Archiver
Veteran
The Panasonic Leica 12mm f1.4 was announced in 2016, finally offering a very fast wide angle lens to the micro four thirds line up. It has been widely touted as a great lens, sharp and with excellent colour and contrast, albeit quite pricey. In Australia, the full retail price is $2299, the street price is around $1800. I was able to get a mint condition secondhand copy for only $800, without box, papers or bag, which was a super deal.
It's a thick and solid lens for micro four thirds, all metal including the focus and aperture rings, which have clean and sharply milled knurling. It balances best on a body with a grip, so anything from the GH line like the GH5/6/7, or the G9 with its wide, comfortable grip. It's not so good on the GX85, making it front heavy and a strain on the fingers if holding the camera with one hand for extended periods of time.
GX85 - coming home by Archiver, on Flickr
Focusing is fast, accurate and silent. The aperture ring turns with firm, decisive clicks, with an extra firm click that locks it into A mode.
G9 - vive la revolution by Archiver, on Flickr
Image quality is lovely, with high sharpness and excellent colour and contrast. Bokeh is smooth and undistracting but not so smooth that it lacks character. It does have purple fringing wide open, but this is gone by f2, and at f2 it is noticeably sharper than the Olympus 12mm f2 wide open. Oddly, it has a diagonal flare from strong light sources like the sun, something I haven't noticed in sample images online.
G9 - Boxing Day by Archiver, on Flickr
Overall, I'm extremely pleased with this lens, and it has been my walkaround lens with the G9 since Christmas.
It's a thick and solid lens for micro four thirds, all metal including the focus and aperture rings, which have clean and sharply milled knurling. It balances best on a body with a grip, so anything from the GH line like the GH5/6/7, or the G9 with its wide, comfortable grip. It's not so good on the GX85, making it front heavy and a strain on the fingers if holding the camera with one hand for extended periods of time.
GX85 - coming home by Archiver, on FlickrFocusing is fast, accurate and silent. The aperture ring turns with firm, decisive clicks, with an extra firm click that locks it into A mode.
G9 - vive la revolution by Archiver, on FlickrImage quality is lovely, with high sharpness and excellent colour and contrast. Bokeh is smooth and undistracting but not so smooth that it lacks character. It does have purple fringing wide open, but this is gone by f2, and at f2 it is noticeably sharper than the Olympus 12mm f2 wide open. Oddly, it has a diagonal flare from strong light sources like the sun, something I haven't noticed in sample images online.
G9 - Boxing Day by Archiver, on FlickrOverall, I'm extremely pleased with this lens, and it has been my walkaround lens with the G9 since Christmas.
