The Pansonic 25mm f/1.4 on the GX1 (Image courtesy Photozone).
Klaus from Photozone (Click here) posted the full [shoplink 23110]Panasonic Leica Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH[/shoplink] review: “The Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH is a very desirable lens. The quality is very high across most of the image field when stopping down to f/2.8. However, the extreme corners remain only “good” here. Lateral CAs as well as distortions are all well controlled and not relevant in field conditions. In addition, the quality of the bokeh is very good.”
The [shoplink 23110]Leica 25mm[/shoplink] is certainly a great lens but I still prefer the [shoplink 14796]20mm f/1.7[/shoplink] for his tiny size that allows me to carry a camera in a pocket!
Check the price and availability of the Panasonic Leica: [shopcountry 23110]
Check the price and availability of the Panasonic Leica: [shopcountry 14796]
More lens tests: Standard-range micro 4/3 Imatest Results at Lensrentals (Click here). 50mm prime battle at 3Dkraft.
34 Responses
Nice review of an great lens!
I like it a lot more then the 20mm which is very slow focussing…..
+1
I sold the 20mm after only a couple of weeks because of the slow focussing on my Oly bodies.
If you’re shooting at f/1.4 the depth of field is very shallow and corner sharpness is rarely an issue. It could ruin your brick wall shots I suppose 😉
That, and the shutter lag appears to take ages with this lens…
A fine lens but needs an upgrade badly!
The 25mm is reviewed using a 16mp sensor; not the 12mp sensor used for the other M43 lenses.
That’s why you shouldn’t look resolution in absolute numbers but compare number to maximum which also allows better comparing of optical quality of lenses between systems.
According to Lensrentals, this lens is not so great wide open, just ok…
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/05/wide-angle-micro-43-imatest-results
That is one of my combination .
Frankly speaking It’s not my regular , just when I need exceptional image quality then I’ll use it . The only thing I dislike is the rubber element surrounding the lens , can’t understanding why not make it with perfection . Look at Zeiss 24mm for NEX 7 , that is example of excellent build quality .
The Zeiss 24mm for NEX is also a crazy 905 euro, wheras this is “only” 549 euro.
I have the Four Thirds 25mm which cost twice as much as the Micro Four Thirds lens. I have the suspicion the MFT lens is not as good. Can someone confirm?
@Tobis W.
I bought my four thirds Leica 25mm for £549 new but that was before anyone else discovered how good it really is, if anything ever happened to it I would really cry 🙁
I think the excellent manual focus damping, the build and the nano coating as well as the aperture ring give it many advantages over the micro four thirds version….
Many advantages… and two glaring disadvantages.
@Chez Wimpy
what are the two glaring disadvantages??
m43 has nano coating too
@ Anentropic
not all nano coatings are created equal 😉
A friend of mine gave me photos from both versions to compare, but since there was no model release, I was prevented from showing any full-sized photos to compare. The 4/3 version is better, yes, has a better color rendering, slightly better bokeh, and is a bit sharper.
I have both lens the PL 25mm F1.4, the big SLR Version /Leica D Summilux is better optically in my personal opinion,.it has LESS CA almost invisible, more sharper at the center, is already excellent at wide open f1.4 and and stop down to F2.-2.8 is far more sharper than the Leica DG Summilux version at the same aperture,.better bokeh ,.there are two significant things that makes the D version better than DG version;
Signature color ; D version it has a COOL rendering ( real Leice alike) while DG version has WARM Color .
D version it appear to have more High contrast than the DG version, ( more 3D effect).
But the DG version is a lot more smaller and lighter, also focusing is silent and a lot faster.
I only use the D version for speciall purpose and not for street shooter.
Pardon my English
Why does he give the ‘equivalent Aperture (DOF)’ for m4/3 lenses and Nikon 1 lenses, but not for APS-C lenses? I think this just confuses people a lot.
This seems to be a trend on both review sites and forums everywhere. People seem to forget that APS-C is a crop sensor as well.
My intuition says there is a lot of Canikon fanbois assuming their big aps-c dslrs to be much better than tiny 4/3 sensors, based on FF equivalency discussions.
Oh well…
You noticed that as well?
+100
Yes, we read a myriad of equivalence mumbo jumbo in m43 lens reviews and comments, not often have I’ve read this for APS-C lenses or FF lenses that I guess are bought by more APS-C users than FF users.
Rattle on oly. It should not be rewieved as a m43 lense, bur as a m43 lense for Pana!
