Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 Micro Four Thirds lens review - Part 3 - Video and Conclusion

The above video was shot with the Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 lens on a Panasonic G3. It was shot at f/1.4 throughout. As you can see its very sharp.

The lens doesn't continuously focus when shooting video on either the G3 or Olympus E-P3. However for those serious about video, thats not a problem. The clicking aperture blades won't be a problem either as for most purposes the exposure is locked. So its not a very useful "holiday video" lens, but an extremely good one if you want quality footage.

It worked very well using the pinpoint focus feature of the G3, and this was extremely accurate. It looks good at f/1.4 and I don't think anyone would be unhappy with the results. 

CONCLUSION.

I really like this lens. I think it's the sharpest m4/3 lens I've ever used and one of the sharpest lenses I've used in any format. There are obviously problems with these clicking aperture blades and potential Olympus users should check this out. There are too few copies around at the moment to know whether this is happening to all lenses or just a few. When more get sold we should know the answer. Certainly the clicking isn't a problem on my G3.

Its an incredibly sharp lens, even at f/1.4, and has given me results VERY close to a Leica M9 and Zeiss lens. For me its much more useful than something like the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95, which though faster and with that wonderful dreamy bokeh is still a manual focus lens. The new Panasonic 25mm focuses very quickly on both the G3 and E-P3, so no problems there, its usable at all apertures, including f/1.4 and f/16.

I'm going to be using it a lot. If the Olympus 12mm f/2 could be considered the first "pro spec" m4/3 lens then this is the second. It won't suit everybody, but if you're looking for the optimum image quality from m4/3 and have a use for a fast standard lens, then I can do nothing else but strongly recommend this. 

Now I'm going out to take some pictures with it!

Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 Micro Four Thirds lens review - Part 2 - Just HOW good is the 25mm f/1.4

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3 Zeiss 50mm Nikon D7000 35mm f/1.8

I did a test between the Panasonic Leica m4/3 f/1.4 lens on a Panasonic G3 and a 35mm f/1.8 on a Nikon D7000 and just to make it interesting, my Zeiss 50mm f/2 T* Planar on my Leica M9.

(Please note - this file below is too big for flickr. If you want to download the full size version then either click on the image or this link. File is © David Taylor / Soundimageplus and is available for personal evaluation only and is not to be shared or used in any other way whatsoever.)

I've also put together a file from full-size images taken on the G3 and the M9 at f/8 and ISO 160. You can see the high resolution image by clicking through to flickr and choosing Actions > View all sizes.

As per usual these images were shot on a tripod and processed via Photoshop Adobe Camera Raw using the default factory settings. All files were processed in an indentical fashion. There are differences in depth-of-field, colour and framing but all images were shot from exactly the same position. 

The results show that the Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 is indeed a very good lens indeed. Better than the 35mm f/1.8 on the Nikon (Though the stronger anti-aliasing filter on the D7000 has an impact on this) and is really close to the Zeiss 50mm on the Leica M9. 

I really can't decide which is better. If I stare at the files for long enough, then I think I see that the Leica version is the sharpest, but once I take into account the fact that there is more depth of field on the m4/3 shot, and therefore more of the image is in focus, I must concede that I prefer the image with Panasonic camera / lens combination.

Again I must make it clear that this is very much to do with the way that I work, and what I'm looking for in a lens camera / combination. I'm usually trying to achieve the most DOF that I can get, and the vast majority of what I shoot is at the lowest ISO that gives me a workable hand held shutter speed. 

In terms of a comparison between the Leica and the G3, neither is any great shakes at high ISO and the M9 is very poor at dynamic range also, even though it is "full-frame". So bit by bit the advantages that I get from the camera and the m-mount lenses are being eroded. Add in the fact that Panasonic are now talking about light, small pro-spec zooms - http://www.43rumors.com/ft5-hot-panasonic-x-12-35-and-35-100mm-fast-zooms/ and for what I do m4/3 becomes an ever more attractive, (and significantly cheaper!) option. 

I must admit, I didn't expect the 25mm f/1.4 to be quite as good. I was expecting something on a par with the four thirds version of this lens I think, and something that was probably somewhat better than the 20mm f/1.7, but not by much.

However I think it's better than that. True, the weak AA filter of the G3 gives it the opportunity to shine, however it does perform very well in its own right. 

Do have a look at the high-res. samples and particularly the raw files in the previous post to see if you agree with me. 

However if you like what you see and you use Olympus cameras I would recommend a try-out before you buy, to see if yours clicks away like mine does on those cameras.

Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 Micro Four Thirds lens review - Part 1 - Pictures, Quality & In use

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

The first thing to say here, is that optically this is a superb lens. I have no hesitation in saying this is the best lens I've used on a m4/3 camera. That includes all Panasonic and Olympus lenses, adapted lenses and yes, Leica M lenses. A bold statement? Well yes, but in this 3-part review I will demonstrate why I think that.

f/1.4

With lenses of this speed the first thing we all want to know is how good is it wide open? This is what justifies its price after all.

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3 @ f/1.4

The answer is that its very good indeed. I've always thought that the 20mm f/1.7 was a great performer wide open, and when I used it indoors I just used to set it at its maximum aperture, confident in the knowledge that it would produce sharp results. The 25mm is the same.

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-PL1

There is some distortion as can be seen above.

Bokeh

Really very nice indeed.

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-PL1

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

Sharpness

Really very impressive. Its sharp at f/1.4 and it just gets better the more you stop it down. I'll be providing some test shots on this in the next part, but in the meantime here are some images with enlarged sections.

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

 

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

 

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

 

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

In the field

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

 Handling

There is the problem of the "rattlesnake" effect on Olympus cameras. This is the noise of the aperture blades opening and closing in bright light when live view or the EVF are on. If you are wondering whether this may affect you - I started a thread on it at Dpreview - I have no idea of how widespread it is but my experiences aren't isolated.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=39178279

Apart from that I like the handling and feel of the lens. The lens hood is quite big, but then I like that too. Its relatively light, which I like, but its not a pancake. It is however vastly lighter and smaller than the Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 four thirds lens.

Personally I'm much more concerned about weight rather than size, but others may may think the size is important.

Is it worth the money?

I guess that all depends on how much use you have for a fast standard prime. In my opinion it IS better than the 20mm f/1.7 and its attraction for me is not just the speed and large aperture. It is a stunningly sharp lens. I was looking at images I shot with it on the G3 yesterday and I gasped several times. I opened up files, using the same raw settings I had used for the 25mm, from my NEX-C3 and my Nikons and it was sharper than anything I've been using on both of those. The results were VERY close to what I get with my Leica M9 and Zeiss 50mm.

Samples

Here are three jpg. samples straight out of three different cameras. As usual click through to flickr Actions > View all sizes to see the full size high resolution images.

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-PL1

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

Panasonic Leica m4/3 25mm f/1.4 Lumix G3

I've also made three raw samples available. (Please note these are © images and may only be used for your own evaluation. They MUST not be shared or used in any other way whatsoever) These are .dng files.

Click on the links here. 

25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-P3

25mm f/1.4 Panasonic G3

25mm f/1.4 Olympus E-PL1

These should work with all recent versions of Photoshop or Lightroom. I cannot say whether they will open in other software.

Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 Micro Four Thirds lens review