Meet Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4

Not only does it lack manual aperture, it looks like it has no focus scale and thus is a fly-by-wire focus lens, nothing I'd like to shoot moving images with. Can't use neither muscle memory, nor follow focus on such puppies.
 
I don't see the value of comparing the Voigtlander to this new PanaLeica lens directly - one's a high quality manual prime, and one is a high quality electric prime. Different lenses for different uses.
 
Many might not want to spend on two bright 25mm primes if one or the other can cover the needs. Both lenses have their pros and cons.
 
Whether I'm shooting stills, or video, the 25mm Nokton is my favorite lens on the GH2. One press on the camera's rear wheel, & the image enlarges to 1:1 focus assist, while another brings it back to full frame.

In anything other then ideal lighting, I can manually focus the Nokton faster then the GH2 can autofocus Panasonic's own m4/3 lenses. With 4/3 lenses I don't trust the GH2's AF in any light, & though it requires a two button combination to bring up 1:1 with 4/3 lenses, I still always manual focus.

Best,
Bern
 
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TheDingo said:
It's only half the price if you are using a Canon Full-Frame sensor camera.

If you are using a APS-C sensor Canon then the equivalent is a 35mm f/1.4 lens, which costs double what this Panasonic lens costs.
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And if I want to fully utilize my $1700 Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II on the AF100 I'll also need a $700 Birger adapter, so $2400 total.

By comparison I could buy the Nokton, plus the Panasonic/Leica, & still have plenty dough left over.
 
Bern Caughey said:
In anything other then ideal lighting, I can manually focus the Nokton faster then the GH2 can autofocus Panasonic's own m4/3 lenses. With 4/3 lenses I don't trust the GH2's AF in any light, & though it requires a two button combination to bring up 1:1 with 4/3 lenses, I still always manual focus.
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This sounds odd. The GH2 contrast-detection AF has been measured extensively around 0.2 sec with the Lumix G 14-140mm. Many respected reviewers consider GH2 CDAF speed and accuracy best all-round of any current camera. Your application must be highly specialized.
 
Bern Caughey said:
Whether I'm shooting stills, or video, the 25mm Nokton is my favorite lens on the GH2. One press on the camera's rear wheel, & the image enlarges to 1:1 focus assist, while another brings it back to full frame.
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Stating the obvious - but MAN I wish we had that on the AF100. Still can't figure out why it was left off.
 
This is great news. More fast lenses for MFT cams. I do want to see video MFT lenses from Leica and Panasonic or heck any company for that matter. That gap needs to be filled more than still lenses.
I love my "V" so not interested at this time.
 
Another price update. Adorama has this lens on pre-order for $599. This is considerably lower than anticipated. Now we need to read reviews.
 
Bern Caughey said:
And if I want to fully utilize my $1700 Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II on the AF100 I'll also need a $700 Birger adapter, so $2400 total.

By comparison I could buy the Nokton, plus the Panasonic/Leica, & still have plenty dough left over.
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but canon u can use with any other product and video and photo camera, and it will probably will serve u like for ever with many future produced products, not like pany..... plus having so much minuses in terms of using it with video..... just dont seems to be right thing to buy especially when it coast so much
i see it this way - buying canon its investment , pany lens - almost waist of money.... dont know why pany dont want to create a nice lens for their camcorder...... light sensitive with reliable manual focus, and possible working OIS
 
anatusa said:
dont know why pany dont want to create a nice lens for their camcorder
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My quess is that the M43 system is driven by photo, not video. The AF100 is a fluke. Panasonic knows that it must develop stills lenses first; there are many gaps in the lineup. Besides, they probably figure the AF100 crowd can live with everything manual, and so can use cheap mount adapters for nearly any lens out there. So to expect the AF100 users, who can spend $4700 on the camcorder, to cover over with several $1000+ non-native 3rd party lenses is more plausible than the still M43 users, who spend under $700 on the still body. Also, the video crowd is picky, and would not settle for just any sloppy pancake cine M43 lens. Designing a decent cine lens for a low volume product (AF100) probably makes little financial sense at this time. But adapting a cine lens is possible and quick. This is what Zeiss did with the CP.2 primes. Hence, the current focus is on the stills market, where sales volume is significantly larger.

If I am allowed to speculate further, I would say that we are not going to see a specialty cine M43 lens from Panasonic any time soon. Having excellent non-native cine glass available makes me think this prediction is probably true. Although a decent 12-72mm (6x) cine lens like the Canon Zoom XL would not hurt any AF100 user.
 
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Availability update. Both Adorama and B&H have the H-X025 lens posted at $599 with availability in July. Also, maybe of interest, Olympus is set to announce two new M43 lenses on June 30th: a 12mm f/2.0 around $800 and 45mm f/1.7 around $300 with alleged instant availability.
 
DPreview.com posted an image gallery shot with the new Panasonic Leica DG 25mm F/1.4 ASPH. Video sampleas are being posted here and there, but so far the footage is short and haphazard. Guess decent video will become available when this lens is properly reviewed.
 
I would like to know if the lens "breathes" like the 20mm 1.7

Is it silent unlike the 20mm 1.7?
 
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