New Leica / Panasonic Wide Angle Lens

Coming in May with a pricetag of $600 will be the new Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm (30mm-e) ƒ/1.7 ASPH. high speed prime wide-angle lens.

The extremely compact lens for the Micro 4/3 standard will be less than an inch a half (36mm) long and weigh a mere four ounces (115 g). It has an aperture ring, internal focusing, and a manual-focus to autofocus switch. Construction is nine elements in seven groups and includes three aspherical elements.

The company says "a newly developed stepping motor makes the focusing action smooth and silent for use in both photo and video recording," and claims that AF is far superior to phase-detection systems.

The lens is metal and includes a metal hood, and will initially be available in black.

The Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm ƒ/1.2 ASPH Power OIS lens (85mm angle of view equivalent) is already shipping. That lens will vie for attention with the truly spectacular Fujifilm XF 56mm ƒ/1.2 R lens (also 85mm-e) over in the Fuji system.

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Andre Moreau: "With Leica's and Samyang's lastest lens offering plus what Olympus has in the pipeline, I wonder if there is a camera system that offers as much as Micro 4/3."

Stan B.: "When will someone, anyone, make some wide-angle primes for Micro 4/3 below 28mm-e (other than the pricey 24mm-e Zuiko)? In a field known for its unlimited plethora of available, adaptable lenses, short WA primes (save one) are nonexistent!"

S. Chris: "This lens marks a watershed to me in Micro 4/3. I happen to hate shooting in 4:3 ratio, and if you crop to 2:3, all those 17mm '35 equivalent' lenses are way too long. Finally, a fast, small, true 35mm equivalent to supplant the previous barely sufficient 14mm ƒ/2.5. I may well get a Micro 4/3 body just to use this lens...."

Comments

[PStu]

Do any of the Panasonic bodies work with an aperture ring? That's not in my G6' manual, and I don't recall hearing about that with the new GH4. What's the point of an aperture ring when you can set it more quickly with a control dial?

Sounds like a drift in the direction of Fuji's approach, but Fuji matched this with a shutter-speed dial, as well.

Or is this a signal that Leica's rumored new mirrorless camera is not APS-C but m43?

[sneye]

Funny. Five years ago I would be drooling over this, but now I'm just thinking: "Meh. Another one." Digital photography must have come of age.

[D. Hufford.]

If it is as good as their 25mm 1.4, I might disown my silver-zit-on-a black body Olympus 17mm 1.7 for it. I much prefer the Panasonic "Leica" lenses to anything out of Olympus recently. Even the details are better for me. You know the raised red dot for aligning the lens to mount it on the Panasonics? The one that lets you do it by feel w/o looking, even in the dark? The one Olympus never thought of? That sort of thing. (Plus they don't fall apart like the Oly's do with the front (barely) stick on plastic ring that covers the mount groves for the over-priced Oly hoods.)

[Jayson Merryfield]

Why do I get the feeling that all of this effort is wasted? The most complete lens lines available for reduced-sensor cameras are Pentax and Micro Four Thirds, and the accumulated companies are combined, what, less than 5% in total marketshare? Throw in everyone’s small camera savior de jour Fuji and the total goes up to 6% maybe? When will the small camera revolution begin? I’m tired of waiting for it!

Apologies for briefly channeling Chicken Little there. :)

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Stan, Samyang has just come to the rescue, with 12/2 and 10/2.8 M43 primes. New, so no meaningful evaluations yet of course.

And I'd been shooting 35mm and doing darkroom work for 15 or so years before I ever owned anything wider than 28mm, and until quite late in that period didn't miss it at all. Of course, now I've got a 12-24mm full-frame zoom for my D700, so I have developed a bit into using extreme wide-angle more happily than when I was starting in this hobby.

[Ilkka]

Too many choices in similar focal lengths and speeds. Why not something different, something new? I have a 14 and 20 (in fact two of them) and sort of 15 already. Many others do too. I am not going to sell them to get this or add this to already crowded lens selection. I might well buy this if I did not have the others already. So maybe good for a newcomer, but maybe too pricey then. What we need is a wide angle, something between the fisheye and 14. Another choice instead of the good but pricey 12 Zuiko. And would not hurt if it was a bit wider still. And couple of long lenses. We have plenty of choice between 42.5 and 75mm but nothing beyond that.

