Panasonic 14/2.5 scale focus? AF speed? Street? E-PL5?

traveler_101 said:
I use the 14/2.5 on E-PM2. Just scrolled through my shots and don't notice the CA described in that posting. It seems to me that that guy has an axe to grind--something about Ricoh.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't have an ax to grind regarding the lens and the purple fringing was what made me essentially stop using it! I posted the dpreview link to that thread because I knew it showed the problem and how the newer versions of LR could fix it. The PF is pretty representative to what I get.

Running a stable XP workstation and periphrials with LR 3.6 I was completely unable to fix the CA/PF in many of my photos -- evident in almost all my outdoor shots. (LR rant! Why couldn't you make LR 4 and above compatible with XP??? So sick of computer upgrades when I already have a setup that works!)

I have almost completed my new computer/LR build and will revisit my P14 images. If the fix is really that simple great, but without PP, many of my photos are nowhere near good enough to meet my expectations as-is (and my lens expectations are usually much lower than most people's!).

Here's a quick lens test I did that compare the P14 to some of my other lenses. The CA doesn't look so bad here so I could never figure out why the PF that it produced was so impossible to correct in LR 3.6:

http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/5698142934/photos/2356187/14v17v30v45_test_labeled

Look at the original full size.

Anyuway, I like the small size and build of the P14. I got it new from Korea for $140 off ebay. If LR 5 fixes the PF I'll be happy. If not, then I will get the 2A filter and figure out how to fit it to my lens.

Best!
 
mh2000 said:
A word of warning on the Panasonic 14/2.5, it produces very bad purple finging on Oly bodies (but not Panasonic bodies). ...
Click to expand...

It doesn't produce anything of the sort on my E-M1 or E-PL1. Not on any version of Lightroom I've processed their files on (back to LR 4.x for the E-PL1, which was what I had current when I acquired the E-PL1). I do absolutely nothing special with respect to purple fringing and get excellent results from this lens, even straight out of camera.

It does have some red-green lateral CA, which LR cleans up very nicely.

G
 
Godfrey said:
It doesn't produce anything of the sort on my E-M1 or E-PL1. Not on any version of Lightroom I've processed their files on (back to LR 4.x for the E-PL1, which was what I had current when I acquired the E-PL1). I do absolutely nothing special with respect to purple fringing and get excellent results from this lens, even straight out of camera.

It does have some red-green lateral CA, which LR cleans up very nicely.

G
Click to expand...

I guess you didn't notice what I said, I said prior to LR 4.0, it couldn't fix it. I was stuck at LR 3.6 because of Adobe's non-support of XP after that. All reports are that post LR 4.0 it gets fixed, usually with little effort. But the reason I pointed it out to the OP was because he said he wasn't much of a digital user and he might not be even using LR... in which case the PF issue might cause problems for him.

I guess a number of people said that the PF wasn't a problem with the lens, but a problem with me not upgrading my computer/LR... though in my workflow, my computer and LR 3.6 was doing everything I needed so I just didn't use the lens... I gravitate more toward the 17mm FL so it wasn't a great hardship to just avoid using the P14.

I guess the bottomline is that there are threads documenting the problem, I have experrienced it and see it in my friend's photos as well. Typically only in outdoor shots that would be proned to it with any lens, but with LR 3.6, it was not possible to fix completely with this lens like it was with my other lenses.

That's why I suggested the OP consider buying a new copy of LR if he did not already own it. Perfsonally, I can imagine shooting digital without it!
 
I think the basic issue, Godfrey, is he is stuck in windows XP nightmare land.. There could all sorts of low level driver related to down level sw problems that are not seen in the latest version of the same software running on the newest version of windows.

Gary
 
MH - have you updated the firmware on your Olympus body? If the Panasonics aren't capturing the purple fringe but the olympus is, then it is because the Panasonics have a lens profile to correct it. If the Olympus E-M1 isn't picking the up the purple, then it has a lens profile as well. So if Olympus is still supporting your camera body with firmware updates, you should be okay.
 
Gary, I don't understand what XP had to do with the lens' purple fringing. Also, when I bought the lens, LR 3.6 was the newest release.

Godfrey, after going back over my photos using LR 5.6, I can confirm what you see, LR now seems to clean up most of the PF problems transparently to the user. This does not entirely mean that there is no problem because I can zoom in and see that where the PF's have been "fixed," that there is a noticable hit in edge sharpnesses.

The problem with the P14 on Oly bodies is very well documented. Just becaues LR cleans it up pretty well now doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Putting a 2A filter and actually fixing the problem might still be better than a post processing fix -- since as I said, I can see where the fix fails to restore edge sharpness.

Here is a example of how the 2A filter works:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3515049

Regarding the original link I posted, that Ricoh GR sure looks good if you are looking for that FL! Honestly, the edge and corner sharpness of the P14 isn't all that great, not that it's so bad that it will really hinder taking good photos that can be enlarged to a reasonable size, but still -- I guess I'd have to call it more a "capable lens," instead of a "compelling lens."

