Panasonic Leica DG 25mm f/1.4 II Lens

Having used this lens pretty heavily over the past 4 months, I can report that Im still loving it. I wouldnt call it fancy. It just works. Every time. At 50mm-equivalent, I dont miss having image stabilization at all. The focus ring is smooth as butter for manual work. Optical quality is very good, though I do confess theres some green-magenta chromatic aberration around very high contrast lines, but modern software Lightroom, in my case deals well with that. I shoot raw exclusively, so thats just part of the processing with this lens. Happily, Panasonic lens corrections are automatic in LR. I also carry a 14-140mm f/3.5 lens, but I really only use that anymore for panoramic and street photography, though Ive started using this 25mm prime for street as well, since ... MoreHaving used this lens pretty heavily over the past 4 months, I can report that Im still loving it. I wouldnt call it fancy. It just works. Every time. At 50mm-equivalent, I dont miss having image stabilization at all. The focus ring is smooth as butter for manual work. Optical quality is very good, though I do confess theres some green-magenta chromatic aberration around very high contrast lines, but modern software Lightroom, in my case deals well with that. I shoot raw exclusively, so thats just part of the processing with this lens. Happily, Panasonic lens corrections are automatic in LR. I also carry a 14-140mm f/3.5 lens, but I really only use that anymore for panoramic and street photography, though Ive started using this 25mm prime for street as well, since its amazing in low light. It only stops down to f/16, which doesnt always give me the shutter speed I want, so I use ND filters and regain my DoF versitility! in that circumstance. Id CERTAINLY recommend the H-X025 to anyone interested in a 34nifty 5034 equivalent workhorse. See attached photos.

Beautiful Optics for Stills but BEWARE for video users!

I got this lens and literally used it for 1 hour and returned it. The optics are fantastic, sharp all through the aperture ranges. Corners are excellent even wide open. The build quality is awesome, very high quality lens for still photography. However,....the aperture ring clicks in partial stop increments. The ring cannot be de-clicked. This is fine unless you want to run it with an auto IRIS setting. Selecting auto aperture mode for video does NOT allow for a smooth ramping aperture! Your videos will click open and closed all through the aperture range. This is terrible for run and gun or gimbal use! This lens is too expensive to have a harsh, visual clicking aperture and brightens changes landing on every 1/3 stop as it opens or closes. If you are not shooting ... MoreI got this lens and literally used it for 1 hour and returned it. The optics are fantastic, sharp all through the aperture ranges. Corners are excellent even wide open. The build quality is awesome, very high quality lens for still photography. However,....the aperture ring clicks in partial stop increments. The ring cannot be de-clicked. This is fine unless you want to run it with an auto IRIS setting. Selecting auto aperture mode for video does NOT allow for a smooth ramping aperture! Your videos will click open and closed all through the aperture range. This is terrible for run and gun or gimbal use! This lens is too expensive to have a harsh, visual clicking aperture and brightens changes landing on every 1/3 stop as it opens or closes. If you are not shooting video, than this lens is fantastic.

Dissapointed and suprised

I've been using m43 on and off for 2 years, and have been impressed at how good the best m43 lenses are, and how poor some of the other m43 lenses are. Not suprisingly, the more expensive lenses tend to be the better ones, except for the simple lenses like the pancakes.My usual m43 wide angle is the excellent Panasonic 8-18 but I wanted something faster. The Olympus 12mm was good but not great unless stopped down--at which point there was no reason not to use the 8-18 I already had. Reviews of the Panasonic 12mm were stellar and that's what I expected.The good news is that this lens is a fine performer by f/2.8 and on a par with the Olympus 12mm at f/2. But at f/1.4 it behaves like an old-fashioned 1.2 lens, fine in the center, soft at the edges and with the ... MoreI've been using m43 on and off for 2 years, and have been impressed at how good the best m43 lenses are, and how poor some of the other m43 lenses are. Not suprisingly, the more expensive lenses tend to be the better ones, except for the simple lenses like the pancakes.My usual m43 wide angle is the excellent Panasonic 8-18 but I wanted something faster. The Olympus 12mm was good but not great unless stopped down--at which point there was no reason not to use the 8-18 I already had. Reviews of the Panasonic 12mm were stellar and that's what I expected.The good news is that this lens is a fine performer by f/2.8 and on a par with the Olympus 12mm at f/2. But at f/1.4 it behaves like an old-fashioned 1.2 lens, fine in the center, soft at the edges and with the correction m43 cameras apply to keep things rectilnear, pretty awful in the extreme corners. No quality control issues that I could see; the lens behaved exactly the same in all 4 corners and sharpened up beautifully when stopped down.So if you must have the speed and can confine the important stuff to the center (or just stop down) this lens is everything people say it is. It's beautful to behold, and says "Leica." And it might be great for video. Just don't photograph any brick walls at f/1.4.