Since this is the first and currently only lens tested on the GX1, it means that Photozone have posted a review of the 25mm f1.4 that can not be compared to any other lens on any other camera. It would have been more useful if some of the lenses they tested previously on the GF1 had been re-tested on the GX1, to see how much difference the change of camera makes.
The change to 16mp is significant. I sold me GF1 to buy a GX1 (@full price I might add..WHAH…they are so cheap now…LOL), Then I sold my G3 to buy an OM-D which I have had for two weeks now. Both cameras, the GX1 and the OM-D are significantly better IQ-wise, focusing-wise and a-whole-lot-of-other-wise…BETTER than my GF1 (loved that camera). I have about 10 MFT AF lenses for the two bodies…and BOTH bodies are great…GX1 with LVF2 smaller and stelthier, OM-D with top half of the battery grip is hard to put down cause it is so much fun to shoot with with more DR and wireless flash, etc. Great image quality. The 25mm f/1.4 focuses much faster on the newer cameras…but the 20mm f/1.7 which is wonderfully small…focuses quite a bit slower and more noisily and apparently from the reviews I have read the 20mm is sharper…but from personal experience the bokeh is much better on the 25mm. Both GREAT lenses for a great system. We have so many choices…its GREAT!!!!!!!
Can’t wait for the release of the 75mm f.1.8!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Bob,
can you do the list of your top 5 lens in order, to your personal liking?
Just for fun… Thanks
WOW…that is tough….I am a biased wide angle guy…just my nature..
1. Olympus 12mm f/2.0
2. Pany 14mm f/2.5
3. Pany 7-14mm Zoom
4. Olympus 45mm f/1.8
5. Pany Leica 25mm f/1.4
I also own and love the 20mm f/1.7, Pany/Leica 45mm f/2.8 Macro, Pany Fisheye and the Panasonic 45-175mm. I think they are all great…and when I them…nothing else can take there place. I owned the Pany 45-200mm to buy the 45-175mm which is much smaller, sharper and has better contrast…and focuses really fast on the newer bodies.
I will soon own the Oly 75mm f/1.8…on the edge of my seat for that …as I am quite the bokeh whore….that is why I pick the 25mm over the 20mm.
I also want to own the 25mm f/0.95 Voightlander….but that is just getting greedy!!!!! LOL!
Whouah! Bokeh whore!! +1
…#2, the panny 14mm, impressive, again, in a top 3.
I want to spend thousand’s but my wife is gonna kill me! You must be single, or rich! lol
How was the 20mm on you’re former G3? (focusing indoor, children running around)?
WOW…and I didn’t even mention my Canon 5DII (soon to be a III) and all of the L & Zeiss glass…….obviously….
I am single….LOL.
My opinion would be that the 20mm is too slow for running children. I have read that here before by other parents who have attempted. The 14mm can be had VERY cheap on ebay from people separating the kits and selling off the body and the lens. I got mine for under $200 about a year ago. So if you use that on a newer body like the G3 (great value…still!!!!!) you have a fast focuser and more depth of field working for you to catch the little buggers….you just have to get up close!!!!!!!
Thanks Bob, very usefull.
Lensrentals tests are interesting. Confirmed the following:
-20mm Panny is very sharp (we knew that)
-14mm Panny is just as sharp (contrary to many forum “experts”)
-Oly 12mm is equally good
-Oly 17mm is mediocre and no better than the kit zoom
– Oly 12-50 is noticeably sharper than the old 14-42 (despite being criticised and offering a wider range)
– Panny WA zoom eclipses Oly
– Both Voigtlanders are compromised at their extreme f0.95 (not unreasonable), but have no trouble keeping up with the best by f2.8
-Wish they had tested the Oly 45mm….
….3,2,1 back in the room- I have now spotted the second post which shows the Oly 45 slightly lagging behind the Panny 45. Both cracking lenses. The Oly is particularly affordable. The main surprise for me was that the often revered Panny 14-45 was little better than the 14-140.
The bokeh from f/2.0 onward looks bad…
http://www.photozone.de/olympus–four-thirds-lens-tests/740-pana25?start=1
Of course, if you have 7 blades with a long curvature for a perfect circle @ f1.4, it’s getting worst @ f2… they should’ve had a couple more blades in it!
Has anybody used the Lieca 25mm 4/3 F.4 with the Olympus E5– I have many Olympus 2.0 lenses however wonder how the F 1.4 lens compare vs lets say the oly 50mm macro or the oly 35-100 lenses?