Overview
The Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens is the second type of pancake prime lens introduced by Panasonic in the Micro Four Thirds Camera category. This slim-line lens’ wide angle view (28mm equivalent) is said to gather two times as much light compared to other pancake lenses that have the same kind of focal length. Panasonic claims that the Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens is the lightest interchangeable lens in the single focal length category in the entire world.
Design
The first thing you will notice about the Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens is its size. It’s more than tiny – in fact, the best term to describe it is downright miniscule for a 14mm F2.5 lens. It is also featherweight given that it weighs only fifty-five grams (1.9 ounces). Panasonic was able to make it this small by incorporating six lens elements in its super short barrel, with at least half of these lenses having aspheric surfaces. You can easily grip the Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens between your thumb and your index finger given that it is only two centimetres long. Its major parts are made from plastic but the lens mount is metal. Filters can be attached to the front part of the lens as well.
Operation
The Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens is a spending performer. It is fun to use when taking wide, open shots and still packs a mean punch when you step it down a notch to f/3.5, retaining sharp edges in this setting. Whatever few distortions come out in your snaps will not be a problem as auto correction thanks to your Panasonic micro four thirds camera will take care of it. Fast-focusing certainly makes this micro four thirds camera lens a breeze to use in street photography.
Performance
The internal focusing and stepping motor features on the Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens allows you the advantage of low noise and high speed movie shooting and AF. Since the lens does not change its length, it is easier to focus in a snap. The absence of an image stabilizer and focus limiter is not really that big of a deal because the wide focal length makes it less prone to camera shakes, giving you a relatively easy time with this micro four thirds lens. The focal range of this lens is 14mm, giving it a seventy five degree diagonal angle view. This is equivalent to 28mm lenses in 35mm systems.
In other micro four thirds camera lenses, chromatic aberrations make themselves apparent through blue or purple fringes found along contrasting edges – but in the Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens such is not apparent. As for light fall-off, this is not really noticeable until you set the lens to f/2.5 maximum aperture and when you are taking pictures of a subject in large homogeneous surfaces.
There is a tiny bit of barrel distortion produced by this lens, but thankfully Panasonic (and other manufacturers or micro four thirds cameras) incorporates automatic correction for this. At best, corner barrel distortion is just a mere 0.5% – practically a non-issue unless you are extremely finicky.
The Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens achieves center sharpness from f/2.8 all the way to f/11 and edges are deemed to be sharp enough when you shoot from f/3.5 all the way to f/11. It is the ideal lens to take when walking around, but at the same time it also performs well in indoor and low-light settings. The maximum aperture might not be f1.4, but one has to keep in mind that to get something like that the lens has to be heavier, larger and far more expensive. All in all, sharpness and color are very sharp and clear and bokeh shots (while being quite subjective in nature) are also quite pleasing to look at.
Conclusion
The Panasonic Lumix G 14MM F2.5 Asph Micro Four Thirds Camera lens provides excellent results for a tiny wide-angle lens in the micro four thirds camera category.
The price tag might seem a bit steep given that it is a prime lens, but compared to other lenses in its range it is smaller, lighter, performs faster at maximum aperture and comes with wide angle options that no longer require you to step back to get more subjects in the frame or to resort to clever cropping techniques post-processing. Fans of street and landscape photography who place a primer on portability and sharpness will quickly forget that they paid a pretty penny for this two centimetre tidbit of a micro four thirds lens once they start using it because of the excellent results it churns out.
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