Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 8-18mm f/2.8-4 ASPH. Lens
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Fairly dark, not as optimal for astrophotography as I hoped
Prior to buying the 8-18, I'd just bought the Nocticron, which is an amazing lens allowing me to "see" stars & clusters on f1.2 - 1.3" exposures not visible with the naked eye with IS binoculars. That got me interested in night landscape photography, one of the main reasons I bought this lens. There are a few notable issues on the 8-18. #1 the front glass element retracts into the lens as you zoom inwards. The tube it rides in is then fully open ... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great lens. The Ultimate m43 UWA lens IMHO
Great lens so far. Bought it as replacement for my Olympus 7-14/2.8. The Olympus 7-14/2.8 is an amazing lens, but I found it more useful when doing serious work, but a lot less for walk-around. It was big and heavy (in m43 standards), would not take normal filters, and the adapter for 100mm square filters for it was decent, but required gentle handling. Finally the bulbous front element always made me worried I would bump it into something. The P... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Solid images, built to be stored in a case all day unused
I will start by noting that the image quality is quite good with this lens. Of the 200 or so pictures I had taken with the lens I had yet to find an issue with any of them. No noticeable chromatic aberration, good color, solid contrast and only the slightest amount of vignetting at the edges. I would give this a five star (understanding the context that it is a M43 lens), but image quality is only half the story. The other half of the story is bu... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
All the rave reviews seem to be true
I bought this lens after reading mulitple reviews from several sources, often comparing the other similar offerings from Panasonic and Olympus. One point I would emphasize is this lens is not light or small but is much lighter than the Oly 7-14m f2.8 and a little smaller. Pana lens 315 grams 2.89" X 3.46" Oly lens 534 grams 3.11" X 4.17" I would not want a lens weighing over a pound. Both are expensive, currently similarly priced over $1000. i... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great Lens
I really like this lens for my Olympus OMD E M1 Mark II kit. I have the 12-40 mm f2.8 PRO, the 40-120mm f2.8 PRO lenses and the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 and needed to compliment these with something wider for landscapes. I decided to go with this lens instead of the Olympus 7-14 mm f2.8 PRO mostly because I have a similar Leica lens on a LUMIX LX100 (one of my backup cameras) and have been simply amazed at how good it is. Ive had this new lens o... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
A treat
I bought the 8-18 to replace my Panasonic 7-14. The 7-14 is quite sharp and the appropriate size & weight for a m43 camera. But as others have pointed out, the 7-14 will sometimes show blue fringing which, on an Olympus body is not automatically removed and no, it is not easy to fix with Photoshop or Lightroom. The 8-18 has far less chromatic aberration and although it's larger than the 7-14, it's still quite light, unlike the massive Olympu... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great lens
Great build quality and a Leica lens in every way. The sharpness and contrast make the photos look 3D. The zoom range of this lens is really useful. Its not quite as wide as my Lumix 7-14 but its very wide and is working really well as a super wide lens. With the zoom reaching 18mm (36mm equivalent) it is a great street photography lens. The range was perfect for my first use at an auto sho. I got great pictures of details and really artful photo... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Decent but not worth the price.
For a lens of that price, I expect technical excellence. The lens is overall decent, sharp at the centre, good build, creates nice enough images. But the corners are a complete mess. The corners are a blurred/smeared dark mess of vignetting and corrected distortion at most of the zoom range. I don't think my copy is necessarily a 'bad' one. One corner seems a bit worse than the others but not significantly so. I'd say calling this lens a tru... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great wide angle zoom for Micro Four Thirds
I had been using the Canon 16-35 2.8 Version II primarily for event shooting, mostly indoors. When I switched systems to Micro Four Thirds the 8-18 was the best option for my purposes. The 2.8 is only available at 8 which is primarily where I use it. The image quality is excellent and the weight works well with the small GX8's that I use. It's got some weather & spill proofing and is well crafted. The only other lens I considered was the Olympus 7-14 2.8 which is bigger, heavier, more expensive and provided the 2.8 throughout the range which I didn't really need. So...
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Fantastic UWA lens - one of the best I've used
I'm a fairly experienced photographer who has settled on using the micro 4/3 system after having used larger FF systems from Canon and Sony. I do a lot of landscape and cityscape photography and so a UWA is a key lens for me. I've used UWAs from Canon and Sony and more recently the Panasonic 7-14mm for micro 4/3. This 8-18 beats them all in terms of sharpness corner to corner wide open and, more importantly, in terms of image contrast/micro-contrast. It's a really great lens and the best UWA on the market for micro 4/3 users.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Severe Decentering
I bought this lens and returned it three times, the last time for a refund. Everyone of them was severely decentered. The center and right side of the photos was tack sharp, and the left side so soft that the images were completely unusable. The second copy I got was not as bad as the first and third, but it was decentered too. An $1100 lens needs to be sharp on BOTH sides of the image. This seems to be a common issue with this lens judging from what a google search told me. I would not buy one if I were you.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Lens is great, but Panasonic is gouging on parts.
