for 4/3 on E-M1 with adapter and I love it, but why should I change the Oly 17mm if it is better than Pansonic Leica 15mm?
I’ve seen the comparison, it is hilarious LOL. Oly really is sharper, very interesting. At theat price Leica 17mm should have been a f/1,2 lens.
Well maybe not f/1,2 but at least f/1,4 🙂
I do not trust Ephotozine reviews. I do not know their sharpness metering method. Above all their samples are always ugly as hell. Oversharpned, oversaturated ….
Just look at DXO. Their lens sharpness measurements are excellent. Oly 17 is beaten by Leica easily. Chromatic aberation is much more pronounced on Oly.
Anyway I still prefer Lenstip reviews !
Gotta make lens declarations from aggregating the data. DxO has the Leica as a better lens for IQ than the Oly, ephotozine does not. We need more reviews to declare a winner. Waiting on lenstip and photozone.
Who cares? More choice = good news for m43.
Once back from Lisbon I should find my new Ricoh GR at home. That was my choice in this focal lenght.
Could you please write something about how you like the GR? At it´s reasonable price I´m tempted too 🙂 (although I don´t shoot at 28mm very often)
I’ll try it on Monday, since I’m still in Lisbon. I’ll write you here my first impression!
Thanks Marco, very kind of you!
I had the previous version, a great little camera, exemplary usability, but only 28 mm was really too limiting. I need either a second one with 85-100 mm or a zoom in my trekking – travelling cam. Seawater killed the little hapless puppy, I replaced it with a Canon G and never looked back. Exemplary usability too, better colours and an excellent, contrasty zoom. Sorry for saying the c-word in this forum.
Happily there’s still the 14/2.5, so this discussion is mostly about greed 🙂
Photo & Poetry: http://amalric2014.blogspot.it
So, wanting better image quality is greed, or Panasonic charging more for better quality is?
analpric is a well known idiot best to ignore his ravings.
“The Leica name is like a seal of quality for Panasonic’s Micro Four
thirds lenses, and this lens lives up to the reputation in many ways.
One surprising way that it doesn’t is with the price. Yes, it may be
more expensive than the closest equivalent lenses, but it’s not the kind
of price that would have your bank manager asking questions.”
—
That quote is very informative.
Why don’t you put in a square hood, Panasonic? :
Ehhhhhh…??
Think I will just stay with my classic focal lengths:
Olympus 17mm f/1.8
Panasonic 14mm f/2.5
No one will ever and know!
Looks like a cool lens though…but 15?
well, you could argue to other way around.
15mm f/1.7 could replace both 14mm and 17mm lenses… less stuff to carry around.
True…but I already own these… And having both gives you better range.
So a 30mm F3.4 gets the M43 crowd exited?
Nope, it is a 15mm f1.7 with a 30mm FOV.
Exactly.
But still on that tiny sensor, it’s sort of a waste.
That tiny sensor which is every bit as good as Canon’s last generation APSC sensors, and on par or better than any 35mm camera 8 or more years old – with which loads of world-famous photos were taken?
So it’s not the best IQ you can buy today? – big deal; it’s more than good enough to take excellent photos in the vast majority of conditions. Plus, you know, some of the best-performing modern camera bodies – in any format.
There’s more to photography than peak theoretical IQ…
Canon are well behind in the sensor game, comparing like for like { I know some mFT guys hate that} the best mFT is well behind the best APS and even further behind the best FF.
Regarding on par or better than any FF camera 8yrs or older { dinosaurs in digital terms} it is only regarding DR { where even smaller sensor cameras are now doing well} .At high ISO the E-M1 is almost a stop behind the 9yr old 5D. Standards and expectations move forward in all aspects of technology
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Olympus-OM-D-E-M1-versus-Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-RX100-II-versus-Canon-EOS-5D___909_896_176
At high ISO the E-M1 cannot even beat the 2002 1DS that is 12yrs old !
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Olympus-OM-D-E-M1-versus-Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-RX100-II-versus-Canon-EOS-1Ds___909_896_516
The lens thing gets really tedious with so many oft repeated fallacies. Lenses do not work in isolation they have to be mounted to a camera. So all that matters is the end results of camera + lens .If you exclude the size advantage of mFT it rapidly falls behind in the image quality stakes. To add insult to injury there are now a number of ultra expensive { on a final image quality basis} lenses that offer nothing you cannot get for less in other systems .
For the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would pay £1200 for a 42.5mm lens that does the same job as 85mm F2.4 on FF or an 55mm F1.8 on APS. Here are the results when you mount these lenses on their native cameras
E-M1 + 42.5mm £2400 vs D610 + 85mm f1.8g £1758
First sensor performance:
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Nikon-D610-versus-Olympus-OM-D-E-M1___915_909
Lens + camera performance.
