Panasonic Lumix Micro 43 Leica Dg Summilux 25mm F14 Review

The Panasonic – Leica 25 i.4 Summilux Lens Review for Micro 4/three

Finally! The lens I waited months for finally arrived! The Panasonic/Leica 25 i.4 Summilux is a very important lens for Micro 4/3 users because it FINALLY gives us a 50mm equivalent focal length with a fast aperture of 1.4! Woo Hoo!When the 1st Micro 4/iii cameras were released this was a lens many of us asked for (I know I did) and Panasonic has at present delivered information technology to us. We already have the at present most legendary Panasonic twenty 1.7 lens which just about every serious M4/three shoot has owned at ane point or another so how does this lens stand up to that 1?

Well, size wise, the newer 25 Summilux is more than twice the length of the 20 and about $200 more expensive. And so is it worth it to splurge the extra $$ and option upwardly the 25? Read on to find out my thoughts on this lens. Just be warned ….while reviewing this lens my Nephew was visiting me from Chicago then he was my primary model when shooting 🙂 Most of you lot already know my lens reviews are not scientific, rather they are "real world" results of a photo enthusiast going out and shooting the lens or camera and telling all about my experience, enthusiasm and sharing my results.

I snapped this one late at night using my car headlights to light upward the area. My crazy nephew came out of the store and took off his shirt to strike a pose. Shot with the E-P3 in grainy B&West fashion at 1.4

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The Build and Experience of the lens. Is this a real Leica?

This lens feels just about the same as every other Panasonic Micro 4/3 prime lens, and that is good. Same build as the 20 1.7 and 45 two.eight so it is a solid lens but this lens is a Panasonic through and through, not a Leica. It may have the Leica name on it but the lens is made past Panasonic using a Leica blueprint. No exotic glass but still, this lens comes the closest yet to giving that Leica look on a Micro 4/three body. The lens feels good on the camera though it is a piddling on the larger side for a prime when you consider the pocket-size size of the M4/iii bodies, and the size of the 20 pancake!

Wide open on the Olympus OM-D during the Zombie Apocalypse

*Oh and also, for those who are unaware or are new to Micro 4/3 bodies, this lens is a 25mm lens simply when mounted will give you the equivalent view of a 50mm lens.

Near of my shooting was done on the E-P3 though I did shoot information technology on the GX1 likewise. In my opinion, it feels better on the slightly larger East-P3. Ok ok…Im an E-P3 "fanboy".

UPDATE: This lens is a MATCH Fabricated in Heaven on the new Olympus OM-D Due east-M5. No rattlesnake sound, super share and focuses FAST. See my OM-D Eastward-M5 review Here.

Using The Lens

When I received the lens I was pretty busy with other cameras and manufactures simply I still managed to go out and utilise the lens as much as I could. When I unboxed it I noticed it came with a pretty massive lens hood, which I did utilise most of the time. I never had a problem with flare.

My master thing? I was curious if it could shell the trivial 20 1.vii which is non only smaller merely cheaper as well. When I first started shooting it on the GX1 I noticed my shots were soft and not looking so hot. I thought I had a lacking lens only when I attached it to the E-P3 I was rewarded with abrupt images. I soon realized the images were soft because my 1st looks were with the out of photographic camera JPEGS, and the GX1 was softer than the E-P3. In one case I brought up the RAW files I saw just how capable this lens actually is. IT IS A SHARP LENS when yous terminate downwards and judge what? It's even sharp wide open at ane.4 equally y'all will see a but farther downwards.

The lens is no slouch. Full sun in Phoenix, AZ – 25 1.4 at f/eight – from RAW – Click epitome for full size sample.

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ISO 640 and broad open at 1.iv on the Olympus O-MD Eastward-M5

When writing about a lens and real world utilise (not scientific) it'south non always necessary to have 2000 words in the review because when a lens is skillful, information technology's good. The one thing I can say about the 25 one.4 Summilux is that to my eyes, it does render images in a richer way than the 20, which is likewise fantastic only maybe a bit "flatter" in the colour and overall presentation.  The Summilux is indeed a better lens when it comes to overall image quality. Like I said, "rich" is the discussion I would utilise to describe information technology'southward character. It gets virtually equally close to a real Leica lens as I have seen on Micro iv/3. To run into my former 20 1.7 review you can click HERE.

