On 01 Feb 2011, at 2:38 PM, Carlos J. Santisteban wrote:
> Hi, Sandy and all.
>
> From: Sandy Harris <sandyinchina@xxxxxxxxx>
>> There's already a :Leica 25/1.4
>
> Actually a "regular" Four-Thirds (DSLR) lens. I've heard it to be an
> extremely good performer, but large and pricey. Very nice that "real"
> aperture ring!
My colleague uses the Panasonic/Leica 25/1.4, so I have been able to
make some
observations about this lens, not all of them that positive:
* The performance at f/1.4 is extremely good (well, mostly in the
centre) but
unfortunately this lens does not really get better when stopped down.
So, in
comparison to other fast lenses, performance is extremely good at f/
1.4, but
only average at, say, f/4.0 or smaller. By comparison, a Canon EF 50mm
f/1.2L
reaches extraordinary performance levels when stopped down.
* The 'real' aperture ring is only supported by the software on the
Panasonic Four Thirds
bodies (a market that Panasonic is surely getting out of). It will not
work on any other
4/3rds or Micro 4/3rds body, unfortunately. Frustrating, since it's
sitting there, waiting
to be used.
* The lens is positively Gigantic for what it does. Why on earth
should a 25/1.4 for a
quarter-frame system by much bigger than 50/1.4 lenses for the 35mm
system? Never mind
how much bigger it is than any 'equivalent' 50/2.8 for 35mm. At f/3.5,
my Voigtlander
Heliar 50/3.5 is less than one fifth the volume/weight, with pretty
much the same
shallow DOF possibility, and superior resolution across the frame
compared to the
25/1.4, on a system with a four times larger capture surface. It
simply makes no
sense to me.
Anyway, it's a very nice lens, but it certainly is not a flag-bearer
for the things that
the 4/3 standard stands for: Compatability, and Small size.
Just my 2c,
Dawid
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