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Panasonic-Leica-DG-Nocticron-42-5mm-F12-ASPH-on-Olympus-OM-D-E-M1-versus-Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-85mm-F18G-on-Nikon-D610___1297_909_823_915
price sources
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/
“mFTeeHeeHee Ben…
Canon are well behind in the sensor game,”
MFT just isn’t for you so why not find another place to post? For those with a brain in their head and the ability to think with it there are plenty of gear choices these days and plenty of places to post on the net. I suggest you have a look at the forums on DPR, you’ll feel at home there.
Nice story. But the consumers today know what they want. Not necessarily the best IQ possible, because they know that would likely entail penalties in price, weight, etc. But they want the best camera they can take with them if not everyday, then during weekend jaunts or holiday. And for them m43 is more than good enough, visibly better than the cameraphone snaps they use for daily purposes. Most consumers just want photos to post up quickly on their social media, which are then quickly forgotten. They just want that EXPERIENCE of having made a better-than-cameraphone photo. So they know they don’t need the heavy DSLR camera crap — mirrorless is more than good enough.
lol DSLRs still hugely dominate the sales of interchangeable lens cameras 81% in the last full years data from CIPA. If you just want decent output for social media etc mFT is a a huge extravagance.
I have been using mFT since the GF1 and though the cameras have technically leaped forward. I am personally disappointed with the still image quality , the shadow/sky noise at base is for me a weakness I currently own the EM1 and GH3
I have no interest in high ISO at all and I hope for a better low ISO preferably with a true 50ISO base and higher mp count ,we have some great lenses to take advantge of this but for me before I buy anymore I need a significant jump in image quality.
For the size conscious the 1″ sensor cameras from Sony show real potential the rx100MK3 with fast lens, built in EVF and true pocket sized is more than enough for most casual and many not so casual shooters
M43 is good enough for idiots, true; but so are compact cameras, which cost a fraction. And there is no big iq difference, have you noticed?
Finally someone telling the truth… We punish the liars but commend the truthful.
SD, It’s fun when you reply to your own post under yet another name name. AND up vote it.
Wait, I meant sad, not fun.
Carry on.
Wow – my point went right over your head.
The question is not “what gives the best IQ”, but “what gives good enough IQ” – and given that MFT is as on par with, for example, the 5D, which was good enough for pro photographers of only 8 years ago – and the 1DS, 12 years ago – it’s safe to say we have/are arriving at the point where it no longer matters.
Re lenses – you are being disingenuous. The 85mm f1.8 may give the same FOV and narrower DOF than the Nocticron, but it’s hardly of the same caliber and does not do “the same job” by any means. Put another way: why would anyone spend $1200 on a Zeiss 50/1.4 when the Nikon can be had for $300?
Agree. Excepting ladnscape and fine art, photography has never been about ultimate quality, it’s about having a camera with good enough IQ. When Cartier-Bresson started shooting Leica all the large format guys were making the same accusations. “Not good enough!”. Guess what? 135mm went on to dominate the world, anyway.
If this guy wants the ultimate image quality, I bet he’s lugging around a medium format, not a 135 crop sensor “full frame”. 135 “full frame” is a cropped sensor compared to even just 645. So why doesn’t he lug around a Pentax or Leica S2? What’s the point of the BEST if it’s too heavy to carry with you? Most consumers already tried DSLRs, only to find they get left behind at home most of the time. Now they are trying out mirrorless and it’s a better fit for them.
I would argue that many areas of photography are about ultimate image quality , landscape , fine art , macro, nature etc. Ironically enough so called FF is actually FF ie the same size as 35mm film , MF digital sensors are not as large as MF film
Mr teehee needs a nice cup of tea and a bit of a calm down lol
Ben the 85mm F1.8g wipes the floor with the Zeiss 50mm F1.4 corner to corner from wide open [ graph below] . It may not have the build quality of the 42.5mm but it has the same AOV, better DOF and better total light gathering on FF.
For the money the 42.5mm has very high chr aberration , slightly higher distortion than the 85mm , and over 1 EV of vignetting on an mFT sensor.When you look at the results of the Nikon lens on their FF bodies are pretty amazing link below
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Panasonic-Leica-DG-Nocticron-42-5mm-F12-ASPH-on-Olympus-OM-D-E-M1-versus-Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-85mm-F18G-on-Nikon-D610-versus-Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-85mm-F18G-on-Nikon-D800E___1297_909_823_915_823_814
For me it doesn’t matter how good it is for I am not prepared to carry FF cameras and lenses. mFT fills my needs just fine and if anything I am considering the Sony 1″ sensor options for truly tiny set-ups the RX100mk3 look like a sweet carry all day camera when the mFT gear gets to heavy lol .I think the problem with many FF trolls is not that we think mFT is “good enough” { very much a matter of opinion} but some of the frankly OTT claims about mFT.
