Review of the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25 mm f/1.4 ASPH Micro 4/3 Lens

[MichaelLee]

is it just me or do i see icons of Photobucket 'bandwidth exceeded' in place of the images ?

Sorry, eddie and everyone, I just realised that the bandwidth had been exceeded. Give me sometime, I would re-route/re-post all pic to CS gallery and update the link when available.

 

[ed9119]

no worries ..... thats one reason why flickr and youtube is fast replacing some of the traditional image hosting sites

if u need extra storage space in CLubsnap Gallery please let me know

 

[shauyan]

Good job!! This is the best Pana DG 25mm F1.4 available currently. I like bokeh and 25mm IMHO is general purpose lens. I am using 14mm F2.5 and not satisfy with low light scene.
I wonder when will this lens be available?

 

[N-user]

Is it just me.... from the pic posted.... think the Leica beat the ass off Pany one.... but hell that is poisonuous.... :sweat::nono:

 

[MichaelLee]

Last weekend I am having this lens, would like to conduct another on field test and review for this lens. Pictures only resize, not other processing.


How did the lens perform at corner ?


Building 1

100% crop at center

100% crop at corner

Building 2

100% crop at corner

 

[MichaelLee]

Here is comparison between f1.4 vs f8 on CA control.
It does suffer very minor CA at wide open, but none at f8.


f1.4

f1.4 100% crop

f8

f8 100% crop

 

[MichaelLee]

Last comparison shot on center vs 100% crop sharpness test


Building 3

100% crop at center

 

[MichaelLee]

Few candid shots,

 

[MichaelLee]

One of the strong point of this lens is the sharpness of which i believe the pictures so far should be helpful to make your conclusion.
The other wow factor is f1.4. i took this lens to extreme challenge at Asian civilisation museum where the ambient light is very low. Had you been there, you would know how difficult to shot without flash/tripod.

The below shot are all handheld on Oly EP1 and Panny GF3, only resize with no other processing.

 

[MichaelLee]

 

[MichaelLee]

These shot are very satisfied. Sharp and without the need to push up ISO al the way to 1600.

 

[MichaelLee]

Here is a brief conclusion I like to made ;


What I like :
- Sharp ! Sharp ! Sharp ! With very little corner softness. Definately the most sharp lens that I ever used in m4/3.
- AF take around 1sec on EP1, but almost instant on EP3 and Panny GF3. It is quite when focussing. and the focussing is smooth.
- f1.4, needless to further elaborate. Who does not like the large aperture.
- Bokeh is sweet
- Versatile at 50m effective focal length



What I don't like :
- The build. It is very natural for me to compare this lens with Nokton 25mm f0.95, and soon to be launched olympus 45mm f1.8. I would it could be more solid and classy built.
- 0.98ft mini focussing distance. I wish this to be closer.
- Suffer minor CA at wide open f1.4, when stop down to f4 there is almost none.
- AF on movie is not as fast as I would have expected. Though there is no sound from focussing, however it takes close to 3sec to shift focus from infinity to subject at 1m distance.

 

[Ouverture]

Here is a brief conclusion I like to made ;


What I like :
- Sharp ! Sharp ! Sharp ! With very little corner softness. Definately the most sharp lens that I ever used in m4/3.
- AF take around 1sec on EP1, but almost instant on EP3 and Panny GF3. It is quite when focussing. and the focussing is smooth.
- f1.4, needless to further elaborate. Who does not like the large aperture.
- Bokeh is sweet
- Versatile at 50m effective focal length



What I don't like :
- The build. It is very natural for me to compare this lens with Nokton 25mm f0.95, and soon to be launched olympus 45mm f1.8. I would it could be more solid and classy built.
- 0.98ft mini focussing distance. I wish this to be closer.
- Suffer minor CA at wide open f1.4, when stop down to f4 there is almost none.
- AF on movie is not as fast as I would have expected. Though there is no sound from focussing, however it takes close to 3sec to shift focus from infinity to subject at 1m distance.

Thanks for the review and information sharing.

I believe what I am going to ask is also what many brothers out there are looking for:

- do you think this new Leica is worth the extra premium, approximately 1.5 times the price of 20/1.7?
- Esp comparing sharpness, AF speed and built quality....but actually loosing the portability as it is not "so" pancake so to speak.

Thanks in advance.

 

[shauyan]

Thanks for the review and information sharing.

I believe what I am going to ask is also what many brothers out there are looking for:

- do you think this new Leica is worth the extra premium, approximately 1.5 times the price of 20/1.7?
- Esp comparing sharpness, AF speed and built quality....but actually loosing the portability as it is not "so" pancake so to speak.

Thanks in advance.

Precisely 1.6 times price of 20/1.7 ;p
But if we want to compare with Voigtlander 20/f0.95, it will be 2 times difference.

Of course, build quality, fast and sharp of Voigtlander is undeniable.
But looking at so many nice photos and review here, i believe this lens worth the price.

 

[ed9119]

compared against an M Mount Summilux or even a Summicron ....... its a steal ......

 

[rx7kin]

Any ideas when the lens wii be available?

 

[MichaelLee]

- do you think this new Leica is worth the extra premium, approximately 1.5 times the price of 20/1.7?

- I would rather think it is bargain to have a Summilux quality at a price , likely less than SGD1K.

but actually loosing the portability as it is not "so" pancake so to speak.

Which one is your main priority ? More a individual preference. The fact is that, this lens is just slightly longer than the latest Olympus 14-42 II ( there is a pic I post earlier to compare these 2 lenses side by side)

Bear in mind that, when in operation, Leica 25mm does not extend out like 14-42mm does. Overall I would still think that the lens is quite compact.
Indeed the lightest f1.4 AF lens with 46mm filter thread.

 

[rwhite]

I tried this lens using my E-P2 during one of the excursion, I expected the lens to be around the same size as 20mm but I was wrong, then it refuses to focus the main object I want to focus a few times (lonewolf can vouch for it). No doubt the lens is sharper than 20mm, but I will not sell my 20mm and top up another $500 for the 25mm. I think those without 20mm users will be more interested to buy it.

 

[Rocky78]

:thumbsup: ;p

 

[ed9119]

.... it refuses to focus the main object I want to focus a few times..... .

hmm I had that same issue too until i realized the minimum focusing distance is about 38cm ...... so yeah, you cant get 'up close' to the subject