Category Archives: Micro Four-Thirds

Panasonic’s μFT cameras

How wide is the iPhone UWA lens?

iPad, Micro Four-Thirds, Photography

Incredibly so!

It’s not easy to convey just how wide the UWA in the iPhone 11 is. Apple states it’s 13mm FFE, so I decided to compare results with those from my Panasonic GX7 MFT body fitted with the 7.5mm MFT Rokinon fisheye (both now sold). As I have little interest in heavy spherical distortion (iPhone 11 UWA) or in the tedious fisheye effect (Rokinon), both images were corrected for linear projection, using my lens correction profile for the iPhone 11 (which reduces the FFE to some 14mm) and Fisheye Hemi for the Rokinon image. The defished Rokinon field of view computes to 12mm FFE.




GX7/Rokinon at left.

There’s much to be learned here. Both images were taken under identical fluorescent lighting with the cameras set to Auto White Balance. The Rokinon image is certainly 2mm or so wider, but there the Rokinon’s advantage ends. The iPhone does a superb job of auto white balance, rendering realistic daylight tones but, more importantly, take a look at the near cylinder on my classic BMW motorcycle. The dynamic range correction from the iPhone is superb. The MFT would need significant post processing to recover the shadows.

Except for distortion correction, both images are SOOC.

So yes, the UWA’s image is not quite as wide as that from a de-fished fisheye. But the advantage of the computational photography applied within the iPhone, which greatly enhances dynamic range, considerably outweighs the slight loss of width.

A bigger Panny?

Micro Four-Thirds

Let’s hope.

The Panasonic GX7 has been my ‘go to’ snapper for the past five years. It’s hard to imagine a small body and outstanding lens line-up being improved for street snapping. Mine started life with the 14-45mm kit zoom from the ground breaking Panasonic G1, an outstanding lens if a tad roughly executed. That gave way to the Olympus 17mm MFT optic which was eventually replaced by the slightly bulkier Panasonic 12-35mm pro zoom which brought a fixed f/2.8 maximum aperture and greatly improved mechanical quality over the original kit zoom. Mounted on the GX7 it makes for the perfect combination, adequate for 95% of what I snap.

In recent weeks the market has seen the announcement of two very credible Nikon full frame offerings and a distinctly underwhelming Canon body (tired old sensor, no full frame 4K recording and – wait for it – no IBIS) which we need not dwell upon here. The Nikon Z6 and Z7 promise to integrate well with old Nikon lenses, except for the first AF/AF D series where AF is lost. But for this heavy user of old ‘metal era’ MF Nikkors, some of the finest lenses ever made, it’s a very tempting proposition, adding IBIS and preserving EXIF data recording with chipped lenses.

But there’s another exciting rumor making the rounds and that is the possibility that Panasonic may introduce a full frame mirrorless body.

Little is known of this rumored body but the potential is thrilling. Whatever lens mount Panny elects – maybe Leica M given their technical association with Leica these many years – you can bet that the flange-to-sensor distance will be very slim as there’s no space needed for a flapping mirror. This makes adapting of other makers’ lenses a simple matter. And Panny, being smart, would likely market an adapter for its superb MFT lenses working in MFT format mode, extending their utility value. After all, the magic of MFT is not in the small bodies but in the small lenses that they sport. No FF lens will ever overcome the rule of physics – they will always be larger to cover the full frame. If Panny does not market it you can leave it to the aftermarket to quickly come up with a Nikon F lens adapter. And Panny has class leading video in its Gx series MFT bodies so the opportunity to take on the full frame pro market is very appealing.

Let’s hope this rumor comes true as no one knows more about making mirrorless SLRs than Panasonic. Either way, the modern snapper has never had a better choice of hardware.

Rokinon MFT 7.5mm f/3.5 MFT fisheye lens – Part I

Lenses, Micro Four-Thirds, Photography

Exceptional and cheap.



The Rokinon 7.5mm fisheye for MFT. Click the image to go to Amazon.



Garden cranes at sunset. There are no halos from the sun. Uncorrected original at f/8.


Corrected in Fisheye-Hemi from Imaudio. Graded darkening of the sky added in LR.

At $218 the Rokinon MFT fisheye lens costs less than a third of its Panasonic counterpart; it sacrifices AF and full EXIF data for truly outstanding all metal construction and resolution to die for. I have not tested the Panny FE but reviews disclose that the Rokinon is a far better optic. The 7.5mm fisheye is the only true MFT lens listed by Rokinon on its USA site; all others are either APS-C or full frame adapted to the Panny/Oly MFT bayonet mount and are, accordingly, huge and out of proportion on an MFT body.

