This lens is worth two stops lower ISO in low light when taking videos (over the 12-35). This makes a huge difference. When taking pictures, it's not that important because there is room to trade a little bit of motion blur and the IBIS helps when shooting hand hold for a tenth of a second or longer. But there is no way around for video when you shoot something like a warm summer night in Tuscany after sunset with this incredible dark blue sky they have down there.
@Phil Jones65 The 12mm/1.4 gives comparable results to a 24mm/2.8 on FF which is not sensational much and there are lenses going further on FF, MFT or with a speed booster. On the other hand, it is an excellent lens and the DOF is kind of at the edge of what I can use in Streets or buildings. 12mm is not a focal length for portrait and there are very few situations where I could make use of a 12mm/1.0 or 0.9. Getting it a little bit cheaper would have been nice, but this wasn't possible with that 'L'-word written on it.
I picked one up about a month ago for 800 bucks! It may not be such a useful photography tool, but its great for vlogging paired witha gh5, especially at night!
Sergio with the 2.4 update it’s working incredibly! Almost no problems at all in most vlogging situations. Of course it’s not as accurate in low light but if the subject is well lit it snaps into focus pretty well! Great lens!
I use it extensively in one of my vlogs titled ‘dubstep Dance does exist’ if you want to see it work in a vlogging situation at night paired with the gh5, mind you that was filmed before the update!
@@llmrfantasticll I'm a fan of the Laowa 7.5mm f2 for walking vlogging. The manual focus is not so bad. Because the lens can focus very close, its very easy to focus on my face while keeping a some what reasonable background blur for its focal length. Another bonus: the Extended Tele Crop of 1.4 give you a second lens. So its like having a 15mm and 21mm f2 lens in one. Love this little lens!
I tried the lens briefly and as you said, the Leica brand doesn’t disappoint. Quite gorgeous image. But I think it’s going to have a tough time with the 10-25mm f/1.7 released. I don’t think the 12mm is a big seller... Excellent video as always!
justyjust, you beat me to the 10- 25mm 1.7 question. That is just an awesome spec lens. I wish they came out with it years ago. Maybe this shows that there is still some life left in M43. I can't wait to see David's review of it if he chooses to do so. But I can't afford it :(
@@jeffhalebopp actually the specs of that new lens are worthless unless it is sharper than the current long reigning wide zoom king (Olympus 12-40). I seriously doubt it will be sharp enough at f1.7 to justify the size and price tag when compared to the Oly. I think Panasonic maybe strategizing a ploy, buy huge lens then think what do I need to worry about size for? I'll just upgrade to the S1R...
Having brought this lens at ridiculous low price, it becomes my goto lens for snaps, close up, environmental portrait, and family gathering gear. Unfortunately i never had the time to shoot astrophotos with this beast. It still worth the cash for its low light, close up performance. The 12mm f1.4 might not be as sharp as 8-18, 12-40 or 10-25 per se but its worthy of keep using it knowing it can delivery sharp photos at low light, usable at widest aperture and has creamy bokeh.
Hey David, great review as always, really enjoyed it. Btw just wondering, are you still going to keep reviewing M43? or you planning on moving toward the Panasonic full frame?
I would like to know which direction you see the m43 is going. You are the reason that I switched to m43 and I am very happy, but I feel I would like to have a pen f style camera but with good weather sealing and battery. But panoly consider rangefinder style as a second class citizens. Where do you think they would be directed to? this 12mm was a bit too big for my pen f which I am only putting 15mm Panasonic on.
Love your presentation and I love my GX9, so naturally looking for my next lenses. Will definitely have to check some charts online for the 12-32 and decide whether I need the 12mm 1.2. If I can keep the kit lense instead, I can then go for the Leica DG 42.5 and the 50-200 :) (just need to sell my other full frame gear :))
Superb two first images and great colors. I think it needs more care with m4/3 sensor to get film look, but is possible and probably in some situations, an ND filter might be of great help.
Yes, this is the kind of lens that has no purpose for some photographers and fulfils a crying need for others. I always keep that in mind when i'm trying to form an opinion.
Happy to lend you the SLR Magic 12mm T/1.6 if you want to test it, it'd be a pleasure :) I'm very happy with it and got it for about one quarter of the price of this Leica... Close-focus ability is quite amazing, and I think is de facto an F/1.4. Just manual focus though, of course, and declicked aperture ring.