Excellent lens!

I own the Mark 1 version of this lens and use it with the Panasonic GH5 and GH6. The GH6 supports linear focus with this lens if you upgrade the firmware (on both the camera and the lens, to 2.0 and 1.2 respectively). That is my reasoning for upgrading, this is a solid prime with beautiful bokeh and is tack sharp even wide open! The focus ring is roughly 64.5 mm in diameter for anyone looking to use it with a seamless rubber gear for video.

Like a beautiful woman....

This lens begs to be used. Unlike zoom lenses, prime lenses are noted for their sharpness. And the Panasonic Leica collaboration is one of the best. I love Leica lenses. I own nearly every Leica Panasonic lens made for the. Micro 4/3. The only one I don't have is the 15 mm F1 .7. That's because I have this lens and the 25 mm, and I don't need a lens as close to 12mm as the 15mm. What they have done here is very special. This is a fast wide angle lens that is Crisp from edge to edge. Fast lenses have to be sharp. If they are not sharp it is immediately apparent in the image quality. I often take one lens with me on my camera every day. I do this to train myself to get the most out of each lens. However one day as I struggled to get that sort of sharpness I wanted in ... MoreThis lens begs to be used. Unlike zoom lenses, prime lenses are noted for their sharpness. And the Panasonic Leica collaboration is one of the best. I love Leica lenses. I own nearly every Leica Panasonic lens made for the. Micro 4/3. The only one I don't have is the 15 mm F1 .7. That's because I have this lens and the 25 mm, and I don't need a lens as close to 12mm as the 15mm. What they have done here is very special. This is a fast wide angle lens that is Crisp from edge to edge. Fast lenses have to be sharp. If they are not sharp it is immediately apparent in the image quality. I often take one lens with me on my camera every day. I do this to train myself to get the most out of each lens. However one day as I struggled to get that sort of sharpness I wanted in an image, I found myself wishing I had this lens which was an equivalent focal length. Well I succeeded after taking many shots, I know I would've been immediately successful with this lens. It would've provided the sharpness I wanted instantly. Well my friend says the lens doesn't make the photographer, and he's right, it's still also true that a good photographer with great equipment can create astounding images. This lens is one of the tools, and your toolbox, for fantastic lenses. The only lens I like better is the 42.5 mm f/1.2 Nocticron. Well I was able to find that lens used at a very good price, I was unable to find this lens used, because it is a Newer lens, in more demand, it's so useful if you will return to the used market. So, while I paid full price for it, and hate to do that for any lens, I have no regrets in this case. This is one of those lenses I will keep for the rest of my life.

Love everything but the lens hood

Well made, small and terrific image quality all round. F1.4 is a really useful tool, especially for the Micro-4:3 format for two reasons. First, it's harder to get subject isolation in this smaller format, so speed is the answer. Secondly, recall that anything smaller that F8.0 is not desirable in Micro-4:3, since diffraction starts to impact IQ. So having a fast lens give options.The lens comes with a squared off lens hood. Some will like the look. I don't. But worse than that I'm not sure it's as effective as a simple round hood would have been. But worse still, the hood doesn't reverse. In the Micro-4:3 system, where size and portability are paramount, what were they thinking?Remember an equivalent FF lens would be 2 times the price and size.It's a great ... MoreWell made, small and terrific image quality all round. F1.4 is a really useful tool, especially for the Micro-4:3 format for two reasons. First, it's harder to get subject isolation in this smaller format, so speed is the answer. Secondly, recall that anything smaller that F8.0 is not desirable in Micro-4:3, since diffraction starts to impact IQ. So having a fast lens give options.The lens comes with a squared off lens hood. Some will like the look. I don't. But worse than that I'm not sure it's as effective as a simple round hood would have been. But worse still, the hood doesn't reverse. In the Micro-4:3 system, where size and portability are paramount, what were they thinking?Remember an equivalent FF lens would be 2 times the price and size.It's a great lens. Well made, excellent image quality. Small. While I find this hood annoying, I still think this is a 5-star lens.Hope this helps.

