Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 Micro Four Thirds Lens for Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras
by Panasonic
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: PanasonicModel: 7-14mm Micro Four Thirds
Color: black
Product features:
- Micro Four Thirds mount
- 16 elements in 12groups (2 Aspherical lenses, 4 ED lenses)
- 7mm to 14mm (35mm camera equivalent 14mm to 28mm)
- Aperture : F4.0
- Minimum Aperture F22
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 Micro Four Thirds Lens for Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras
Customer Review: Outstanding ultra-wide
Summary: 5 Stars
How can this outstanding ultra wide micro four thirds lens not have any reviews? I'm not a professional photographer, but I can't sit by idly while this lens is denied its proper accolades.
First, an ultra-wide lens is very useful. The difference between 7mm and 14mm is enormous. The broad field of view at 7mm lets you take amazing landscape pictures. At 7mm, mountains are reduced to boulders, and boulders are reduced to small rocks. More importantly, the ultra-wide angle lets you take close ups of objects while preserving their relationship to the objects around them. And most importantly, the ultra-wide angle lets you take pictures in close or cramped quarters that simply would not be possible with any other lens. At 9mm you can sit in the corner of a room and take a picture of the entire room!!! During filming, you can zoom out from 14mm to 7mm to create a dramatic effect that cannot be achieved with another lens.
Second, this is an excellent choice among all ultra-wides. slrgear and dpreview have tested it and found it to provide excellent image quality. It is ideally suited to the Panasonic G1/GH1/GF1 and the Olympus E-P1 because it is the only ultra-wide lens available for micro four thirds that will auto-focus and auto-expose during movies. Auto-focus and auto-exposure are quiet enough under normal conditions that I can't hear them. Auto-focus hunting is minimal. As of firmware version 1.1 (dated 2009/11/25), this lens officially supports auto-focus in 1080p24 FHD movies. It is incredibly light (only 300 grams) when compared to similar lenses in other formats. The next most compact ultra-wide zoom is the otherwise excellent Olympus Zuiko 7-14mm f/4.0 Aspherical Super ED Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras, which costs 50% more and weighs nearly three times as much with the required Panasonic Mount Adapter. And this lens is currently the only native m43rds ultra wide zoom with constant aperture throughout its zoom range (7mm to 14mm). Wow.
Now the bad news.... Flash is problematic. The wide hood at the end of the lens blocks the on-camera flash in the wide field of view that this lens provides and will cast an ugly shadow right in the bottom middle in your frame. So if you take a flash picture with this lens, your picture will have a dark spot in the center bottom where the lens blocked the on-camera flash :( I'm not sure if a hot-shoe mounted flash can solve this problem because I haven't found any that are rated down to 7mm. This is annoying since at f4.0 this lens isn't fast enough for low light photography without a flash.
And finally, my druthers. My favorite use of this lens is photographing tight indoor spaces, where I am always wishing for a faster lens. So I wish this lens was faster, even though it would be heavier and more expensive. But even exactly as it is, I highly recommend this magical lens for confined quarters and for landscapes.
**Update August 2010**
I took the 7-14mm with me on vacation this month and reacquainted myself with its charms. In Santa Cruz, I discovered that the 7-14mm has a magical ability to look around obstacles, and see things that are not visible to the naked eye. Due to an unfortunate seating choice at the Roaring Camp Railroad, all I could see was the back of the Shay locomotive pulling us up Bear Mountain. At 7mm, this lens reduced the entire locomotive to a small part of the frame and the resulting pictures were better than what I could see with my own eyes (see images). The GH1 with this lens is so light that I took a 1080p24 movie of the Dixiana's 20 minute descent HANDHELD. A few days later I used this lens to take aerial pictures of the Bay Area salt marshes. With this lens's huge 7-14mm range, I could frame my aerial shots exactly as I wanted. No other lens on any other widely available still or video camera system can provide as wide a field of view and as excellent image quality in so compact and inexpensive a package as this lens.
More Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 Micro Four Thirds Lens for Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras reviews:
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Description of Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 Micro Four Thirds Lens for Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras
Description:Interchangeable ultra wide-angle zoom lens, LUMIX G VARIO 7-14mm/F4.0 ASPH. In spite of its impressive wide-angle zoom range of 7-14mm (35mm camera equivalent; 14-28mm), the lens is surprisingly compact and lightweight for casual on-the-go use.
Taking advantage of its wide, 114-degree angle of view, users can easily fit subjects into the frame even when shooting indoors where the distance is limited. The world looks extraordinary when viewed through the new lens, allowing photos and movies to be recorded with a uniquely rich perspective.
This high-performance lens system achieves outstanding compactness by combining 16 lens elements in 12 groups, including two aspherical lenses and four ED lenses. Image resolution is high from corner-to-corner even at the wide-angle setting. It also features F4.0 brightness over the entire zoom range thanks to its large-diameter glass molded lens elements.
When mounted on LUMIX G Micro System Camera, the lens allows use of the advanced contrast AF system, which includes a Face Recognition function, for more convenient, more enjoyable shooting. Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings.
The LUMIX G VARIO 7-14mm/F4.0 ASPH. lens also features a highly reliable metal mount, and uses multi-coated lens elements that minimize ghosts and flare to further enhance its optical performance. The optimally designed lens hood enables use even under strong sunlight.
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