Of course the 85mm wipes the floor with the 50mm – it’s a longer FL. I meant to compare 50mm lenses – the point being that you pay extra for the Zeiss over the Nikon (50mm) because it’s a better-performing lens. The same is true for equivalent 85mm lenses, but I didn’t have an example at hand.
As for CA and vignetting on the Nocticron – the CA is not bad, but it’s true that vignetting is a quite poor; but it’s also highly corrected for astigmatism, coma, flare, and so on – it’s also very sharp. You’re paying for these attributes as much or more than you are for the aperture, build quality and OIS.
Anyway, I think we’ve exhausted this topic.
Actually even compared to far more expensive 85mm lenses on 20 odd mP bodies the Nikon does better. The comparison with the Zeiss 50mm was to show that paying more is no promise of better. The CA on the Panasonic is huge for a lens of this price
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-85mm-F18G-versus-Carl-Zeiss-Planar-T-85mm-F1.4-ZA-versus-EF85mm-f-1.2L-II-USM___823_0_243_0_270_0
As it happens the Zeiss 50mm is not the lens you imagine it to be even compared to cheap 50mm f1.8G
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Carl-Zeiss-Planar-1.4-50mm-ZE-Canon-versus-Nikon-AF-S-Nikkor-50mm-F18G-on-Nikon-D610-versus-AF-S-Nikkor-50mm-f-1.4G-on-Nikon-D610___341_0_435_915_199_915
I would expect the best medium format sensor to be better than the best FF sensor which would be better than the best APS-C sensor which would be better than the best Nikon 1 sensor which would be better than the best Pentax Q sensor which would be better than than the best point and shoot which would better than the best phone camera.
Does that reassure you?
If you want to argue specs, go to a Canon site and demand to know why the E-M10 sensor outperforms the T5i sensor.
Canikon, Sony and Pentax make great cameras. The people that frequent this board appreciate the advantages of M43; A blend of portability, quality and features. Don’t forget the advantage of two companies supporting the format as well as the ease of using vintage lenses.
We have a luxury of choices almost all of which can deliver superb results. Don’t be insecure with the choices you’ve made… go frequent sites that promotes whatever system you like. It’ll be fun…
Luxury of choices? We have a plethora of overpriced toys, marketed as gold. And leave T5i and E-M10 alone, they are just not in the same league. Hint: the Canon vomits on the Olympus at a fraction of the price.
You must be one of those poor sods trying to make a living trolling forums.
lol – the T5i has a tiny VF, a crappy old sensor, poor AF tracking (the one thing it should be better at), and is massive and ugly to boot. It’s not in the same league as any modern mirrorless camera – even MFT, with its “tiny” sensors. Fine if you like DSLRs, but at least treat yourself to a modern Nikon – the T5i is just more regurgitated, underperforming garbage from a dinosaur of the camera world.
You never tried one, have you? Do you take pictures at all? Do you want to discuss optics or physics now? Maybe economics? Naaaah maybe mobile phones and mcWhoppers. Is it dumb enough for you?
Whoa “Tom”, a response as eloquent and loaded with facts as yours is hard to respond to, but I’m going to do my best.
I take it that you don’t own a M43 camera even though you state that ‘we’ have a plethora of toys marketed as gold? Care to clarify? And if you don’t think a half dozen companies offering one to three different systems each isn’t a luxury of choices? You must have a hell of a time picking out toilet paper.
Now, I did check, and you’re right, the T5i is a fraction the price of the E-M10. That fraction is ninety five-one hundredths. The T5i with kit lens is $749, while the E-M10 is $789 at Amazon US. The T5i is older, so the price has probably dropped a bit.
As for your wild eyed reverse peristalsis claim, I point you back to my original post which says the T5i sensor is ranked significantly below the M10. I don’t usually pay much attention to DxO rankings, but since you didn’t provide any kind of objective data, I thought I’d start you there.
As I said, I’m an M10 owner. You, on the other hand have said nothing about your gear. I’d like hear what you’re using and why it’s so amazing that it drives you to troll on an M43 site.
I look forward to your response SD, I mean “Tom”. Less spittle and more facts would be appreciated. Cheers.
“go to a Canon site and demand to know why the E-M10 sensor outperforms the T5i sensor”.
