Friday, September 29, 2017

PANASONIC LEICA 8-18 at f/2.8 & Up Close

After I published the review of the Panasonic Leica DG 8-18mm f2.8-4 lens, a reader wanted to know how good is the lens at FULL f/2.8 and if this delightful Leica M43 zoom any good at close range.



Sadly, I do not have this Leica zoom anymore, it has been returned to Panasonic New Zealand!

Digging into the hundreds of shots I took with this lens and examining the embedded meta data, I was relieved that some shots were taken at full f/2.8 setting!

Before I start, I would like to point out that the "bright" f/2.8 setting is only available at 8mm (16mm eq) zoom setting. As soon as you move away from 8mm, you are getting a little less light, until you ended up with f/4 at 18mm.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Panasonic Leica DG 8-18mm F2.8-4

The Leica DG Vario Elmarit 8-18mm f2.8-4 is an ultra-wide zoom lens for the M43 system. It delivers equivalent coverage of 16-36mm on a M43 camera.

Thanks to PANASONIC NEW ZEALAND, I had the pleasure of trying out this well built, weather-proof zoom!



The lens  employs 15 elements in 10 groups, there are 3 Aspherical Lens, 2 ED Lens, 1 Aspherical ED Lens and 1 UHR Lens. Seven aperture blades are used for a nice bokeh, the closest focusing distance is 23cm and the lens is dust and splash-proof.

The closest comparable Panasonic ultra-wide zoom is the Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 7-14 mm f4.0 ASPH, one of my favourite ultra-wide zoom and it is only natural that I compare it with this NZ$1,600 beauty.The 7-14 now cost NZ$1,290, I bought mine a few years ago.