[ Gadget ] - leica /pana 25mm 1.4

[Ouverture]

Just had a brief hands-on with the 25mm and 20mm side by side.

My impression of 25mm:
- its quite well built but not as good as 12mm (obvious as plastic vs metal)
- sharpness test at f1.4 is almost similar to 20mm at f1.7 when blow up to 100% on my camera lcd screen
- focusing is very fast, definitely faster than 20mm but still i find 12mm and 14mm are faster than this 25mm.
- also note that there is this "clicking" sound during focusing or when you tilt the camera around. I am not sure whether that is the sound of focus motor or aperture blades. Its not very loud but quite obvious, especially if u are in a quiet environment. Imagine i can even hear it at the shop itself with noisy ambience.
- its bigger and heavier than 20mm. Feel quite obvious esp on my GF3, probably not so on EP3 and G3.
- CA is quite pronounced at f1.4 even at center of the frame. Better at f2 and gone at f2.8

Notes on 20mm:
- it focuses slower than 25mm
- its CA is better than 25mm, a little bit noticeable at f1.7 and cant see any at f2.
- focusing motor has a "buzz" noise but its not obvious unless u put ur ear next to the lens.
- its much slimmer and lighter than 25mm
- its priced at least $250 cheaper

In the end, i walked away from the shop empty handed but with wallet full of cash (i withdraw it earlier as already confirmed buying).

This will be my first time in 2 yrs that i wasnt poisoned and walked away without buying.

Anyway, u can try out this lens at the shop and decide for yourself as ur tolerance level might be different.

I will download those sample photos onto my pc later and provide more updates when i view them 100% on my pc screen.

Enjoy the long weekend and happy voting tomorrow.



-

 

[joel9978]

What is CA?

 

[Agrivar]

What is CA?

CA = chromatic aberration

In optics, chromatic aberration (CA, also called achromatism or chromatic distortion) is a type of distortion in which there is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same convergence point. It occurs because lenses have a different refractive index for different wavelengths of light (the dispersion of the lens). The refractive index decreases with increasing wavelength

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration

 

[cannedpineapples]

Just had a brief hands-on with the 25mm and 20mm side by side.

My impression of 25mm:
- its quite well built but not as good as 12mm (obvious as plastic vs metal)
- sharpness test at f1.4 is almost similar to 20mm at f1.7 when blow up to 100% on my camera lcd screen
- focusing is very fast, definitely faster than 20mm but still i find 12mm and 14mm are faster than this 25mm.
- also note that there is this "clicking" sound during focusing or when you tilt the camera around. I am not sure whether that is the sound of focus motor or aperture blades. Its not very loud but quite obvious, especially if u are in a quiet environment. Imagine i can even hear it at the shop itself with noisy ambience.
- its bigger and heavier than 20mm. Feel quite obvious esp on my GF3, probably not so on EP3 and G3.
- CA is quite pronounced at f1.4 even at center of the frame. Better at f2 and gone at f2.8

Notes on 20mm:
- it focuses slower than 25mm
- its CA is better than 25mm, a little bit noticeable at f1.7 and cant see any at f2.
- focusing motor has a "buzz" noise but its not obvious unless u put ur ear next to the lens.
- its much slimmer and lighter than 25mm
- its priced at least $250 cheaper

In the end, i walked away from the shop empty handed but with wallet full of cash (i withdraw it earlier as already confirmed buying).

This will be my first time in 2 yrs that i wasnt poisoned and walked away without buying.

Anyway, u can try out this lens at the shop and decide for yourself as ur tolerance level might be different.

I will download those sample photos onto my pc later and provide more updates when i view them 100% on my pc screen.

Enjoy the long weekend and happy voting tomorrow.



-

I on the other hand was definitely poisoned by bro Wong LP.. ended up picking up a Voigtlander 25mm. Wow. The build quality is simply amazing, it feels like it could last forever. And who knew I would love MF so much

 

[Ouverture]

I on the other hand was definitely poisoned by bro Wong LP.. ended up picking up a Voigtlander 25mm. Wow. The build quality is simply amazing, it feels like it could last forever. And who knew I would love MF so much

Yes bro. That will be my next lens to try as well.

 

[tomcat]

I think there must be something wrong with my 25mm as it doesn't seem to make that much noise as what others have described here. I can't even hear the lens doing continuous focusing adjustments when the EP3 and EPL3 are on Full AF mode. I can just feel the vibration if I concentrated hard on it and the vibration is just slightly more than that of the Olympus kit lenses and the 12mm which are supposed to be designed to be silent. Maybe it's because the hearing of older folks are not so sensitive to higher frequency sounds compared to youngsters. That's why they sell high frequency mobile phone ring tones which supposedly only young people can hear but not their much older teachers, bosses or parents.