Only choice, eh? Well the Olympus 7-14/2.8 serves me for the moment. Meanwhile, the Panasonic 10-25/1.7 and the Olympus 12/1.2 are coming out soon, so this thing has serious competition on the way. And, reports are that the Oly 12-100/4 is frigging amazing at 12mm. Also, a lot of people love the size and feel of the Oly 12/2...
Ha! David Thorpe, yours is the very first channel (out of my 500+ subs)...(yes, I admit that I'm a TH-cam power user for $9.99/mo.) that I thought to click that notification icon to "notify" me that you've posted new content. It works quite well, however, I've since realized that I only get the notification if I open my TH-cam app...so it's a bit of a conundrum I'm in. You see,...I do not want YT notifying me everytime David Thorpe says something new BUT...i DO want to watch a David Thorpe movie just as soon as it is released...after all.....i want to be in the early comment section (in my younger life it was called "being in the know") just like most of my early commenting brethren. We take some small ownership of being "early" in the comments of a popular channel's new release.... It's a "thing"! In any case, I'll be enjoying whatever you may be talking about in just a few minutes (took me about 10 minutes just to type this all out on my phone, to give some perspective🤗.) Thanks in advance for giving me something to do now and in the very near future. Speaking of the future, my wife is bringing home my new pan/leica 50-200mm in less than 1 hour. I look forward to badgering you in far fewer words than this mess, in the near future over that recent and unnecessary purchase. You'll have to click on my notification bell to know when I post my review of your review. (actually, you won't have to do that at all...I was going for a smidge of dramatic effect at the end 😁). Peace D.T.
Hi David, Really enjoy your reviews. 🙂 Have you ever tested the Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm mk2 and the Olympus 75-300mm mk2? I want to get more into wildlife photography and found that my 45-150mm Lumix is not long enough. Cheers from Germany 🙂
Glad to hear that, thanks! I haven't tried either lens but the 100-300mm is optically the same as the older one which I did test. It's a decent lens but goes a bit soft at the long end beyond 250mm or so. That's usual in such lenses and more than acceptable for normal use. The 75-300mm is quite similar overall but it is a bit slower than the Panasonic. That matters in a long lens, so overall I'd prefer the Panasonic.
Would you consider the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 (gen 1) as sufficiently companion lens to the Panasonic 42.5mm G lens? I use mainly for video interviews at work often with no additional lighting available to me. Thank you.
Provided the f/2.5 aperture was fast enough (which it should be for video), yes it would be good. It's not wide enough to give an exaggerated perspective but wide enough to frame several people in a room. Sharpness is as good as any Micro Four Thirds lens.
Samyang/Rokinon 12mm f/2.0, amazing shots for a quarter of the price. Including night ones. The extra stop for P/Leica simply doesn't justify the massive price difference, and auto-focus is not really necessary at such wide angle.
@@DavidThorpeMFT yeah it’s really good with the new webcam software and some nice lighting. I have frequent zoom calls with clients (web designer) and wanted a more pro looking setup. Tried this lens and the 15mm 1.7. I ended up keeping the 15mm because although the 12mm looked great, the 15mm is more versatile for my needs as i find it to be the perfect focal length and size to use as my street photography/travel lens-plus it’s a bit cheaper. But it was hard to part from that 12mm, such a lovely lens.
I think that this was made for the video crowd. The Sigma 16mm Contemporary makes more sense to me, but Eric Kim is using this and the G9 as his workhorse for street photography and vlogging now. P.S. Love your show...! Please review the Sigma 56mm F/1.4 :)
Either would do it, you'd generally need an aperture between f/2 and f/4. Since you are going for trails, sharpness isn't so critical and the 12mm might be a bit overkill if used only for this purpose.
I'm always delighted when new lenses are introduced, big, small, expensive or reasonable. It applies with this lens - I have no great use for one but for night and star photography, great. One thing I've learnt, every lens, no matter how specialised or oddball is perfect for someone.
at 4:21, the 8-18 looks horrible. is it really that bad? or do you reckon you've got a bad copy? there are a lot of very polarizing views on the sharpness on dpreview forums. many are putting this down to the poor QC.
Nothing wrong with the sharpness of my lens, KL. That shot, at 200%, represents something like a 30 inch print viewed from a distance of about 50cm. If there is photographer for whom my lens would be below par, I'd ask them to rethink their expectations. You can get sharper but it won't be a zoom.
