Are you after a fast ultrawide lens that can sit on your camera from day to night allowing you to always get the shot? One that is light in weight to toss in your bag for those long outdoor adventures? A lens whose size makes it ideal for gimbal work? Well then my friends this may be the lens for you.
Panasonic Australia was kind enough to loan me this but I will not allow that to bias my opinion at all. What you won’t get here is a deep dive into the technical specs of the lens, there are plenty of sites and people who definitely have that aspect covered. What I can offer you is my opinion on it after using it both for work and my jaunts into nature, providing you with sample images and video so you may better form your purchasing decision.
What you first notice about the lens is it is very similar physically to the other F1.8 primes in the Panasonic Lumix line up. The idea being that you can switch lenses when used on a gimbal without the need to rebalance. This speaks to how videocentric they are as a brand as no other company has considered this with their offerings.
In saying that paired with any S camera it is definitely capable of creating some amazing still images. The lens is sharp with very minimal distortion to my eyes at least, though a correction is already available in the latest Lightroom version.
AF is snappy and face tracking with this lens is improved from my use with it for video and the whole pulsing issue I notice sometimes did not seem to be present when shooting the talking head stuff I sometimes do.
Wide open at F1.8 the lens provides a beautiful blur for non distracting subject isolation. Both great in still and video when you want to give the main subject that extra pop and I know it is what a lot of people associate with “better” quality video in the vlogging world. Speaking of vlogging I imagine this lens will be hugely popular with that user group as the ultrawide coverage will allow them stay in frame more easily while allowing them to show off whatever far flung location they are in.
While some might find the 18mm restrictive, I have always been a fan of the focal length. My favourite lens for a long time was the Samyang/Rokinon 12mm F2 lens when I shot cropped sensor cameras. This lens is basically a superior full frame equivalent of that. Unfortunately in the brief time I had it, I didn’t get the chance to shoot any astrophotography with it as its been weeks of cloud cover though I am sure it would be great for that very task.
The mistiness was provided by my filter fogging up due to the wet and cold conditions not the lens itself.
If you love shooting landscapes, this lens performs beautifully for that and if you find yourself out in less than ideal circumstances the weather sealing definitely comes in handy. I was told to use the lens as I would normally treat my own gear so was out in the rain chasing some landscapes and it held up brilliantly.
So it can’t be all good right? Honestly the only sticking point for me is the price as it puts it up against the far more versatile Sigma 16-28mm f2.8 in the L Mount range, though both obviously have their disadvantages and advantages. I think if you do more video work though, this would be the choice to make. In saying that if I didn’t already have the Sigma on order I’d probably grab this myself for the faster aperture as well.
I do hope this has helped you somewhat to forming your decision and please let me know what you think about the lens.