The 20mm on the other is very noisy and the vibration is very strong. This is made worse by the fact that it is not internal focusing... you can see the front element move up and down continuously. You can feel it even more if you put your finger on the front element (or filter) of the lens. The 25mm is however internal focusing like the Olympus kit lenses. Taking video with the 20mm would be probably be very noisy.

It is very difficult if not impractical to compare the sharpness of 25mm and 20mm wide opened unless it is in a studio controlled environment with a stationary object. The depth of field is so small that any slight movement of the photographer or the subject would result in a shift in the DOF such that actual desired point of focus eg the pupil of the eye, is not as focused in either image. So for these 2 lenses, the comparison of image quality might be more on how their respective images look overall, sharpness from centre to edge, the quality of the bokeh and how the out-of-focused pin light sources look.

I have read and seen in some reviews of the 25mm that there is more CA. I haven't come across any yet and especially not in the centre of the image. But it could be that the lighting conditions are not harsh enough to make the CA show up so far in my case. In any case, if used on Panasonic m43 camera bodies, the CA would be taken care of by the camera's inbuilt jpeg engine and you should not see them in the out-of-camera jpegs images.

 

[wonglp]

I think there must be something wrong with my 25mm as it doesn't seem to make that much noise as what others have described here. I can't even hear the lens doing continuous focusing adjustments when the EP3 and EPL3 are on Full AF mode. I can just feel the vibration if I concentrated hard on it and the vibration is just slightly more than that of the Olympus kit lenses and the 12mm which are supposed to be designed to be silent. Maybe it's because the hearing of older folks are not so sensitive to higher frequency sounds compared to youngsters. That's why they sell high frequency mobile phone ring tones which supposedly only young people can hear but not their much older teachers, bosses or parents.

Shouldn't it be there's something right about your 25mm that others should be experiencing?

 

[plankoak]

I on the other hand was definitely poisoned by bro Wong LP.. ended up picking up a Voigtlander 25mm. Wow. The build quality is simply amazing, it feels like it could last forever. And who knew I would love MF so much

bro, where did you get ur Voigtlander 25mm? price>?

 

[sci70716]

I on the other hand was definitely poisoned by bro Wong LP.. ended up picking up a Voigtlander 25mm. Wow. The build quality is simply amazing, it feels like it could last forever. And who knew I would love MF so much

I bought and sold 2 25mm f0.95..amazing constructions but MF just takes up too much time...went for cosplay events unless subkect stays almost stationary my pics all blurr...even at 1.4...decided to sell it away and bought the 25mm...so far so good!

I dun have short detail eyes..cant really discern the CA even wide open..

 

[wonglp]

I on the other hand was definitely poisoned by bro Wong LP.. ended up picking up a Voigtlander 25mm. Wow. The build quality is simply amazing, it feels like it could last forever. And who knew I would love MF so much

Glad to share the poison
With all the electronics in modern lenses it's not easy to find one that can last as long as a manual one.

 

[Ouverture]

I think there must be something wrong with my 25mm as it doesn't seem to make that much noise as what others have described here. I can't even hear the lens doing continuous focusing adjustments when the EP3 and EPL3 are on Full AF mode. I can just feel the vibration if I concentrated hard on it and the vibration is just slightly more than that of the Olympus kit lenses and the 12mm which are supposed to be designed to be silent. Maybe it's because the hearing of older folks are not so sensitive to higher frequency sounds compared to youngsters. That's why they sell high frequency mobile phone ring tones which supposedly only young people can hear but not their much older teachers, bosses or parents.

The 20mm on the other is very noisy and the vibration is very strong. This is made worse by the fact that it is not internal focusing... you can see the front element move up and down continuously. You can feel it even more if you put your finger on the front element (or filter) of the lens. The 25mm is however internal focusing like the Olympus kit lenses. Taking video with the 20mm would be probably be very noisy.

It is very difficult if not impractical to compare the sharpness of 25mm and 20mm wide opened unless it is in a studio controlled environment with a stationary object. The depth of field is so small that any slight movement of the photographer or the subject would result in a shift in the DOF such that actual desired point of focus eg the pupil of the eye, is not as focused in either image. So for these 2 lenses, the comparison of image quality might be more on how their respective images look overall, sharpness from centre to edge, the quality of the bokeh and how the out-of-focused pin light sources look.