This is my perfect lens for most event photography as well as social dance photography (think Latin dancing, the sort). I've been able to get some great bokeh/separation for mid-body to full-body shots. But yeah, I would never use this for portraits hahahah. I do wish Panasonic made a 17mm or 20mm 1.2--not quite a 50mm FF equivalent but just enough to get rid of unwanted distortions around the edges. If you're curious about some of my work, check out @bailaconciencia on Instagram :)
Yes, a 17mm would be nice but I'd prefer an f/1.4 to keep the size down. Maybe the two makers don't want to compete directly. I mentioned in my review that you'd need a reason to buy a lens like this. It's obviously a lens that'll work well for you. Nice work on there - I like the studio shots on the grey background. Something very colourful and attractive about a colour pic with mainly monochrome subject matter. Looks like you have a lot of fun there which the pix experss very well. . I must say, that Josie is a great looking female, isn't she?
I still keep coming back to David's videos... Thanks, Legend...
This lens is worth two stops lower ISO in low light when taking videos (over the 12-35). This makes a huge difference. When taking pictures, it's not that important because there is room to trade a little bit of motion blur and the IBIS helps when shooting hand hold for a tenth of a second or longer. But there is no way around for video when you shoot something like a warm summer night in Tuscany after sunset with this incredible dark blue sky they have down there.
@Phil Jones65 The 12mm/1.4 gives comparable results to a 24mm/2.8 on FF which is not sensational much and there are lenses going further on FF, MFT or with a speed booster. On the other hand, it is an excellent lens and the DOF is kind of at the edge of what I can use in Streets or buildings. 12mm is not a focal length for portrait and there are very few situations where I could make use of a 12mm/1.0 or 0.9. Getting it a little bit cheaper would have been nice, but this wasn't possible with that 'L'-word written on it.
Love watching your videos - witty and dry and never boring!
I picked one up about a month ago for 800 bucks! It may not be such a useful photography tool, but its great for vlogging paired witha gh5, especially at night!
How is the af performance with it?
Sergio with the 2.4 update it’s working incredibly! Almost no problems at all in most vlogging situations. Of course it’s not as accurate in low light but if the subject is well lit it snaps into focus pretty well! Great lens!
I use it extensively in one of my vlogs titled ‘dubstep Dance does exist’ if you want to see it work in a vlogging situation at night paired with the gh5, mind you that was filmed before the update!
@@llmrfantasticll I'm a fan of the Laowa 7.5mm f2 for walking vlogging. The manual focus is not so bad. Because the lens can focus very close, its very easy to focus on my face while keeping a some what reasonable background blur for its focal length. Another bonus: the Extended Tele Crop of 1.4 give you a second lens. So its like having a 15mm and 21mm f2 lens in one. Love this little lens!
I tried the lens briefly and as you said, the Leica brand doesn’t disappoint. Quite gorgeous image. But I think it’s going to have a tough time with the 10-25mm f/1.7 released. I don’t think the 12mm is a big seller...
Excellent video as always!
It would be great for night sky photography.
Great video can't wait for the 10- 25mm 1.7f to be released. Hopefully it will be a good lens
I would be more interested on Davids review, i probably will never be able to afford such a lens =)
justyjust, you beat me to the 10- 25mm 1.7 question. That is just an awesome spec lens. I wish they came out with it years ago. Maybe this shows that there is still some life left in M43. I can't wait to see David's review of it if he chooses to do so. But I can't afford it :(
That sounds like a dream Lens.... but probably with a nightmare price
@@jeffhalebopp actually the specs of that new lens are worthless unless it is sharper than the current long reigning wide zoom king (Olympus 12-40). I seriously doubt it will be sharp enough at f1.7 to justify the size and price tag when compared to the Oly. I think Panasonic maybe strategizing a ploy, buy huge lens then think what do I need to worry about size for? I'll just upgrade to the S1R...
Having brought this lens at ridiculous low price, it becomes my goto lens for snaps, close up, environmental portrait, and family gathering gear. Unfortunately i never had the time to shoot astrophotos with this beast. It still worth the cash for its low light, close up performance. The 12mm f1.4 might not be as sharp as 8-18, 12-40 or 10-25 per se but its worthy of keep using it knowing it can delivery sharp photos at low light, usable at widest aperture and has creamy bokeh.
It's quite a specialist lens but for those who can make good use of its aperture it is well worth the money. Performance, simply superb.
That wide-angle portrait was scary!
