Panasonic Standard Zoom Lens Comparison Review

 

It seems the Panasonic Lumix Designers have a hobby.  Panasonic offers a remarkable 6 standard zoom lenses for it's Micro Four Thirds cameras. I recently had the opportunity to test 4 of them at the same time.

Notes on lens testing.  There are two main approaches to lens testing.

The first is to go forth and take lots of photos of many different subjects in a wide range of conditions. This is very informative but time consuming.

Ultimately the most robust method is to pool the experience of many users of a particular lens over time.  User forums do provide this to some extent especially with lenses which have been on the market for several years.

The second is to photograph some kind of  standard  chart in controlled conditions. I find this gives me about half the information I want to know about a lens. However it  is still useful for comparison purposes and for specific characteristics such as resolution, distortion, chromatic aberration and centering errors. I use a test chart made up of repeating pages of the classified adverts of a newspaper. This of course does not provide absolute measurements of resolution. However I find that just looking at the way each of the pages is rendered by the lens gives me a good sense of how the lens will perform in the "outside world".

There are many lens characteristics not tested or not fully revealed by the chart method.  These include physical operation, effects of shutter shock, AF accuracy, field curvature, flare resistance and behaviour in optically stressful conditions such as very high or low subject brightness range and high local contrast such as when foliage is backlit against a cloudy bright sky.

Another matter which came to light when I was testing these lenses is that sometimes the resolution of a lens focussed close can differ considerably from the resolution of the same lens focussed at a distance.

I try to use both approaches, time and opportunity permitting.

Notes about sample variation  This is a fact of life especially with zoom lenses built to a low price point. My rankings in this report are based on my observations of lenses in my posession. Others may differ on the basis of different samples.

Performance ranking  I have found at most only minor differences between these lenses with regard to test chart resolution/sharpness in the central part of the frame. Most of the difference between them lies in their aperture range, resolution/sharpness at the edges and corners of the frame and  their behaviour in optically stressful situations.

OIS  All Panasonic's M43 zooms have optical image stabiliser function. The more expensive ones have an OIS  On/Off  switch on the lens barrel.

Lens Hoods  Each of the Lumix zooms which I have tested  comes with a reversible lens hood.  These are the non retractable types. I doubt if it is possible to reverse mount a lens hood on a retractable lens.

Over view of quality  If these Lumix M43 zooms had been available 10 years ago they would have been hailed as the wonders of the photographic universe. They combine remarkable imaging capability with small size, light weight, fast performance and extremely low price. I think us consumers get a bit blasé  about the quality of current lenses and their remarkable value for money.

Design trends  The original, and still available, 2008 kit zoom for M43 (the 14-45mm) has 12 elements including 1 aspheric. The latest little wonder,  the 12-32mm has 8 elements of which 3 are aspheric. So we see the number of elements decreasing, the number of aspherics increasing and the overall size and weight decreasing. 

Which one should I buy ?  This is probably the most frequently asked type of question on M43 user forums. I hope this comparison review will help those who are trying to decide.

 The choice depends on your requirements.

12-35mm f2.8   If you want the best, forget the rest,  the choice is easy, get the 12-35mm f2.8. Note that the main advantage of this lens over the others is it's constant f2.8 aperture. At the long end this is 2 stops better than the f5.6 of the smaller zooms. On my testing the 12-35 also renders fine textures with more "bite" than the other zooms. It focusses very close and is claimed by Panasonic to be weather sealed. I have not yet put this to the test. The 12-35 delivers very good results right from f2.8 at all focal lengths and focussed distances which makes it well suited to indoor and candid work. This is the M43 equivalent of the classic photo reporter's 24-70mm f2.8 zoom for cameras with a 24x36mm sensor. Sharpness across the frame at all focal lengths with this lens at f2.8 is as good as or better than the others at f3.5-5.6. The exception is the 14-42(II) which just edges out the 12-35 (at f2.8) when set to  25mm f5.3 and 42mm f5.6.

14-42mm X PZ   If you want a collapsing lens specifically designed for video this is the one to get. Note that there is no zoom ring and no manual focus ring. These actions are both enabled via sliding levers on the lens barrel. On some cameras (G5, G6) you can also zoom this lens (and the 45-175mm)  with the front lever on the camera. This lens has a reputation for producing unsharp pictures attributed to shutter shock so it might not be the one to get if still photography is on the agenda.

14-45mm f3.5-5.6   This was the original Panasonic Lumix kit lens released with the G1 in 2008. It's an oldy but a goody. I have had two copies of this over the years and made many photos with it. It delivers clear, sharp photos at all focal lengths and apertures with good resolution right across the frame. It reveals textures clearly. It is particularly crisp at the long end unlike some other lenses which can lose contrast and sharpness when zoomed out.

14-42mm f3.5-5.6  (The Mk1 version although it is not so named by Panasonic) This lens has been offered as a kit with G5, G6 and other bodies.  On my tests it delivers notably low contrast images compared to the other zooms. Actual resolution on a test chart is quite good,  however the low contrast gives photographs a soft  look which I think most people would probably interpret as lacking sharpness. There is probably no reason for anyone to buy this lens unless it comes effectively free in a kit.

14-42mm f3.5-5.6 (II)   This is the new version of the standard M43 kit lens and is quite interesting. It is very small and light. The optical formula uses 9 elements, 3 aspheric. Compare this with the 14-45mm which uses 12 elements, 1 aspheric. The 12-42mm (II) has a very large fixed rear element, which at 23 mm diameter is even larger than that of the 12-35mm f2.8 at 22mm. It also has a different zoom action being shortest at 25mm focal length. My copy of this lens out performs the 14-45mm on the test chart, with remarkable sharpness right into the corners at all focal lengths and apertures. In fact it slightly out performs the 12-35mm on the test chart, at some apertures.

However  You will recall that earlier in this post I made the point that resolution moderately close focussed   (as for instance on a test chart at about 60x lens focal length) and the same lens focussed at or near infinity, can be significantly different.

I found this to be the case with the 14-42mm (II). When focussed on distant subjects, over 10 meters from the camera, the 14-45mm was clearly superior with better sharpness. The difference was quite obvious.

So, which is the better general purpose Lumix zoom lens for those users who do not want to move up to the 12-35mm ?

This might all come down to sample variation. On the copies in my posession the 14-45mm is the better all rounder.

12-32mm f3.5-5.6  This one is brand new, not yet released to the market so I can say little about it. However just on the specifications there are some worthwhile observations one might make. It is amazingly small.  It is of retracting type. There is a zoom ring but no means of actuating manual focus on the lens itself. Digital Photography Review reports that on the diminutive GM1 camera body, manual focus is achieved by touch screen.  Some users might be perfectly happy with this arrangement, others will not.

14-140mm f3.5-5.6  Just for fun I included this Lumix superzoom lens in the test protocols. In the focal length range 14-42mm, the superzoom performed quite well. It was a bit soft on the right side at 25mm presumably due to some amount of decentering which is common in zuperzooms. This cleaned up with one stop reduction in aperture.  It delivered more convincing results than the 14-42mm (I), but was not quite able to keep up with the  other lenses, especially at the edges and corners. It was close though, indicating this is quite a nice lens. I recently used this lens exclusively on a GH3 while on holiday in New Zealand and the southern ocean. It reliably delivered clear sharp photos at all focal lengths, with just the edges and corners a bit soft in some shots. If you don't want the bother of changing lenses, the 14-140mm Mk2  is a very viable option especially if mainly outdoors subjects are contemplated.