Panasonic GH2 - Zoom or Prime?

I've recently sold my Leica Panasonic 14-150mm Vario-Elmar Zoom. Wonderful lens, but big, heavy and bulky. I'm currently using an Olympus m.Zuiko 14-150mm f/4-5.6. There's a test at Dpreview - http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_m_14-150_4-5p6_o20/ Their conclusion is a bit luke warm. 

"Overall then the 14-150mm is superzoom that delivers a perfectly competent results in a small light package. Its image quality may not please the most critical of photographers, but unless you regularly examine your images at 100% or make large prints (A4 or bigger) its flaws are unlikely to be hugely apparent. In combination with a Pen-series camera it makes a highly flexible general-purpose package with image quality to match an SLR but without the associated bulk. So while it's perhaps not a lens for the purist photographer, for many others it will make a very agreeable travel companion indeed."

I've always thought its actually a pretty decent lens however, and yesterday I did some tests to compare it with what are generally regarded as the two best m4/3 prime lenses. The Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 and Panasonic Leica 45mm f/2.8 macro. 

These are pairs of shots taken on the same camera (A Panasonic GH2) at the same settings and the same focal length. If you click through to flickr there are full size images to view. (Though these are heavily jpg compressed, so expect a few artefacts.)

For some reason most of the pictures taken with the zoom are slightly darker than with the primes but what I see from this is how similar they are. Even when the zoom is wide open. I was certainly expecting to see much more of a difference with the primes producing significantly sharper results. They do look slightly sharper to me but not as much as I would have expected.

Not really a scientific test but one thats actually very useful for me. The primes obviously have other advantages such as wider apertures and macro facility, but for everyday use in good light there seems little advantage in using them. Certainly only a very slight sharpening in Photoshop for the zoom shots would be required to make them look identical.

I always had the feeling that the Olympus 14-150mm was producing good results and it was a factor in my decision to sell the Vario-Elmar. Certainly the Olympus zoom is a pleasure to use, being very light and it also has very fast AF on the GH2. 

So a very useful exercise for me and with a somewhat unexpected result.

Battery grip for GH2 - Not!

I've just got the ownuser battery grip for Panasonic G series. Just got being the operative words since it took 23 days to arrive from Hong Kong to the UK!!

Since I don't have any of the cameras it fits legitimately (more later!) I tried it on on my GF1. It works perfectly, though looks a little odd, because the tripod thread is in a different position. It therefore looks a little off centre. However it does work, powering the camera and giving a vertical grip. So if you're in the market for a battery grip for your GF1, there's one available.

It is very light, and adds virtually no weight to the camera, but as has been mentioned before, it does have a serious flaw. There's no way to lock it to the camera, so it does move from side to side even when screwed in tight. Very irritating, still straightening it up gives you something to do between taking pictures!

Now for the interesting part. Using it on a GH2. Its not meant for the GH2 and you definitely can't use it to power the camera, as the "dummy" battery which fits in the battery compartment is the wrong size. (too big) However, and I say however with all the usual warnings about health and safety, you can get it to operate a vertical grip for the GH2. By putting in a GH1/G2/GF1 etc. battery and connecting it to the remote/mic socket, the vertical shutter button then works for AF and firing. Both batteries are the same voltage, but I can't guarentee it won't fry your camera eventually if you try it. I'm prepared to take the risk, others may not be. Plus if anyone thinks I'm doing something hazardous here, please let me know!

Firstly the grip does fit the camera, though the tripod thread not being in exactly the right place, it is a few mm's slightly further back than it should be, though this isn't a problem. This is the reason for me buying it, just to give a better "feel" to the camera. I've always had problems with the GH's in terms of holding and using them and I wanted to see if this grip improved things. I was planning to get it & if it fitted, this is how I wanted to use it. Its not perfect because its not designed for the camera, but it does achieve my aim, which is to make the GH2 a better handling camera for me. It adds very little weight, though I find the camera feels less flimsy with it on particularly when using lenses like the 14mm and 20mm pancakes. I've actually already butchered mine, cutting off the dummy battery completely, so it looks better. 

As I said its far from perfect but it mostly fulfills its purpose for me. I'd absolutely love a custom made one from Panasonic, and there were rumours, but these don't seem to have materisalised. However in the absence of that, I'll carry on with this. The vertical shutter button is a bonus, I had no idea whether that would work. Obviously no extra power for the camera, but there is a handy little compartment for storing a spare battery!!