Thanks David really enjoy your vids. It didn’t sound like you cared for this lens.
Tempted but just bought the 45mm 1.2. For wide though, it may be the one lens I'm willing to splurge on. Fantastic flickr page for this lens as well!
A lovely lens. You pay for the aperture but it delivers!
Hey David, great review as always, really enjoyed it. Btw just wondering, are you still going to keep reviewing M43? or you planning on moving toward the Panasonic full frame?
I would like to know which direction you see the m43 is going. You are the reason that I switched to m43 and I am very happy, but I feel I would like to have a pen f style camera but with good weather sealing and battery. But panoly consider rangefinder style as a second class citizens. Where do you think they would be directed to? this 12mm was a bit too big for my pen f which I am only putting 15mm Panasonic on.
Sounds like you describe my good friend the GX8. There really should be a mark II.
totally agree I love my GX8 and would love a real successor of the GX 8 as a second camera…. Not the GX 9 which for me is only a Sucksessor
Welcome back David !
Oh, maaannn... David, I'm gonna miss you. 🌠
Love your presentation and I love my GX9, so naturally looking for my next lenses. Will definitely have to check some charts online for the 12-32 and decide whether I need the 12mm 1.2. If I can keep the kit lense instead, I can then go for the Leica DG 42.5 and the 50-200 :) (just need to sell my other full frame gear :))
Great as always!
Superb two first images and great colors. I think it needs more care with m4/3 sensor to get film look, but is possible and probably in some situations, an ND filter might be of great help.
I could see many uses for this lens. Astrophotography, night time landscape and interior photography, vlogging.
Yes, this is the kind of lens that has no purpose for some photographers and fulfils a crying need for others. I always keep that in mind when i'm trying to form an opinion.
Happy to lend you the SLR Magic 12mm T/1.6 if you want to test it, it'd be a pleasure :) I'm very happy with it and got it for about one quarter of the price of this Leica... Close-focus ability is quite amazing, and I think is de facto an F/1.4. Just manual focus though, of course, and declicked aperture ring.
It's a thought, Giorgio, thanks! Might be a bit difficult in practise, though.
Useful to me like the color on 8-18 but the 12mm summilux does have advantage in sharpness. Something to think about, thank you.
Thanks David - great video
Only choice, eh? Well the Olympus 7-14/2.8 serves me for the moment. Meanwhile, the Panasonic 10-25/1.7 and the Olympus 12/1.2 are coming out soon, so this thing has serious competition on the way. And, reports are that the Oly 12-100/4 is frigging amazing at 12mm. Also, a lot of people love the size and feel of the Oly 12/2...
Ha! David Thorpe, yours is the very first channel (out of my 500+ subs)...(yes, I admit that I'm a TH-cam power user for $9.99/mo.) that I thought to click that notification icon to "notify" me that you've posted new content. It works quite well, however, I've since realized that I only get the notification if I open my TH-cam app...so it's a bit of a conundrum I'm in. You see,...I do not want YT notifying me everytime David Thorpe says something new BUT...i DO want to watch a David Thorpe movie just as soon as it is released...after all.....i want to be in the early comment section (in my younger life it was called "being in the know") just like most of my early commenting brethren. We take some small ownership of being "early" in the comments of a popular channel's new release.... It's a "thing"!
In any case, I'll be enjoying whatever you may be talking about in just a few minutes (took me about 10 minutes just to type this all out on my phone, to give some perspective🤗.) Thanks in advance for giving me something to do now and in the very near future.
Speaking of the future, my wife is bringing home my new pan/leica 50-200mm in less than 1 hour. I look forward to badgering you in far fewer words than this mess, in the near future over that recent and unnecessary purchase. You'll have to click on my notification bell to know when I post my review of your review. (actually, you won't have to do that at all...I was going for a smidge of dramatic effect at the end 😁).
Peace D.T.
It's not your only choice, there's the 15mm 1.7, the 16mm 1.4, the 17mm 1.8, the 9mm 1.8, and olympus will release a 12mm soon.
It’s been two years, still waiting for that 12mm
@@Seanonyoutube it was released in 2014
@@gusatvoschiavon I’m pretty sure he was referring to a 12mm PRO lens, not the old 12mm 2.0.
@@Seanonyoutube oh sorry 😐
“Aardvark snout!” Brilliant term! Thx!
😀
Hi David,
Really enjoy your reviews. 🙂
Have you ever tested the Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm mk2 and the Olympus 75-300mm mk2?