If you are shooting in decent light, I think you can get away with the older 12MP sensor and the P14 would pair really well with a little black E-PM1 for a stealthy street shooter. Shouldn't be hard to put that combo together for under $300 which seems like a great bargain to me!

For simplicity, I like keeping my kit down to 2 or 3 main lenses. Currently, that is 17+30+45. If the 14 starts working out better for me, I can see buying the Oly 25 and shifting it to the 14+25+45. Of couse, my O17/2.8 and S30 are practically worthless, so I'd just hang onto them... but I don't have a problem with that. As a tourist lens, the 17 is really nice, little pancake and a FL that works better for my general tourist shooting.
 
In terms of xp, only that there could in interactions w/ common sw that could be the cause of the problem.. LR or any other sw program could be depending on a common utility causing your base problem.

Gary
 
GaryLH said:
In terms of xp, only that there could in interactions w/ common sw that could be the cause of the problem.. LR or any other sw program could be depending on a common utility causing your base problem.

Gary
Click to expand...

Well, given that it only caused a problem with a single lens, and a lens that others see the same problem from, I think that is a stretch.

Glad to report that LR 5.6 fixes it.

Only brought the issue up because it is known and dependent on your software choices. Better to know this in advance instead of getting the lens, only hearing good stuff about it and struggling to figure out why you are having problems IMO!
 
If purple fringing is such a problem, why do I see none of it in my E-PL1 and E-M1 JPEGs or in raw files processed by Olympus Viewer?

G

mh2000 said:
Gary, I don't understand what XP had to do with the lens' purple fringing. Also, when I bought the lens, LR 3.6 was the newest release.

Godfrey, after going back over my photos using LR 5.6, I can confirm what you see, LR now seems to clean up most of the PF problems transparently to the user. This does not entirely mean that there is no problem because I can zoom in and see that where the PF's have been "fixed," that there is a noticable hit in edge sharpnesses.

The problem with the P14 on Oly bodies is very well documented. Just becaues LR cleans it up pretty well now doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Putting a 2A filter and actually fixing the problem might still be better than a post processing fix -- since as I said, I can see where the fix fails to restore edge sharpness.

Here is a example of how the 2A filter works:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3515049

Regarding the original link I posted, that Ricoh GR sure looks good if you are looking for that FL! Honestly, the edge and corner sharpness of the P14 isn't all that great, not that it's so bad that it will really hinder taking good photos that can be enlarged to a reasonable size, but still -- I guess I'd have to call it more a "capable lens," instead of a "compelling lens."

If you are shooting in decent light, I think you can get away with the older 12MP sensor and the P14 would pair really well with a little black E-PM1 for a stealthy street shooter. Shouldn't be hard to put that combo together for under $300 which seems like a great bargain to me!

For simplicity, I like keeping my kit down to 2 or 3 main lenses. Currently, that is 17+30+45. If the 14 starts working out better for me, I can see buying the Oly 25 and shifting it to the 14+25+45. Of couse, my O17/2.8 and S30 are practically worthless, so I'd just hang onto them... but I don't have a problem with that. As a tourist lens, the 17 is really nice, little pancake and a FL that works better for my general tourist shooting.
Click to expand...
 
Godfrey said:
If purple fringing is such a problem, why do I see none of it in my E-PL1 and E-M1 JPEGs or in raw files processed by Olympus Viewer?

G
Click to expand...

Well Godfrey, in terms of LR, since your experience is only with LR 4.0 and greater, the software is fixing it before you see it. In terms of the Olympus Viewer, I don't know, I didn't try that. Had someone suggested that to me as a fix when I first came up against the problem, maybe it would have been solved a long time ago! (Though really, my whole workflow is built around using LR, so I still wouldn't have been overjoyed).

I posted links to two different people's examples of the problem and their solutions, one software, the other using a 2A filter. Are you suggesting that they were pulling a hoax?

Anyway, I commented on a known issue, provided supporting links to show the problem as well as links showing how to solve the problem. Then I verified from my own experience that the problem essentially went away when I imported my raw files into LR 5.6.

So I'm not being argumentative, the issue is real, but if you are using LR 4.0 or better, it gets transparently fixed and if you are using the Oly viewer it apparently gets fixed as well (though few serious photographers even try the Oly viewer!). Another and perhaps better solution is to filter out the problem before it hits your sensor (isn't an optical fix generally better in digital to a post processing fix?).

Bottom line, LightRoom is a great program, recommend it highly... and if you are shooting a Panasonic 14mm on an Oly body it will automatically fix most purple fringing problems transparently (just like hot pixels etc.) and the problems that it can't fix without help, it seems can now be fixed with little effort.

