Panasonic G1 Lens Comparisons

[scho]

Here is a first attempt at comparing lens performance on the G1. Weather was rotten here today with sleet and rain so I just took some shots out my back door. This shoot compares the Panny 14-45 kit lens to the Oly 12-60 SWD, both at about 45mm for this first shot that I posted. Details on the pbase comparison page. Looks pretty much like a wash to me so far - no dramatic differences. Other shots at 14mm and 25mm led to the same conclusion. I used the Panasonic 4/3 to m4/3 adapter for the 12-60 and manually focused both shots with maximum magnification on the LCD, tripod mounted.
I'll do some more when light is better outside.
http://www.pbase.com/scho/olypana

PS - I used a custom made profile for the G1 with the DNG editor and a shot of the ColorChecker Chart for use in LR, but not that much different from the standard LR G1 profile.

 

[Vivek]

Carl, Is there any difference (I do not notice any in your side by side shots)?

 

[jonoslack]

Hi There
Nice view out of your back door! (where are you? . . . . if it's not rude to ask!)

I haven't got my adaptor yet, but my initial response is surprise at how close they are, and more at how similar the bokeh is. Of course, the 12-60 is much faster.

My second response is 'why am I surprised' the results I'm seeing, and the people who seem happy with this dinky little lens indicates how good it really is!

 

[scho]

Vivek, No dramatic differences, but this is only one shot.
Jono, I'm in Ithaca, NY (Finger Lakes region of upstate NY) and the weather is quite grim this time of year.

Edit: I mistakenly did some of the screen grabs in the develop module and that is why they looked the same. Corrected all now and you can see some slight differences, but still nothing major.

 

[Martin S]

Just received the 4/3 to m4/3 adapter, and mounted the 25 mm pancake.

Lens focus is a bit slower than the kit lens, and also has a different 3 phase focussing motion. It might be the same with the kit lens, but it is not so obvious when compared to the 4/3 lens.

Will take some more shots today. I never realized how noisy the pancake focus sound is as compared to the kit lens (still not bad).

Can a SWD focus system for the native m4/3 lens be possible??

Martin

 

[scho]

Just received the 4/3 to m4/3 adapter, and mounted the 25 mm pancake.

Lens focus is a bit slower than the kit lens, and also has a different 3 phase focussing motion. It might be the same with the kit lens, but it is not so obvious when compared to the 4/3 lens.

Will take some more shots today. I never realized how noisy the pancake focus sound is as compared to the kit lens (still not bad).

Can a SWD focus system for the native m4/3 lens be possible??

Martin

Martin, Did you update the firmware for the 25mm lens?

Regards,
Carl

 

[Martin S]

Firmware of pancake lens is 1.2 which is what the latest update. I had a problem with the firmware update f the 25 mm f 1.4. Downloaded the update which is was in .bin (Mac). Tried to decompress, but it did not convert, and was unreadable by the G1.

Any ideas????


Martin

 

[edslaughter]

I don't have any of the lenses, but plan to so I tried the download. My mac, running OS 10.5.5 can't decode the firmware (for the 25mm f2.8--I didn't see a 1.4) either. The .bin file turns into a .cpgz file. OS 10 natively doesn't understand these, but supposedly Stuffit Expander does. Using Stuffit, however, the .cpgz merely becomes a .bin again (!). Bad tight loop. I think there is something wrong with the download.

Ed

 

[Brian Mosley]

I did a comparison set today with the ZD 25mm pancake / ZD 50mm f2 macro / ZD 14-35mm f2 SWD / PL 14-150 / Hexanon 40mm / Hexanon 57mm f1.2 / Hexanon 85mm f1.8 / Hexanon 135mm f2.5 / Lumix kit lens.

The subject was a pot plant, pretty boring really... and the angles were different so I didn't think it was worth posting the results. I shot everything at f4 and they were all sharp.

When you have to pixel peep at 400% to see a difference, is it really worth it? the Lumix kit lens is almost as sharp as the 40 year old Hexanon 40mm pancake :sleep006:

The G1 is a marvelous combination of flexibility and quality... it's the best option for manual legacy lenses imho.

Kind Regards

Brian

 

[Martin S]

Thank you edslaughter for the response.

Something like this is always more understood when a second observer finds a similar outcome.

Brian, if you have contacts at Panasonic, could you inform them of he problem????

Thanks to all.

Still trying out the 9-18 mm on the G1. Will let you know more about this later. BTW camera s very sensitive to adapter conection either to the lens, or the camera since it asks about the connection repeatedly, and will not show an image until I tightened, and then loosened the adapter. Will see if this remains a problem.

Martin

 

[Stuart Richardson]

Well for me, looking at these crops, the 12-60 looks better...particularly in the corners. It is sharper in the corners, but it also does not have any color fringing or chromatic aberration, which the 14-45 seems to suffer from.

 

[Cindy Flood]

Re: Updating Lenses

I don't have any of the lenses, but plan to so I tried the download. My mac, running OS 10.5.5 can't decode the firmware (for the 25mm f2.8--I didn't see a 1.4) either. The .bin file turns into a .cpgz file. OS 10 natively doesn't understand these, but supposedly Stuffit Expander does. Using Stuffit, however, the .cpgz merely becomes a .bin again (!). Bad tight loop. I think there is something wrong with the download.

Ed

I was able to download the update for the 25 f/2.8 and accomplish the update. I made a test folder on my Mac desktop and downloaded the file to it. I clicked on the file and extracted it. I double clicked on the extracted file and then had the .cpgz file, too. I formatted an SD card in the G1 and then loaded the .bin and .cpgz (I wasn't sure which I needed). I put the card in the G1 and pressed the play button. The G1 asked me if I wanted to update and I followed the instructions. Afterward, I pressed Menu, Setup, Version and the version was now showing 1.2.
BTW, I think that the instructions are very confusing (and I read them all). I originally went to the Menu, Setup, Version scenario and was trying to update from there. Nothing happens. In frustration, I started over from the beginning. I downloaded, extracted, copied to the card again and went right to the green play button and it worked.
Note: I believe that your battery needs to be fully charged before trying to update.

 

[edslaughter]

Cindy,

Thank you very much for posting this. I'll save you notes for when I get my adpater/lens--because is certainly would never have occurred to me that the _camera_ does the decompression.

Ed

 

[scho]

I added three shots to the lens comparison page today. Taken with the Olympus 50-200mm SWD f/2.8-3.5 lens. Definitely a tripod combination. Nasty weather with sleet and rain.
http://www.pbase.com/scho/olypana

 

[Martin S]

Thank you Cindy for the info. I will try it.

Hopefully it will work here also.

Thanks again.

Martin