I have no interest in the gimmickry of fisheye perspective but I am very interested in having an ultrawide prime. I first experimented with de-fishing images from my Canon FF fisheye here, concluding that defished images were almost as sharp as those from a very costly Canon 14mm prime and came in at 12mm effective focal length. That’s considerably wider.

While there are many fisheye profiles to be found in Lightroom, none does a great job and there is not one tailored to this lens. Some fishing around (sorry!) on the web disclosed that there was an outstanding plugin for LR from Imaudio for $30 and after testing the trial version, which watermarks the processed image, I sprung for it. There is no loss of edge definition unlike with the stock LR profiles and the image is considerably wider, less being lost. Look carefully at the above images and you will see that content loss really is negligible.

In keeping with the MFT aesthetic, the lens is tiny, unlike your FF or APS-C fisheye with an adapter.

Manual focusing:

The Rokinon is a manual focus optic. However the great depth of field means that careful focusing is really only needed at close distances and large apertures. Otherwise at, say, f/8 (the aperture ring has half click-stops except between f/16 and f/22) the focus is set at the hyperfocal distance (just short of infinity, like in the first image above) and you bang away, happy as a clam. When careful manual focus is required, using the relatively stiff focus collar, Panny MFT cameras come with the best focus aid in the business. Having first set ‘Shoot w/o lens’ on the last page of the third menu to ‘Yes’, allowing the lens to be recognized, you push the left quadrant rear button once, then the Set button. The center of the image is magnified allowing easy critical focus. On the GX7 you can vary the magnification using the knurled wheel around the shutter release button. I have mine set to maximum magnification.

When focused the group of lens elements extends within the confines of the petal, non-detachable lens hood. The total extension is around 1/8″. The rear glass moves forward a like amount suggesting that all the elements are being moved in unison during focusing. There is no way to attach filters and the deep, provided lens cap must be correctly oriented to clip on and lock in place. In practice the lens hood’s petals do a fine job of protecting the front glass. A rear lens cap is also provided and fits well.

The same lens appears to be marketed under a variety of brand names, including Bower and Samyang. Buy the cheapest. I much prefer chrome finish lenses and the Rokinon comes in a chrome variant; however, I have read that the chromed focus ring is plastic whereas the black one is very much metal, so I opted for the latter. The weight is just 6.2 ozs (176 grams). As I stated above, it is tiny, easily accommodated in a trouser or jacket pocket.

As I only ever use my GX7 bodies in aperture priority auto-exposure mode, correct exposure is guaranteed with the Rokinon, despite the absence of any communication mechanism between lens and body. Of course, one of the most appealing bits of magic of the MFT format comes into play here: as the aperture is changed the finder image remains the same brightness, for the finder automatically adjusts to the change in aperture. The only variable which visibly changes is depth of field.

Along with the outstanding 12-35mm f/2.8 Panasonic pro zoom and the small GX7 Panny body the user has a full frame equivalent lens range of 12mm to 70mm. The size:performance equation here seems to be impossible to improve on.

More in Part II.

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 Power OIS MFT lens – Part II

Micro Four-Thirds, Photographs

Outstanding in every respect.

The mechanical aspects of the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 12-35mm zoom were outlined here.

This is a costly zoom and for the money you get a fixed f/2.8 maximum aperture, a far higher standard of construction than the kit zoom, with silky smooth controls, and bulk not much greater than the kit lens. The original 14-45mm kit zoom was a fine optic and you can read about it here. It has long been discontinued but affordable ones can be found on the used market.

What does the 12-35mm add? Outstanding micro-contrast and edge to edge sharpness even at full aperture, an f/2.8 which comes in handy in marginal lighting. And the extra width at 12mm is a good trade-off for the loss of 10mm at the long end.

Here’s a selection of images taken in Williams and Sedona, Arizona the other day.


In Williams, AZ: Boat. 26mm, f/5.6


No halos, right into the sun. 24mm, f/6.3.


Brando lives! 12mm, f/6.3.


Hot rod. 32mm, f/6.3.


Steaks & BBQ. 25mm, f/7.1.


Cruiser’s. 14mm, f/5.6.


Deserted. Note the Art Deco touch on the bank building at left. 23mm, f/5.6.


Western outfitters. 23mm, f/5.6.


Sultana Theater. 12mm, f/4.5.


Sultana Theater plaque. 33mm, f/5.6.


Tasting and Tap house, formerly an opium den! 29mm, f/5.6.


Santa Fe. 17mm, f/5.6.


Native America Trading Post. 35mm, f/5.6.


Halloween witch. 12mm, f/4.


Italian Bistro (what?), 22mm, f/10.


Grand Canyon Hotel. 31mm, f/10.


Grand Canyon Hotel plaque. 16mm, f/5.6.


The Carriage House is a separate three room building in back of the hotel. 31mm, f/10.


In Sedona, AZ: Tinplate display at the Son Silver West gallery in Sedona. 19mm, f/6.3.