Momentary terror :)

Your shipping boxes are bulletproof. No problem there. The inner padding was superb, and condition of the retail box was perfect. But when I pulled out the lens there was no front cap. Odd. This is at least my third lens from you, and that's atypical. Then I noticed the light colored crescent of wear on the front element. OK, something isn't right. Whew. A lens cloth cleaned it off. The lens had been bouncing around violently enough inside the retail box to dislodge the cap [which I found], and then the lens sat askew atop the cap for the duration of the voyage, with an internal edge wearing, and depositing a fine smear of plastic, on the front element. A little bubble wrap around the lens to brace it inside the box would have gone a long way here! After a cleaning ... MoreYour shipping boxes are bulletproof. No problem there. The inner padding was superb, and condition of the retail box was perfect. But when I pulled out the lens there was no front cap. Odd. This is at least my third lens from you, and that's atypical. Then I noticed the light colored crescent of wear on the front element. OK, something isn't right. Whew. A lens cloth cleaned it off. The lens had been bouncing around violently enough inside the retail box to dislodge the cap [which I found], and then the lens sat askew atop the cap for the duration of the voyage, with an internal edge wearing, and depositing a fine smear of plastic, on the front element. A little bubble wrap around the lens to brace it inside the box would have gone a long way here! After a cleaning the lens is now perfect. It will join the 9mm and 15mm [one or both were also yours?] on a trip to The Gaspé next month to see which one gets the permanent spot in my travel bag. Wish him luck!

One of the best Mircro 4/3 Prime Lens

A great combination with my Panasonic GH5 or Olympus OMD EM5.The lens guarantees professional quality that pays back the price for the lens (if comercial active).My work, despite being an amateur and not wealthy, I was occasionally printed in magazines, and exhibited in different countries, all shot with this lens. That speaks for the image quality this lens can produce.The Pictures turn sharp and with an 1.4 aperture it let's plenty light through the lens and make low light photography easier.The autofocus however is not as fast as hoped for and can be noisy during focusing, which bothers during shooting Videos especially.Considering the Image quality it's a compromise I am willing to take and usually anyway just use it for photography.It's the one lens I ... MoreA great combination with my Panasonic GH5 or Olympus OMD EM5.The lens guarantees professional quality that pays back the price for the lens (if comercial active).My work, despite being an amateur and not wealthy, I was occasionally printed in magazines, and exhibited in different countries, all shot with this lens. That speaks for the image quality this lens can produce.The Pictures turn sharp and with an 1.4 aperture it let's plenty light through the lens and make low light photography easier.The autofocus however is not as fast as hoped for and can be noisy during focusing, which bothers during shooting Videos especially.Considering the Image quality it's a compromise I am willing to take and usually anyway just use it for photography.It's the one lens I would recommend anyone owns a Micro Four Third camera.

Sharpness and Stars Come at a Price

I have recently been able to use this lens while filming in the midwest and it did not let me down. The stills were as sharp as I have seen with my GH4, even out to the edges while shooting wide open, and the video was clean as could be (it cleaned up the VFR 96fps a lot). The aperture could be change manually or with the camera dials by simply changing the iris ring to the "A" setting or by rotating the ring to the desired aperture. As mentioned before, if you adjust the aperture ring manually you will hear an audible click so keep that in mind for video use but in my case I typically would have the iris set for a particular shot and being that most of what I used the lens for was slo motion and b-roll I didn't have to worry about the audio too much. I would ... MoreI have recently been able to use this lens while filming in the midwest and it did not let me down. The stills were as sharp as I have seen with my GH4, even out to the edges while shooting wide open, and the video was clean as could be (it cleaned up the VFR 96fps a lot). The aperture could be change manually or with the camera dials by simply changing the iris ring to the "A" setting or by rotating the ring to the desired aperture. As mentioned before, if you adjust the aperture ring manually you will hear an audible click so keep that in mind for video use but in my case I typically would have the iris set for a particular shot and being that most of what I used the lens for was slo motion and b-roll I didn't have to worry about the audio too much. I would prefer to have seen a focus ring with stops (minimum distance to infinity). This lens takes right at a full turn to rack focus from the minimum distance to infinity. Great macro capabilities though (about 2.5 inches minimum focus distance). Where I think this lens shines is at night while capturing night time lapses (see pic). With this lens the M4/3 sensor can now compete a little with the bigger brother sensors. Although I do like a little wider lens than a 24mm equivalent it still performed very well. All in all this is a great lens just wish it was priced like the 25mm f1.4. That is the only reason for the 4 STAR rating.

Worth the upgrade

I've owned the initial version and loved it. This new version is amazing! I use it with my GX85 witch has the high speed auto focus. This new lens is compatible with the high speed auto focus. Really sharp glass. Plus dust and water resistant. I was hesitant because of the cost, but I'm very pleased with this lens. It's on my camera all the time.