Win-Win! 🙂
 
Mark,

I've been using Lightroom since a little before the first Public Beta in 2005 or 2006. It's been my primary image processing tool since it went v1.0 in early 2007. I just didn't have an E-PL1 or a Panasonic 14mm until relatively recently, and I still have LR 4 installed. Lightroom 5.3 is the current release, BTW.

But again, if there is a problem that ISN'T just an older-version Lightroom raw conversion bug, I don't see any evidence for it. I'll check through my exposures made with the P14/2.5 again this evening ... I almost always have the cameras in JPEG+raw mode so I can easily check the JPEG and raw files against each other.

G
 
Giant Ginkgo said:
Looks like you can get the 14mm lens right now from Adorama with an almost 'free' brand new GF2 (which is a rather old body, but still...)

http://www.adorama.com/searchsite/default.aspx?searchinfo=DMC-GF2
Click to expand...

I bought the 14mm from a Japanese vendor who split it out of GF2+lens packages. Cost me $130. I use it mostly nowadays with the wide converter attached, makes a nice, light weight 10.5mm lens. It's a lot handier than my ZD 11-22mm lens, although the latter is certainly a better choice when I need the best quality.

G
 
defconfunk said:
MH - have you updated the firmware on your Olympus body? If the Panasonics aren't capturing the purple fringe but the olympus is, then it is because the Panasonics have a lens profile to correct it. If the Olympus E-M1 isn't picking the up the purple, then it has a lens profile as well. So if Olympus is still supporting your camera body with firmware updates, you should be okay.
Click to expand...

No, it's current firmware. The problem is reported to be that Panasonic has stronger filter on sensor than Oly. As I said to Godfrey, I posted other people's example shots that also show the problem. Did you look at those? Do you think they're faked?
 
Godfrey said:
Mark,

I've been using Lightroom since a little before the first Public Beta in 2005 or 2006. It's been my primary image processing tool since it went v1.0 in early 2007. I just didn't have an E-PL1 or a Panasonic 14mm until relatively recently, and I still have LR 4 installed. Lightroom 5.3 is the current release, BTW.

But again, if there is a problem that ISN'T just an older-version Lightroom raw conversion bug, I don't see any evidence for it. I'll check through my exposures made with the P14/2.5 again this evening ... I almost always have the cameras in JPEG+raw mode so I can easily check the JPEG and raw files against each other.

G
Click to expand...

Yes, sloppy of me, it is LR 5.3. Just installed it, don't know how I got confused. Since I was stuck on LR 3.6 until last weekend, I have very recent experience with the problem. I don't know, maybe you think I'm cracked, but what about the other people who have posted examples of the problem? Do you think they are posting faked images?

I don't know what the point would be. I'm just glad that with my new LR install that the problem seems to be solved!
 
A bit late to this thread but here goes:

First, the Panasonic bodies definitely do have AF with full-time manual override, but you need to set it in the menu (it's off by default). On the G2 it's called "AF+MF"; on the later bodies I think it's something like "Direct Manual Focus" but I no longer have the manuals so I can't be sure. As soon as you grab the ring in this mode you get a magnified image of the focus point and it's easy to nail, even with the old 460,800-dot display.

The 14/2.5 is very small and extremely light. The AF is fast and so quiet that when I first tried it on the camera without looking at the VF I thought it was broken. Quite amazing. I was dubious about this lens having read mixed reviews of it but it came up at a great price so I grabbed one. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised - it was much better than I expected. Before selling all my m4/3 gear except the G2 + 30/2.8 Sigma (which were effectively worthless) I tried it on a G2, GX1 and G5 with good results on all, especially the 16MP bodies. I can't see how you could scale focus this lens - even setting the camera to "MF" and pre-focusing, the ring on the lens would be very easy to nudge.

I can't speak for the GR.

Hope this helps,
Scott
 
mh2000 said:
No, it's current firmware. The problem is reported to be that Panasonic has stronger filter on sensor than Oly. As I said to Godfrey, I posted other people's example shots that also show the problem. Did you look at those? Do you think they're faked?
Click to expand...

Ok, I went through my 14mm files again (JPEGs) and found that there are a small number of them with things like branches against a white-out sky that have some purple fringing. So I'll grant you that the 14mm can produce some fringing.

It's not been an issue for me, the number of incidences I see with this are pretty rare. And for a lens that cost me $135 new, I'm not complaining: it does the job I bought it for and is more akin to a lens back cap in size than a lens.
;-)

G
 
mh2000 said:
In terms of the Olympus Viewer, I don't know, I didn't try that. Had someone suggested that to me as a fix when I first came up against the problem, maybe it would have been solved a long time ago!
Click to expand...

Mark, I don't use lightroom; in fact I just started shooting raw. What I read from an "expert" was that he recommends processing all raw shots in Olympus Viewer and saving as Tiff files, which are large enough to give you sufficient "headroom" for additional alteration. Then you retouch with LR.Perhaps i can find the link if you are interested.
 
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