I have read and seen in some reviews of the 25mm that there is more CA. I haven't come across any yet and especially not in the centre of the image. But it could be that the lighting conditions are not harsh enough to make the CA show up so far in my case. In any case, if used on Panasonic m43 camera bodies, the CA would be taken care of by the camera's inbuilt jpeg engine and you should not see them in the out-of-camera jpegs images.

Not sure if its that copy but it seems most people who tried or bought it has experienced the noisy clicking sound. QC problem? I am certainly not impressed by a $800 lens build quality for that matter.

Yes i agree its not "professional" and practical to test lens sharpness that way but then i am using my camera for day to day shots, not in studio or with tripod, if i do, i wont be using GF3 for that anyway.

Of course i made that judgement of sharpness not by just taking 1 shots each from these 2 lenses. Its by placing the camera on the table and taking 4-5 shots each of the lens box (which is not moving at all), so if u say my method is not professional at all, then i got nothing to say since i am not a professional anyway. I am just a father who use camera to take good photos of my family.

As for CA, yes i agree and also presumed that panasonic body should auto correct CA but it is still there which surprised me. Especially so when i tried to take shots of the lens cap (with Lumix wording), at wide opened, the whole "Lumix" logo wording is wrapped around with very obvious purplish blue tint, 20mm also has it but it is very faint, not as strong as seen on the 25mm.

Honestly, if i dun test these lenses at wide opened, then wats the point of getting these fast primes then? Moreover, corner sharpness to me is not a major concern, esp so when i intend to buy these lenses to be used at big aperture with blurred background. And looking at the shots i took, seriously i dun think anyone even with 6/6 eyesight can spot the difference, unless you open them up 100% on your 20" monitor screen.

Sorry bro tom, i dun mean to refute or argue or bash anyone with this reply. I just want potential buyer to be informed about this lens as i try to share my hands-on experience as an ordinary guy on the streets.

Review websites, shops and fanboy comments are sometimes really too bias and tend to over-hype the product.

 

[pchmj]

So it means m4/3 version is not as good as the original 4/3 version. That's why it's priced lower.

I'm considering this to replace the 20mm. While sharpness and CA is good on 20mm, the slow, noisy AF and harsh bokeh is what I dislike.

Bokeh on 25mm looks delicious and I might change just on this reason alone, just can't accept the 20mm bokeh.

20mm is a pancake while 25mm is not. Decision decision...

 

[Ouverture]

So it means m4/3 version is not as good as the original 4/3 version. That's why it's priced lower.

I'm considering this to replace the 20mm. While sharpness and CA is good on 20mm, the slow, noisy AF and harsh bokeh is what I dislike.

Bokeh on 25mm looks delicious and I might change just on this reason alone, just can't accept the 20mm bokeh.

20mm is a pancake while 25mm is not. Decision decision...

Yes bro. Thats why i returned home empty handed yesterday. Its really hard to decide as each has its own flaws.

If the 25mm was not leica branded and priced cheaper, then it would have made the choice easier.

 

[joel9978]

Anybody tried registered for warranty online?
Free 3mths extended same as olympus

http://onlinewarranty.panasonic.com.sg/Registration.aspx

 

[sci70716]

If your not too OCD, the lens is perfectly fine..

If your so OCD, get a FF DSLR with L lens...dun go gor m4/3...

U win some (size, CHEAP price), u lose some (IQ).

Balance....

 

[sci70716]

 

[NazgulKing]

The clicking sound has been posted about on the Internet. The problem is with Olympus cameras and how they close the internal iris of the lens. Whereas Panasonic does it in big steps, Olympus does it in small.

And personally, I don't think the CA is a deal breaker from pictures I have seen.

 

[tomcat]

If your not too OCD, the lens is perfectly fine..If your so OCD, get a FF DSLR with L lens...dun go gor m4/3...U win some (size, CHEAP price), u lose some (IQ).

Talking about the 20mm or 25mm? Think it applies to both though. I'm actually quite OCD then as I would only use my Nikon Full frame with trinity lenses or primes for my holiday shoots even though they weigh a ton and is torture to my back to lug them along.

 

[tomcat]

Is that a model? Thor looks very life like leh... A bit skinny though.

 

[sci70716]

both..I had the 20mm F1.7 since day 1 when GF1 was released..I did not realised it had so MUCH PROBLEMS as listed here till I read this thread...or is it simply because I am not too discerning having just jumped into M4/3 from Pt and shoot..