Panasonic 7-14mm f4 Lumix G Vario Micro Four Thirds lens

Comments about Panasonic 7-14mm f4 Lumix G Vario Micro Four Thirds lens:

Nicely built lens that is sharp as pins. Great range from ultra-wide 7mm (14mm equivalent) to wide 14mm (28mm equivalent). Not an inexpensive lens but build and image quality superb.

Comments about Panasonic 7-14mm f4 Lumix G Vario Micro Four Thirds lens:

I love this lens. Obviously with a lens this wide you get a lot in - but what makes it really fun is the extreme perspective it gives, here's an example.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rupert_brun/4332696969/in/set-72157622611420002/

Quality is astonishingly good at any setting until you stop down too far, at which point diffraction kicks in and the sharpness drops a bit. I've marked it down for "ease of use" because there's no image stabilisation and you can end up with very extrreme converging verticals if you don't keep the camera level, so care is needed when shooting interior architecture which has to be one of the main areas you wouuld want to use a lens like this.

Comments about Panasonic 7-14mm f4 Lumix G Vario Micro Four Thirds lens:

This is an excellent lens, its incredibly small especially compared to the Nikon 14-24 which has almost the same range on FX Nikons. It is expensive but the optical quality is well worth the money. Balances beautifully on the GF-1 or EP-1 and makes a superb 3 lens kit with the 14-45 and 45-200 Panasonic lenses.

Comments about Panasonic 7-14mm f4 Lumix G Vario Micro Four Thirds lens:

Warehouse Express delivers quickly and efficiently.

The Panasonic 7-14 lens is much smaller than you expect and really light.

The lens is sharp and resists flare well. I've shot with the sun almost in the frame and there isn't any sign of flare.

Quick to autofocus - up to the kit lens in terms of speed.

Fits my G1 nicely.

Overall a lovely lens but expensive. Worth it if you use 7 or 8mm a lot otherwise the Olympus 9-18 may be a better compromise in terms of price.

Comments about Panasonic 7-14mm f4 Lumix G Vario Micro Four Thirds lens:

The Panasonic 7-14mm is a great example of how much smaller micro 4/3 lenses can be compared to 4/3 lenses. The Olympus 7-14mm is exactly the same focal length, constant F4 aperture and covers the same 4/3 sensor yet it's much larger and heavier than the micro 4/3 version. On taking the Panasonic 7-14mm lens out of its box I had to laugh as it just seemed tiny compared to the Olympus 7-14mm I regularly shoot with.

The 7-14mm lens is 2x zoom offering an equivalent focal length of 14-28mm allowing the lens to move from ultra wide to wide. The lens has a constant aperture meaning it's F4 at both ends of the zoom and it doesn't extend at all during zooming keeping it very compact. Although F4 is reasonably slow the lens can be handheld at low shutter speeds and generally doesn't need a high shutter speed for its type of use. There is no stablisation within the lens although on ultrawide lenses stabilisation doesn't really help. The lens hood is integrated and a non-standard cap slides over the end of the lens to protect it, this design unfortunately means no filters can be used. The lens feels very plasticky which is understandable in getting the size and weight down, it feels tightly put together and the zoom action is smooth.

Autofocus performance (at least on the GH1) is quick although as it's a non-HD lens it won't autofocus in the GH1's 1080p video mode. On a lens of this type the lack of AF in the 1080p isnt' really an issue as there's so much depth of field very little focussing is needed. Absolute optical performance is difficult to assess as the micro 4/3 bodies make basic corrections to the image to correct distortion and other optical issues. Looking at uncorrected pictures circular distortion is noticeable although can be corrected with a raw developer that supports the lens corrections. Straight out of camera images look very good although occasionally it can look a bit soft in corners especially when shooting wide open. The smaller front element seems to make the lens easier to use when the sun is shining as there's less flare. When shooting with the Olympus 7-14mm the massive front element can make shooting when the sun is out very difficult trying to prevent the lens flaring.

The biggest downside to this lens is the most obvious one and that's the hefty price. I'm not one of these people that expects everything for nothing however I was hoping this lens would be cheaper, this lens is sold at less than 2/3 of the price in Japan. Even adding vat, duty and shipping it still ends up a lot cheaper than in the UK although the Warehouse Express price is cheaper than other places and you get a UK warranty which was important to me for such an expensive lens. On the flip side though I've been extremely pleased with the lens and haven't regretted the purchase at all, I would rather pay more for a good lens than save some money and have a mediocre lens.

Currently there's no other micro 4/3 ultrawide lenses to compare the 7-14mm against although there is the Olympus 4/3 9-18m and 7-14mm both of which can be mounted on micro 4/3 bodies. The 9-18mm does support autofocus on both the Panasonic and Olympus micro 4/3 bodies , while it's not quite as wide it is around half the price and its optical performance is good. It is bigger than the Panasonic 7-14mm lens though and with the required mount adapter it will take up more space. I have seen people choosing between the Panasonic 7-14mm and the Olympus 7-14mm for a micro 4/3 body but personally I don't think the Olympus 7-14mm is worth considering for the micro 4/3 body. The Olympus 7-14mm is superbly built and weather sealed but it's a big bulky lens which means it balances poorly on the small micro 4/3 bodies. Due to the 2x effective focal length of the 4/3 sensor there's no legacy lenses suitable for ultrawide.

Initially I did hesitate with the high price of this lens but as the Olympus 7-14mm is one of my favourite lenses. When shooting indoors it allows you to 'squeeze' more of the room in when you can't step back any further and for landscapes shots it can create quite a drastic look by capturing a large amount of the sky. With the GH1's ability to shoot 16:9 while maintaining the same focal length it can create stunning landscape photos without stiching. One downside to the ultrawide focal length is the large amount of geometric distortion which is unavoidable, it can make buildings and people look quite strange as they're stretched by the lens. A lot of care needs to be taken to line up the shot to avoid this distortion or at least minimise it. With the small 2x zoom only taking the lens up to an equivalent 28mm it can mean quite a bit more lens swapping depending on what you're shooting.

For those considering this lens it's well worth having a good look round at samples from any of the ultrawide lenses to get an idea if it's something that would be useful to your photography or not. If you can afford the asking price and enjoy ultrawide photography I think this lens is definitely worth a purchase, the very small size and weight means it fits perfectly with the micro 4/3 concept taking up very little room especially compared to its 4/3 counterpart.