I've been shooting Panasonic M43 since the G1. I've owned multiple Lumix bodies and lenses since then, but I've probably bought my last Panasonic body or lens after I found out they're charging $175 for a replacement hood for this lens. I bought this lens just under 2 years ago from B&H and to be clear, it's a great performer. It's sharp, well built and the focal length is fantastic for city shooting. But gouging on replacement parts it not a good way to maintain brand loyalty. Listen up Panasonic...
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Comparable but different from the Oly 7-14 Pro
I use the 8-18 on a Pen F. The ergonomics of that lens/camera combo are pleasing. This lens delivers excellent micro contrast, vivid color and amazing sharpness. ... However, at 8mm, pictures are sometimes slightly soft in the far lower left frame. My Oly 7-14 Pro exhibited a similar issue. I ended up selling the Oly because it was cumbersome.For my style of photography, the PanaLeica is preferable. Being able to use it with 67mm screw-on filters is a big plus.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
This is a Spectacular Lens. Worth the wait.
I've been waiting for this lens for use on my Lumix GX7 and GX8. Since Olympus released their 7-14 f 2.8, I've been waiting for Panasonic to upgrade their 7-14 f4. Finally they did with this lens and it is worth the wait. It is a good looker as well as a good performer. I like the removable lens shade. The lens is VERY SHARP, corner to corner at both the 8 mm and the 18mm lengths. No distortion is noticeable when processed in Lightroom CC. A spectacular lens!!
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
An ideal Vlogging lens
Although bit on the expensive side, this lens is absolutely perfect with the GH5 for vlogging. The ability to attach filters this lens without special adapters sets it apart from other wide angle lenses in the micro43 line. Also, the ability to do focus pulls with the GH5 gives it great versatility. It covers a great range ending at 36mm full frame equivalent. It's light and solidly built. My only wish is that it had IS for video purposes.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Best choice among super wide MFT lens and filters.
This is a near perfect landscape lens. It's size and weight make it comfortable and easy to use on my Olympus E-M1.2. A major reason this lens was purchased over other super wide MFT lenses is the ability to take my Lee Seven 5 series filters using the standard 67mm adapter ring Also, it has excellent sharpness and color fidelity. If you use filters for your landscape work, it is an excellent choice.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Better than the Lumix 7-14mm
My collection of m4/3 lenses was missing a super-wide angle, and this fits the bill nicely. 8-18mm is a more useful range of focal length than the 7-14, and the inclusion of filter threads on the front means I can use ND filters without a matte box. f2.8 on the wide end allows even a bit of shallow DOF when close focusing. Lightweight and the autofocus is very responsive. So far I love this lens.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Unique lens
This is a nice, solid lens that balances well on both my Olympus EM1.2 and Panasonic GX9. It feels nice in the hand. The lens is fairly basic, with only an AF/MF switch, but CA is well controlled, and flare is about as good as can be expected. The fact that it can take 67mm screw in filters is a big plus; many of the ultrawide zooms for m43 cameras have protruding front elements.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Excellent Ultra-Wide
I haven't had this lens very long so only able to take some test shots. Images wide open at 8mm were sharp with little fall off in the corners. Shots a f5.6 and f8 were very sharp so I'm keeping this lens. Bought the lens as an alternative to the Olympus 7 - 14mm Pro lens because it's lighter, less expensive, accepts screw on filters and the build quality is good.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Landscape Photographers Take Note!
Because the front lens element is recessed so deeply, I have experienced reflections when using filters, both screw in and flat plate. The writing on the inside lens barrel shows up in the image under a variety of lighting conditions. It's a very nice lens, and I'd recommend it if you don't use filters (or don't mind the hassle of cleaning it up in post).
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
flaky focus - otherwise a great lens
I'm a little disappointed that the focus has been flaky with this lens. The first time I attached this lens to my GH4 I could not get the lens to focus in auto or manual modes. I had to remove the lens and re-attach and then the focus worked fine. I encountered this focus issue again a few days later. When the focus works, it works great.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
I was fortunate to get a perfect copy of this lens.
It is excellent design and very sharp throughout the whole focal length range if you are lucky enough to get a good copy. I am very happy with mine but a friend of mine got one which was terrible. Unfortunately there are copy to copy variations like with so many other lenses. I rated it 5 star since mine is excellent, very happy with it.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Love It to Bits
My all time favorite m43 lens. Sharp from edge to edge with 1 stop down. This thing is on my camera body most of the time now, and I'm having so much fun and so many great pics. I chose this over the Olympus 7-14mm mainly for the filter threads by the way. But also for the zoom range. I find 8-18mm more versatile than 7-14mm.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
A high Quality Lens
I have not had the lens for more than 3 weeks but the photos are sharp. I debated about the 7-14 f4 but after thought and many reviews I chose this lens. I use it on my Olympus OMD-1. The advantage is you can use a screw on filter and the edge to edge sharpness is superior.This as many have said is a pro built Lens.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
