14mm F2.5 Panasonic lens and comparison with 20mm 1.7

feha

@No_SuRReNDeR

it is great, very fast auto focus, faster than "follow focus" :-)

CRFilms

Finally able to find a decent vid of the Olympus 17mm 2.8 in real world conditions that looked good. This guy took it to IBC in 2009 and shot a lot of footage. This is part one of three:

I believe that's pre-hack as well. EDIT: Doesn't look like video is embedding like normal. Here's the link so you can see the main page and see his related vids. vimeo.com/6537969

stoney

A pancake trio is complete. 14mm, 20mm, Hexanon 40mm.

The 14mm seems weightless. 20mm has much better build quality. Other than that, I like the 14mm. Fast AF. Great for street photography. Silent focusing & much better AF-C for video. This lens deserves "HD" label.

BTW I got this from GF2 kit. GF2 body going to ebay. It's so tiny. GF3 would be smaller. I don't like... tiny bodies. GH series is just right size.

feha

@stonebit
Thank you, so it is worth buying one 14mm too.
Did you test shallow DOF ?

stoney

No I haven't. I'm not a big fan of shallow DOF on wide angle. If I get blurred background, that's because I had to use f/2.5 in low lighting. By default I prefer deep DOF. Shallow DOF using 50mm or 85mm lens for special occasions.

Look for GF2 kit deal. Soon or later it will be discontinued. Then get it at around $400. Keep the lens. Sell the body. That's how I've been buying m43 lenses.

CRFilms

Well....just ordered a Panny 14mm 2.5 off ebay for $230 with "expedited" shipping. Hong Kong seller so, we'll seen in a week or so if I just made a horrible mistake. The seller has no negative feedback and has months old feedback from similar lens sales, so..."fingers crossed"

And for others feeling similarly adventurous, there are lots of 14mm for $210-250, supposedly new off kits, on ebay right now from oversees shippers.

feha

I bought 14mm 2.5 a new one kit part for 155 GBP, waiting for it next week :-)

feha

@stonebat ,
did you try new lens firmware on 14mm ?
or is it best to keep it AS IS ?

stoney

I already updated it :)

feha

@stonebat
any difference in quality compared to previous version ?

stoney

I updated it brainlessly.

CRFilms

Just got it. It was not as properly wrapped as I'd of liked. Manilla envelope, inside a plastic envelope, wrapped in the skinniest bubble wrap I've seen, but the lens is so small and solid it looks ok. Ordered it on the 22nd with expedited shipping and it got here on the 26th. Fastest overseas shipping I've done from HK.

Put it on the cam and it's focusing, shooting, etc....but I have no idea how to work the auto lenses, ironically, lol. Time to read the manual.

bubba

Finally: I've tried both panny 14/2.5 and oly 12/2.0. The oly focuses faster and is much, much sharper.
However, it is also much, much more money. However, it does pair better with the 20.

CRFilms

Of course, now that I got the 14mm f2.5, the 20mm f1.7 keeps getting cheaper, lol. Last week it was $350 on amazon and now it's $340. It's dropping every week.

CRFilms

The widest lens I had prior to the 14mm was a Canon FD 28mm 2.8. The bottle cap with the writting is the canon and the blank one is the Panny 14mm. So I just spend $200+ for auto focus.....sob. :P

Frame grabs from 1080p video. Can't remember iso on Canon, Panny iso 400. Camera was around 8 inches from cap.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

14mm is very useful lens and compact also.

CRFilms

Yeah, as I've already established in previous threads, I hate spending money. But for the price, this was a good deal. I've mostly figured out how to work the auto lens now.

If you can get one of these for under $250 I'd go for it. The only other competition at that price is the Oly 17mm, but they say it's not as sharp and it's a bit slower. But if you're paying full price then the 20mm is now only $20 more than the 14mm on Amazon. I don't get that, it's also THE SAME PRICE as the 20mm on Panasonic's store. Why would you pay $350 for the 14mm over the 20mm?

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@CRFilms

This is lenses for different purposes, 28mm vs 40mm :-)

feha

I got my 14mm today,
first impressions:
- Really fast AF (much,much,much faster than 20mm)
- Great for low light
Using lens firmware 1.0 (will not update yet ...)
Would like to know from @stonebat if after FW update the AF is still fast ?

feha

OK, have updated the firmware, AF is still fast ...

stoney

Good. It's ok at f4.0 and 5.6.

feha

What is the best AF mode to use with 14mm 2.5 ?

stoney

I use'em all :)

stoney

@CRFilms I got a new 14mm at $140.

stoney

JPEG straight out of the 14mm. No post-processing. It's a great little lens.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

Tags in Topic

Top Posters