Panasonic-Leica 45mm f/2.8 lens reviewed at photozone!

5 Responses

1. Not a bad lens it looks like, but $900 is nuts for an f/2.8 prime made of plastic, especially one that didn’t test extremely well. The Nikon AF-S 60mm f/2.8 is only $550 and their new 85mm f/3.5 is only $500. Besides, I may be in the minority, but I would much rather have a m4/3’s 50mm f/1.4 to use as a portrait lens before worrying about a 45mm/2.8. I think it’s odd that they released a macro lens before releasing a single portrait lens. After all, an old $100 manual 50mm + a cheapo extension tube is all you need for macro. Case in point, check out this guys excellent macro work done with that very set up:

   http://www.flickr.com/photos/opoterser/

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2. I agree with Eric. 775 EUR for this lens is totally nuts. I am thouroughly thinking which lens to buy as a fast portrait prime in this price range…. Zeiss Planar 50 f2, Sonnar f1.5, If anyone has a good recommendation I’d love to hear about them!! 🙂

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3. This lens is fast enough for portraits and has pleasant bokeh. Too fast is sometimes overkill, when the DoF starts to me measured in cm…
   An other thing to consider, its the OIS. There are simply no lens faster than F2.0 on the market having OIS. There ought to be a reason for that. Of course, make it a stop faster and there is practically no need for OIS …at wide open. Now, this is not the 1.7/20 (which I love, but almost exclusively use wide open) this baby probably has frequent uses stopped down. Me think that the OIS is no luxury.

   That said, there is no getting around, it is a pricy lens. NO matter how much I want it, my budget don’t.

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4. Javi V,
   Have you considered the Zuiko Digital 50 f/2 macro? It is made for the format and I find it an ideal portrait lens.

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5. CR102,
   I hadn’t considered it, but I will take it into consideration after reading 7×10^5 reviews on the Net. Thanks!!

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