Micro 4 Thirds has a reasonably good collection of actually neat lenses. Oddly, a whole lot of these are third-party. It’s good to see Panasonic and Leica get collectively to make a few actually cool lenses. The Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 ASPH is a type of lenses.
The Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 is an fascinating lens. It affords a 20-50mm full-frame equal discipline of view with a quick f/1.7 aperture. It actually stands an opportunity at dwelling as much as the previous “stack of primes” saying. Can this lens substitute just a few prime lenses on this focal vary? I put it to the take a look at on the brand new Lumix GH6 to seek out out.
Execs
- Tremendous sharp all through the zoom vary
- Guide focus clutch with feeling focus ring
- It’s an f/1.7 zoom!
- Glorious construct high quality
- Climate Sealing
Cons
- Large and heavy for Micro 4 Thirds
- Extends and contracts when zooming
Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 ASPH — Technical specs
The next specs have been taken from the B&H product web page:
- 20-50mm (35mm Equal)
- Aperture Vary: f/1.7 to f/16
- Three Aspherical Components
- One UHR Ingredient, 4 ED Components
- Inner Focus, Focus Clutch Mechanism
- Stepless, De-Clicked Aperture Ring
- Splash, Mud, and Freezeproof Design
- Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 ASPH — Ergonomics and construct high quality
The Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 is constructed strong. Panasonic and Leica knocked it out of the park. The lens is essentially steel and feels hefty and assured in hand. The zoom ring is splendidly textured. It additionally turns as easy as silk. The main focus ring is among the many finest options of the lens. A simple pull again on the ring places the lens in handbook focus. As soon as there, the focusing feels surprisingly good for a focus-by-wire lens. It gained’t beat a pure handbook focus lens for really feel, nevertheless it’s no slouch.
Along with the superb really feel of the lens, it’s additionally climate sealed. The road of Panasonic Leica lenses has been constructed nice, and the 10-25mm is not any exception. Nevertheless, the lens does prolong when zooming. This may very well be a possible level of weak point within the sealing. It can also make gimbal use a little bit of a ache. With that in thoughts, I’ve used the Panasonic Leica 12-60mm for over a 12 months with out concern and it additionally extends whereas zooming.
Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 ASPH — Within the discipline
The Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 is a simple lens to get together with. There are not any switches to fumble with, simply the superb zoom and focus rings. It’s not stabilized, however with the Micro 4 Thirds digicam’s nice IBIS, there’s no want to fret. This lens is plug-and-play. Simply slap it in your digicam and go take pleasure in.
One factor price noting is its bulk. This factor is a bit. It feels much like a full-frame Sigma Artwork 24-70mm lens. With a weight of 1.5lbs, it’s actually heavier than different lenses for this platform. It’s additionally fairly massive. Above is a photograph of it subsequent to my Canon RF 24-105mm STM and Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 for scale. Nevertheless, when mounted to the GH6, I discovered it manageable. It looks like an inexpensive worth to pay for an f/1.7 zoom lens.
Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 — Autofocus efficiency
The Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 is without doubt one of the choose few that may deal with autofocus in greater body fee video modes on the brand new GH6. This lens is blazingly quick. Level to level AF in single focus is nice. Steady autofocus efficiency is sticky and fast as effectively. It had no hassle maintaining with canines, mountain bikers, and extra on the GH6.
Nevertheless, the Panasonic pulse continues to be going sturdy. In capturing stills, it’s principally simply an annoyance studying to belief the digicam. Seeing the wobble within the EVF might be disconcerting. For video, it’s extra of an issue. It reveals its ugly face when utilizing steady AF throughout video recording.
Additionally, it’s price noting that the minimal focus distance with the Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 is great. It’s capable of focus extremely shut at 11.02 inches. At 25mm, this offers a reasonably good replica ratio. Simply as importantly, it’s sharp on the minimal distance as effectively.
Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 — Picture high quality
It’s onerous to fault the Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 in relation to picture high quality. Panasonic and Leica have constructed a whopper of a lens. Let’s break down the picture high quality additional.
Ghosting, flaring and chromatic aberrations
General, the Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 handles capturing into and throughout the solar fairly effectively. It has minimal points with flaring and ghosting. Nevertheless, I used to be capable of get purple and inexperienced fringing to point out up in excessive conditions. Within the tree pictures above, one reveals purple, the opposite reveals inexperienced in slight quantities. Nevertheless, in most conditions, I didn’t discover any chromatic aberration. Distinction additionally appears to carry up effectively when capturing towards the solar.
Sharpness
The Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 is razor-sharp. This lens can greater than maintain its personal. On the GH6’s 25-megapixel sensor, I put this lens to the take a look at. It even delivers stunning element within the 100-megapixel high-resolution mode.
From f/1.7 the lens is crispy sharp within the heart, with solely a gentle falloff in sharpness within the corners. By f/2 it’s bitingly sharp throughout the body. This stays wonderful as much as about f/8. Afterward, diffraction begins to set in. General, it delivers a formidable efficiency.
Bokeh
Whereas the Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 is a wider zoom, it’s able to some good background blur. Once you get to round 15mm-25mm, with acceptable distances, this lens does produce some good bokeh. It’s rendered easily and with out busy distracting components.
Specular highlights (aka bokeh balls) keep principally good and spherical. There’s no main cat-eye impact or onion ringing. The highlights keep good and easy as effectively. For a lens of this sort, it delivers some good bokeh.
Coloration rendition
I discovered the colour that the Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 produces to be a contact on the cool facet. Nevertheless, that traces up effectively with a lot of the Panasonic Leica lenses I’ve used. General, the colours are good and impartial. I discovered that the lens renders good distinction as effectively. The photographs on this overview are both JPEGs out of digicam, or calmly edited RAW recordsdata. Within the RAW edits, I didn’t should mess with the colour in any respect.
Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 ASPH — A killer zoom for Micro 4 Thirds
I’ve been trying ahead to getting my palms on the Panasonic 10-25mm f/1.7 for some time now. I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint. There’s lastly a local Micro 4 Thirds lens to take the place that the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 on a pace booster used to fill. This lens does all the pieces effectively. From portraits to motion to landscapes and structure, I loved placing it by its paces.
For video shooters, it’s an much more interesting choice. The handbook focus clutch is great. The main focus throw is pure feeling and blows most of the different focus-by-wire lenses I’ve used out of the water. The one actual draw back to this lens is its appreciable measurement and weight. If you happen to can take care of that, nevertheless, this lens is actually one to think about including to the gathering.
