Product Listing

First Looks: Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH Lens

By Alvin Soon - 3 Aug 2011

Image Performance

Image Performance

The 25mm is soft around the edges with a visible gradient from its widest f/1.4 to about f/2.5, after which the corners gain uniform sharpness and the gradient clears up. To be honest, the gradient isn't a problem for us as we like the aesthetic, but it may bother some photographers. Check out our sample photographers to see if you can spot it.

The 25mm is a dream lens for portrait and low-light shooting, but like all other wide aperture lenses, the narrow depth of field is a challenge and you need to be extra careful with your focus. That's because when opened at its widest f/1.4, the depth of field is so narrow that anything further away from the main focal point will be soft.

We prefer the wider Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 pancake lens as a more general purpose lens but it doesn't do portraits as beautifully as the 25mm f/1.4, not just because of the narrower depth of field, but also because the 25mm lens produces a 'flatter image' with less perspective distortion. 

Shot with Panasonic's 14mm f/2.5 pancake lens, which offers a wider field of view and more depth of field in comparison.

Shot with the 25mm f/1.4, which gives you a tighter field of view and a narrower depth of field. Notice how much less of the table is in focus compared to f/2.5, and how much softer the background is.

f/1.4 at 25mm, 1/640 sec, ISO160. Click for full-resolution image.

f/2.0 at 25mm, 1/320 sec, ISO160. Click for full-resolution image.

f/2.8 at 25mm, 1/160 sec, ISO160. Click for full-resolution image.

f/5.6 at 25mm, 1/30 sec, ISO160. Click for full-resolution image.

f/8.0 at 25mm, 1/15 sec, ISO160. Click for full-resolution image.

We don't see any problem with barrel distortion.

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