For some its obviously a pointless exercise, but my favourite camera outfit ever was a Pentax MZ-5, battery grip and 43mm f/1.9 lens. I've always wanted to see if I could get a digital equivalent of that, and in terms of weight and size, the GH2, this grip and 20mm lens is the closest I've ever come. I've just been out to use it to take some pictures and I loved the feel of it. It doesn't exactly mould to your fingers perfectly but its close enough & I loved using the vertical shutter. Its beautifully positioned. So a sort of successful outcome. 

Incidentally, if you're interested in it for the cameras its designed for, I think it would work very well, if you can put up with it moving from side to side occasionally. It did seem with two batteries to slightly speed up the AF on my GF1, but don't take that too seriously as I only tried it briefly.

 



 

Zeiss 18mm f/4 Distagon

It probably comes as no great surprise that a Zeiss lens on a  Leica M9 body takes great pictures. There would be something wrong if it didn't. The 18mm f/4 Distagon is a superb lens. I liked the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 I had but this is sharper, with a great colour rendition. 








I tried zone focusing with it, using the depth of field scale, and it did work. Infinity is Infinity on this lens so the depth of field markers are accurate. However with lenses such as this the point of focus is so sharp that I prefer to focus on my main subject rather than just let the depth of field have everything more or less in focus. There's a couple of articles on this below.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field


http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps%20how%20zone%20focus.html








All of the raw files for these pictures were run through Cornerfix, which sorted out the vignetting. 





For me an M-Mount lens is just as liable to get used on a m4/3 camera as on my Leica. Trying it on my GH2 it was again very impressive. These below were tripod mounted shots at f/11 and the originals are very sharp indeed. The colours are absolutely spot on as well.

















Even at this small web size you should be able to see just how sharp this lens is in this last picture. Also its ability to render the various shades of green.


I also took some shots outdoors with the lens set wide open at f/4. 

















Again, even at these small sizes the definition in these shots should be apparent. f/4 is not a particularly fast aperture, but the wide open performance was still very impressive. It was sharp across the frame which is not always the case with wide-angle lenses like this.


So another excellent Zeiss lens. I was pleased with it because my last experience with a Zeiss 18mm wasn't so good.





The 18mm Distagon SLR lens that I used in my Nikon and Canon DSLR's and m4/3 was a very disappointing lens. I bought it despite reading quite a few negative reviews and after using it for a while wished I'd taken more notice of them. It did produce quite soft results, and had very poor edge definition even when stopped down.


This time the reviews I read of the 18mm M-mount were much more positive, and the lens has proved to be as good as they say. 


I first encountered Zeiss lenses some years ago when I used a Contax film camera. With only the one exception I have found them to be excellent. This 18mm Distagon is one of the best.


I'm pleased with it because of the difficulties I've had finding a really good wide angle lens. Many I've used have performed well stopped down or had good centre performance but have proved less good wide open or sharp across the frame.


One example of this is the Pentax 15mm f/4 limited lens I have for my Pentax K-5. While it gives excellent results stopped down, at f/4 its very soft at the edges, while being sharp at its centre. For some pictures that often doesn't matter but it can be a problem.








I do like the lens, and it has a really nice colour rendition, but getting a wide-angle right, even with a prime lens doesn't seem to be as simple as you would think. However Zeiss have done a good job with the 18mm f/4 Distagon.


Words - David
Images- David and Ann

Panasonic GH2 - Part 11 Conclusions

The light wasn't wonderful yesterday, contrary to the weather forecast so I didn't get much with the Leica 14-50mm f3.5-5.6 D. I will do this better at some later date.


CONCLUSION


There will be no great surprises here as much of it has been said already. This has been less of a review than a user experience. This is not a camera I've been sent to assess and then send back, its a camera I have bought. If I don't like it, I'm stuck with it!


However there wasn't much doubt that I wouldn't like it. There were enough samples around before it even arrived on my doorstep for me to be fairly certain that it would produce excellent results. And so it has proved.


There are often questions on forums as to whether m4/3 can compete with DSLR's. After the GH2 there may be other questions posed. Such as those from DSLR owners saying "Why can't my camera do what the GH2 can?" There is such a breadth of quality features on this new Panasonic camera plus the addition of of some genuinely innovative ones that m4/3 is not struggling to catch up with the DSLR world but has overtaken much of it.


Articulated screen, HD video with full manual control, 18MP multi-aspect sensor, 1 to 1 crop video mode, touch screen control, faster AF, manual focus assistance, great ergonomics, light, small, the ability to use literally 1000's of lenses are some of the features the GH2 can offer.  The old criticisms of poor high ISO performance and dynamic range have been addressed with the new sensor and the GH2 can now hold its own in those areas. 