It does not… Are you too stupid to know that or are you working for someone? I bet they don’t pay very well, or they would hire someone better.
Of course it does SD. Wipe the spittle off your chin while I explain it to you.
Your little teehee pal referenced DxOMark sensors scores above. I responded in kind comparing the E-M10 with the closest Canon competitor. I know you won’t believe me so go look for yourself.
Other than your love of Nikon 1, you still haven’t told us what your daily camera is. Is it a T5i? Did I touch a nerve?
Let me know what you find out buddy.
Are we buddies now? What a waste of space you are…
That’s all you’ve got SD? Running away again when presented with a single fact?
I don’t know why you feel the need to troll. That’s the waste.
You keep seeking me, you obviously have issues. I am glad (LOL). You get hurt a lot in real life, huh?
Seek you? We can’t avoid you. If there’s a post taking an uninformed potshot at M43 or making an unprovoked personal attack, chances are it came from one of your many aliases.
Now, what about that T5i sensor. You kind of went quiet there when presented with facts.
By the way (and I hope this makes a light bulb go off), people take fantastic pictures with the T5i even though it’s sensor is dated and not… gasp… full frame! Cheers
Look up “facts” in the Oxford (not that obnoxious MW). And yes, people take fantastic pics with phones as well. So why waste money on M43? And what is that rubbish like you think I am someone you hate? It’s like I am your old school bully or summat. Wait…
A breakthrough! SD admits you can take great pics with M43. So carry your comment further… why waste money on APS-C or FF or Medium format?
I have no idea why you’d think I hate you. I do feel a bit bad when you get mad, but that’s not hate. And if Oxford defines ‘bully’ as someone who hides behind an assortment of names, upvotes their own posts to try and appear popular, name calls and is too afraid to say what camera they use… on a camera site, then yes. You are the biggest bully I’ve ever seen.
At least you’re honest about your latest name. I don’t think one person constitutes a brigade though.
I can’t disagree with that.
Who told you? My experience says it’s rubbish.
Next time take the lens cap off.
Yep. A good lens is a good lens, regardless of aperture. Or are you one of those people who equates speed with quality?
It’s not about the speed, it’s about the price. Are you aware of current market prices for proper formats?
“It’s not about the speed, it’s about the price.”
“So a 30mm F3.4 gets the M43 crowd exited?” Where did the OP mention price? Not a Pro reader, then?
Oh hi, Viezevure! Would you be interested in taking Calculus classes? I have seen few free offers. Addition, multiplication, subtraction and division – all in one course! Perfect for you! To book the course for free, simply mention that you are an illiterate.
And heavily software-corrected, too. This is not just a junk system, it’s a trap for the hapless.
That explains your presence.
Odd that they wouldn’t compare it to the Olympus 12mm f2 since that is the most comparable lens for this if you want a good fast wide angle lens for the system. My guess would be that it doesn’t match up well or they would have been touting how its better the the Oly 12/f2, seems to be similar to Blunty’s review as well. The Panasonic 15 is a good lens but you could probably wait for the price to come down some, you can regularly get the Oly 12/f2 for cheaper on eBay all the time. This lens will be a good buy somewhere around the $450 mark.
I think this lens will easily outperform the Olympus 12mm, one of the most overrated and overpriced m43 lenses. The only reason there are cheaper ones available on eBay is because so many of these made in China lenses exhibit terrible quality control, with terrible field curvature and decentering issues. Check out the admiring light review. I had to return multiple copies to B&H to get a decent one, but the 12-32mm kit lens still out-resolves it. I’m looking forward to replacing it with this lens. We’ll see whether my Oly 17mm can hold its place in the collection as well…
All this to justify to spend 300€ more in the leica thing . 15 vs 12mm you are kidding
Nosense
Great Build and IQ, vs Decent Build and IQ…
Nonsense?
Great oly build yes I agree vs plasticy leica thing
So the question is, will this become part of a kit with the GM1GX7?
This would be a very nice kit with the GX7. Cmon Panasonic, all black kit for the States at a good price.
Its supposed to be offered with the GM1 later this year
“reocmmended” yeah right :/
It indeed really good, believe or not, it get more use than my Leica 42.5… The 15mm build remind me of 35mm summilux version 1… Very light and lovely hood…
A whopping 6.15% barrel distortion for a prime lens that carries the Leica label …
Oh yes, its software corrected …
This lens makes the GM1 a great alternative to FujiFilm’s X100s, of course, without the viewfinder.
I’m surprised that there are not more compromises. Of course, the only thing that matters is being able to get the photos we want. It looks as though it will be quite capable.
Does anyone know how this stacks up against the 14/2.5? I love the rendition of the 14mm.