[Arg]

You mentioned the Nocticron vying with the Fuji f/1.2 for attention. I can't read Spanish, but a comparison on dslrmagazine.com, including measurements, gave the crown to the Nocticron, with a clear edge in sharpness, contrast, and bokeh. FWIW

[Noons]

About time the long end for m4/3 is also looked at!
I'm sick and tired of variable aperture so-so zooms that are never any good when needed.
I need a 150/f2 or 200/f2 for m4/3, NOW. Preferably with macro.

Sigma, you guys listening?

Something equivalent to your incredibly good DGApoMacro 180/3.5 which I love and cherish on 35mm but adapted to m4/3 is waaaay too big!

[MJFerron]

You know Mike I just purchased a XE1 and 18-55 for the same price the lens alone sells for new. I'm selling off other camera equipment to pay for my purchase and you just have to go and point out a $1000 lens that I'll be thinking about in my sleep! Thanks a lot!!

[Tom Kwas]

Stan B.

Yep, I wish someone would make a 12mm (24) f/2.8 or 3.5 for M4/3rd's that cost about 300 bucks...

[Aaron Britton]

Where are the tilt shift lenses for micro 4/3? Been waiting since the olympus e-1 for one of these.

[Maggie Osterberg]

Wow. I guess I'll be selling my Oly 17/1.8 now.

[Ilkka]

I have a tilt shift lens for m4/3. A 2.8/20mm Arsat. Though I think it is now discontinued. Cost about USD360 new some 2-3 years ago.
I could post a picture if I knew how.

[Amin Sabet]

"When will someone, anyone, make some wide-angle primes for Micro 4/3 below 28mm-e (other than the pricey 24mm-e Zuiko)?"

This one looks interesting: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1039950-REG/rokinon_rk12m_mft_12mm_f_2_0_ncs_cs.html

I'm guessing it will outperform the aforementioned M.Zuiko. Who needs AF for a 24mm-e lens, anyhow?

[Stan B.]

David Dyer-Bennet-
All due respect, don't know about that rescue. That 10mm Samyang is almost the same size as the 7-14 Panasonic ZOOM (1 stop slower, w/auto focus). And both the above are considerably larger than my compact 20mm FF Nikkor. Micro 4/3 is about convenience of size, if it doesn't deliver there- it doesn't deliver.

[Zvonimir MW Tosic]

Oh, how nice Leica and Panasonic taking a page from the book of Pentax.
New Panaleica 15mm/1.7 has 9 elements in 7 groups, the FoV of 30mm equivalent and f1.7 sounds awfully similar to FA31 Ltd lens, which also has 9 elements in 7 groups, 32mm FoV and f1.8.

[Roy]

"...and claims that AF is far superior to phase-detection systems."

Uh? Double uh?

And even if this proved to be the case, what's it got to do with the lens? The lens operation may be faster than the norm but it sure don't contain either phase- or contrast-detection sensors which reside in the camera body.

Nobody else noticed this?

[Igor]

Panasonic-Leica 15mm f/1.7 is a high-quality alternative to the cheep and decent Panasonic 14mm f/2.5, similarly as Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 is to Panasonic 20mm f/1.7. I am considering to buy 15mm together with Lumix GM1. As a kit lens, the price is right.

Now I hope that Panasonic would return 150mm f/2.8 to their roadmap, and would design 10mm f/2.5 or any similar wide-angle rectilinear prime. Unfortunately, Samyang 10mm f/2.8 was designed to fit multiple camera systems, including DSLR APS-C mounts, therefore its size and weight (620 gramm!) is rather too big for the Micro Four Thirds system.

[Edgar Matias]

Keep the small lenses coming!

They're a major reason I threw my lot in with m4/3, rather than Fuji's APS-C cameras -- though I may not be able to resist getting one in the future.

The only thing missing from my small kit is a decent long zoom. I'm waiting to see how Panasonic's upcoming smaller/slower 35-100mm turns out, but I may just go with the 2.8. It's not that big, for what it is.

Though, what I'd really like is a small-ish f/2.8-4 long zoom. That hits the shallow DoF sweet spot at 35mm (70mm/5.6-e) and the variable aperture to f/4 at its long end should help save on the size and weight.