I want to get more into wildlife photography and found that my 45-150mm Lumix is not long enough.
Cheers from Germany 🙂
Glad to hear that, thanks! I haven't tried either lens but the 100-300mm is optically the same as the older one which I did test. It's a decent lens but goes a bit soft at the long end beyond 250mm or so. That's usual in such lenses and more than acceptable for normal use. The 75-300mm is quite similar overall but it is a bit slower than the Panasonic. That matters in a long lens, so overall I'd prefer the Panasonic.
@@DavidThorpeMFT
Thank you for the answer 🙂 I'm also heavily leaning towards the Panasonic since it is faster and weather sealed.
This is comedic poetry
Would you consider the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 (gen 1) as sufficiently companion lens to the Panasonic 42.5mm G lens? I use mainly for video interviews at work often with no additional lighting available to me. Thank you.
Provided the f/2.5 aperture was fast enough (which it should be for video), yes it would be good. It's not wide enough to give an exaggerated perspective but wide enough to frame several people in a room. Sharpness is as good as any Micro Four Thirds lens.
Samyang/Rokinon 12mm f/2.0, amazing shots for a quarter of the price. Including night ones. The extra stop for P/Leica simply doesn't justify the massive price difference, and auto-focus is not really necessary at such wide angle.
This lens makes the perfect webcam
Yes, I can image. A huge step up from the built in lenses and makes the whole thing look more professional!
@@DavidThorpeMFT yeah it’s really good with the new webcam software and some nice lighting. I have frequent zoom calls with clients (web designer) and wanted a more pro looking setup. Tried this lens and the 15mm 1.7. I ended up keeping the 15mm because although the 12mm looked great, the 15mm is more versatile for my needs as i find it to be the perfect focal length and size to use as my street photography/travel lens-plus it’s a bit cheaper. But it was hard to part from that 12mm, such a lovely lens.
I got the Sigma 16mm 1.4. Amazing!
I must take a look at that!
I think that this was made for the video crowd. The Sigma 16mm Contemporary makes more sense to me, but Eric Kim is using this and the G9 as his workhorse for street photography and vlogging now.
P.S. Love your show...! Please review the Sigma 56mm F/1.4 :)
Thanks!
If only panasonic would make a comparable lens to the olympus 12mm f2, maybe even with stabilization.
Another great video.
Thanks, Tony!
Can LX100 fast enough for light trail on night? Or this lens better?
Either would do it, you'd generally need an aperture between f/2 and f/4. Since you are going for trails, sharpness isn't so critical and the 12mm might be a bit overkill if used only for this purpose.
It seems this lens is not for everyone. I would buy this if I want to shoot night/star photography though.
I'm always delighted when new lenses are introduced, big, small, expensive or reasonable. It applies with this lens - I have no great use for one
but for night and star photography, great. One thing I've learnt, every lens, no matter how specialised or oddball is perfect for someone.
at 4:21, the 8-18 looks horrible. is it really that bad? or do you reckon you've got a bad copy? there are a lot of very polarizing views on the sharpness on dpreview forums. many are putting this down to the poor QC.
Nothing wrong with the sharpness of my lens, KL. That shot, at 200%, represents something like a 30 inch print viewed from a distance of about 50cm. If there is photographer for whom my lens would be below par, I'd ask them to rethink their expectations. You can get sharper but it won't be a zoom.
I have big hands i like the size
My laowa 7.5mm gets lost in my bag
Lost in a good way, I suppose!
This is my perfect lens for most event photography as well as social dance photography (think Latin dancing, the sort). I've been able to get some great bokeh/separation for mid-body to full-body shots. But yeah, I would never use this for portraits hahahah. I do wish Panasonic made a 17mm or 20mm 1.2--not quite a 50mm FF equivalent but just enough to get rid of unwanted distortions around the edges. If you're curious about some of my work, check out @bailaconciencia on Instagram :)
Yes, a 17mm would be nice but I'd prefer an f/1.4 to keep the size down. Maybe the two makers don't want to compete directly. I mentioned in my review that you'd need a reason to buy a lens like this. It's obviously a lens that'll work well for you. Nice work on there - I like the studio shots on the grey background. Something very colourful and attractive about a colour pic with mainly monochrome subject matter. Looks like you have a lot of fun there which the pix experss very well. . I must say, that Josie is a great looking female, isn't she?
Astrophotography
too heavy and lumpy for me