Despite Panasonics insistence on including "Intelligent Auto" and those ridiculous pictogram program modes, this isn't a point and shoot, a beginners camera or an electronic toy. This is a serious camera for serious photography and videography. 


OK there may be parts of the new menu system that I don't like, but there's nothing I can't live with. Whether the body is up to extended and long term use I can't say. The two GH1's that I have bought have both stood up to whatever I've asked them to do and are still working perfectly, so it is to be hoped that the GH2 will follow suit. 


I haven't mentioned the picture quality yet. However from all the previous sections you will have realised by now that I'm very impressed with it. The 16MP files have the "glossy" Panasonic look I like. The sensor does justice to all the lenses I have used on it, producing sharp, detailed images that are a pleasure to look at.


A camera I will use with pleasure and confidence.

Panasonic GH2 - Part 9 The "Dream Team"

Probably my favourite twin lens combination. Lumix 20mm f1.7 and Olympus 50mm f2 macro. Two fast, light, high quality prime lenses. I took them out yesterday as a mild thaw took place and I could spend more than a few minutes outdoors without feeling that various parts of my anatomy were going to drop off from the cold.

LUMIX 20mm f/1.7 PANCAKE LENS


When I first got the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 Nokton and used it on my GH1, I wondered how it compared with this lens, since they are close in terms of focal and speed. I said that I felt that the Voigtlander was slightly sharper, but wasn't really sure. With the arrival of the GH2 I'm not much further along in resolving that issue and have decided that if they are that close then its not really that important. 





The 20mm is better wide open, the 25mm is faster. The 20mm has AF, the 25mm is slightly better at optimum aperture. Swings and roundabouts really. I'm happy to have both to use.







OLYMPUS 50mm f/2 MACRO LENS



I used the Olympus lens with Auto Focus. After using it as a manual focus lens on my GH1 it is nice to have the AF function. Though it certainly isn't particularly fast. It goes through this routine of edging ever nearer the point of focus before deciding its there and snapping into sharp focus. Occasionally it misses. Its a frustrating lens in that way and spoils what is an incredible piece of optical engineering. Every shot with AF takes a few seconds to complete, so its not a lens for quick reaction shots.











After using these two lenses yesterday I've even more convinced that the GH2's metering is working in some kind of highlight protection mode. Both the jpg and raw files I'm getting from the camera are erring more towards underexposure than any other m4/3 camera I've used. This is happening in all metering modes. There are occasions when nothing can help such as the shot below, where any sensor would struggle.

But I do anticipate a few less problems with dynamic range using the GH2. It was a concern I had, as the sensor has more pixels in the same space, but Panasonic seem to have dealt with that issue, and certainly the problem is no worse than with the GH1 and from what I see, probably slightly better.


Words - David
Images - David and Ann

Panasonic GH2 - Part 8 Video with Voigtlander 25mm f0.95

This is a video shot with the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 Nokton lens at f/1.4 throughout. It shows the video 1 to 1 crop mode, EX. TELE CONV. in the menu which creates the movie by restricting the lens that it shoots through to the 1920 x 1080 size of full HD video. This gives you 2 lenses in one. The normal focal length, in this case 25mm and an approx. 2.6x increase, in your lens range for video. (For stills it just reduces the size of the image recorded to 1920 x 1080 pixels.) So for the Voigtlander its a 35mm/full frame equivalent of a 250mm f0.95.


This isn't a digital zoom, its the same quality as the normal size lens would provide. Amazing feature, and as others have said Panasonic don't seem to be making anything of it. Apparently if you use the 100-300mm zoom at the 300mm end you get the 35mm/full-frame equivalent of a 1500mm lens!!!

Panasonic GH2 - Part 7 Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 Nokton - ISO and aperture tests

Some shots with the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 Nokton. Comparisons at f/0.95 and f/8 which I believe is the optimum aperture on my copy. The images are quite big if you click through and view them on flickr. Again, you guessed it, very good, very sharp, especially the f/8 ones.


These are again from the out of camera jpgs. and again they are rather good.


There's a little useful trick for manual lenses on the GH2, you touch the screen at the point you want to focus on, and the magnified view comes up in the EVF or on the screen. Very handy.

















These are two sets of ISO tests. Shot at f/8.


This one runs 160, 320, 640, 1250, 2500, 5000, 12800, 





This one runs 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800




Both are bigger on flickr.


Just to say that these are good light tests. High ISO results do tend to look worse in poor light, such as dark interiors.


Finally this is an aperture test at ISO 160
f/0.95, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16