Hot peppers and T Rex. 23mm, f/6.3.


Pottery pumpkins. 19mm, f/6.3.


More hot chili peppers.

Except for modest use of the Highlight and Shadow sliders in Lightroom for the Williams images – the late sun lighting means very high contrast – these are pretty much straight out of camera, my Panasonic GX7.

Proof of the pudding? The Panny 12-35mm has replaced three of my other MFT lenses – the 14-45mm kit zoom, the Olympus 17mm prime and its brother the Oly 45mm prime. All sold. Now my MFT kit is back to basics, consonant with the ‘small and light’ concept of the original design. I own only one other MFT optic, the excellent 45-200mm zoom, with its mighty reach for special occasions. It resides permanently on my other GX7 body.

Here’s the ‘contact sheet’ from the Williams outing; having grown up poor and using film, digital waste is not something I indulge in:


The two images with a ‘2’ in the upper left corner were roundtripped via Photoshop – the first to remove overhead wires, the second to fix verticals.

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 Power OIS MFT lens – Part I

Micro Four-Thirds

More bulk and weight, but maybe worthwhile.

I have been using the stock 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 kit zoom which came with my Panasonic G1 for almost a decade now, and took years to write about it, taking it for granted. Only Panny’s miserable 20mm f/1.7 optic prompted a piece on the kit zoom, which finally appeared here and while I have continued to grumble about the rough zoom ring everything else has been sweetness and light(ness). That groundbreaking G1 body has long since been replaced, now with two GX7 bodies which I continue to find perfect for my needs, and as a traveling outfit those bodies with the 14-45 kit zoom and the 45-200mm long zoom are a powerful and lightweight combination. No FF snapper I know regularly travels with a 400mm lens yet the latter MFT zoom, 400mm at full chat, fits in any travel bag with impunity.

However, during my month long travels with my son to visit his future college choices in New England I found that my grumbling about the rough zoom ring on the 14-45mm was regularly being joined by a chorus which complained about the slow maximum aperture, especially at the long end, and the limiting 28mm FFE focal length at the short end. Put it down to all those magnificent spired buildings and the dark chapel interiors. While I have purposely kept the MFT hardware to a minimum, preferring to concentrate on utility over versatility, the Market God or some other mysterious force saw me buying the 12-35mm f/2.8 Panny posh variant the other day, which adds width at the wide end and a constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range, while sacrificing the FFE 90mm long end for a more modest 70mm.

Nothing here is going to vie for current reporting as the posh variant has been available for some 5 years now, but as a long time user of MFT with many readers also using the format, I thought some comments would be of interest. As usual there is nothing on video use here – where the posh lens has its share of critics – as I do not make videos.

First impression out of the box is of a ‘pro’ quality lens. Where the kit lens is utilitarian in appearance, the pro speaks of a step up in quality. Ford vs. Porsche, if you like. Fit and finish are stepped up from the kit zoom, the zoom ring is (finally!) as smooth as can be and the fully extended lens barrel at the long end displays no wobble, unlike that in the kit lens. Yes, there’s a lens hood but I opted for a B+W haze filter instead. On the rare occasions a hood is called for I shield the lens with a hand, which does the trick while saving bulk.



Two GX7 bodies fitted with the stock kit zoom on the left, the pro zoom on the right.


Both lenses at maximum zoom.


Front view. Note the increase in filter size from 52mm to 58mm.


The least appealing aspect of the APS-C digital format is that the savings in lens bulk compared with FF hardly seem worth the trade-offs in sensor size, and the most remarkable aspect of the smaller MFT-sensor hardware is the small size of the lenses compared with APS-C. Now this advantage is being pushed to the limit with the Panny pro zoom as the images above show. The pro zoom looks like the proverbial cuckoo in the warbler’s nest on the diminutive GX7 body, yet the total camera + lens weights testify to the continued benefits of the MFT format:

  • Panny GX7 with 24-45mm kit zoom: 22 ounces
  • Panny GX7 with pro zoom: 25 ounces

So the cuckoo’s bulk does not result in a material weight penalty.

Part II, with many images, appears here. I paid $710 (the lens was $1300 when introduced all those years ago) and there’s a costlier variant with improved zoom and OIS, Mark II, available for close to $1000. Another option is the fixed lens Panny LX100 with its very fast continuous f/2 Leica-branded zoom (you can be sure the innards never saw the inside of a Wetzlar production line) covering a range of 12-37.5mm for a modest $525 or so. I wrote about my son’s here and while it’s a fine value combination I find the small size just a tad too fiddly for my largish hands. There are some more technical field notes on the LX100 to be found here. It’s a serious contender for the ultimate travel camera and, as a friend remarked, you get a great lens with the body thrown in free.