The Bokeh of the 25 one.four looks good to me when wide open – click epitome for larger view. E-P3.

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My nephew is in town visiting me from Chicago and then he was my model for most of these examination shots. But here y'all can see the way the lens performs indoors wide open. This was shot on the East-P3.

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Is the lens usable at f/1.four? I'd say Yeah!

So if y'all had any doubts on paradigm quality, fear not. This lens delivers at all apertures. Even when wide open up it is sharp at the focus point. Check out the shot below with the 100% crop nether information technology. In that location is a reason this lens is $500+. Wait at it this style…it is $3000 less expensive than a l Summilux ASPH!

Below is an epitome I shot with the E-P3 at f/1.4 along with a 100% crop beneath the prototype. This lens is SHARP

What'due south that noise? The Grind when used on Oly PEN cameras

One thing I noticed, as have many others is the grinding noise this lens produces when you use it on an Olympus PEN camera. Take it out in the sunday and you will hear a noise that makes you think you have a defective lens as the aperture changes. This lens is silent on the GX1 but noisy as heck on the E-P3 (when in brilliant low-cal). Information technology did non carp me but it is at that place though non constant. This may bother some shooters so beware if you plan on using on a PEN. When you hear the grinding rattlesnake noise merely know its normal.

UPDATE: This racket does not happen when you lot utilize this lens on the new Olympus OM-D Due east-M5!

Due east-P3  – Grainy B&West – wide open at 1.iv

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Once more, wide open

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more than on the OM-D East-M5

and again, on the E-M5

Then…which should I buy? The 20 or the 25? Or, should I upgrade my 20 ane.7?

This is the big question that everyone wants to know. To be honest, I wish I could take taken this lens with me on a trip. If so I would have been able to get a more than wide diverseness of shots with it but just in the couple of weeks I take used information technology I tin hands say it is the meliorate lens if you are deciding between this and the 20 1.7. But, at the aforementioned fourth dimension it is a couple hundred more and larger making the camera less compact. Too, information technology is not LEAGUES better. The twenty notwithstanding has its charm for its size and quality but yes, I would buy the 25 if I wanted THE lens for Micro 4/iii.

If you crave creamy beautiful files from your Micro iv/3 camera, this is a lens you volition want to ain. The IQ is superb, the lens focuses about as fast equally the 20 i.7 and I had no issues focusing in low low-cal with the E-P3. Overall I'd say if yous don't heed the size, go for the 25. If yous desire to stay compact, go along the 20. Not much more I can say about information technology really. It'south fantastic and the all-time Panasonic prime to date. For the Bokeh addicts yous will have an easier time with shallow depth of field as well and I find the lens a just more contrasty than the 20. If you lot are sticking with M4/3 – this one is a no brainer and it is astonishing on the new Eastward-M5! A must own.

Y'all tin can purchase the 25 one.4 at B&H Photo or AMAZON

More than detail wide open up at 1.4 – click it for larger view

A quick notation about Micro four/three

At the time of this writing at that place are some exiting things ahead in the world of digital cameras. The new Fuji X-Pro ane looks to be a actually dandy mirrorless camera, though at a much higher cost tag than any Micro 4/3. While the quality of the Fuji will most likely stomp over whatsoever M 4/iii I still experience that this format is here to stay due to the size, and the lower cost. Also, the lenses we accept available for M 4/three just rock. The Olympus 12mm, 45mm and this Panasonic 25 1.4 represent the best of the all-time for M 4/3 and is reason enough alone to stick with this format. I'll probably always have a Grand 4/3 torso because they are fun, they can exist taken anywhere and the quality rivals the big guys when you adhere a groovy lens.

Sometimes we all get caught up in the hype of new releases, and you guys know I do too but I love this format for what it is and what information technology does right. For $700 or and so you tin can become a kit with a solid trunk that takes superb photos better than many of us can even shoot. I notwithstanding feel something like an Eastward-P3 or E-M5 and 12, 25  and 45 could terminal someone many many years.

I love the PEN cameras and hope to run into advancement in the bodies in the years to come up.

With that said, I will go out you with a few more photos from the lens…some have been processed, some have not. My processing consists of adjusting the RAW file during conversion and sometimes calculation a filter using Conflicting Peel Exposure three.

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Source: http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2012/01/10/the-panasonic-leica-25-1-4-summilux-lens-review-for-micro-43/