Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH Review

Name: Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH
Brand: panasonic

November 30, 2015 | Mark Goldstein |

Introduction

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH is a fast standard lens for the Micro Four Thirds system. Offering a 35mm camera equivalent focal length of 50mm, the Panasonic 25mm lens is comprised of 9 elements arranged in 7 groups, including 2 aspherical elements and 1 ultra-high-refractive-index lens element. It features a special Nano Surface Coating to minimise ghosting and flare, and an iris diaphragm with seven rounded aperture blades. The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens is available for £159.99 / $299.99 in the UK and the US, respectively.

Ease of Use

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH is very small and light for a standard lens offering a 35mm equivalent focal range of 50mm, easily fitting in the palm of your hand. It's a compact affair for a lens that offers a standard focal length and such a fast maximum aperture, measuring just 52mm in length, and it's also very light at only 125grams.

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens attached to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7
The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens attached to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens attached to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens alongside to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

In terms of features, the lens is very sparse, with just a responsive manual focusing ring and no focus scale.

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens may have quite a lot of plastic parts, but the lens mount is, thankfully, made of metal. Panasonic does not claim any sort of weather resistance for this lens, and indeed you cannot see a rubber seal around the mount.

Side of the Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens

Front of the Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens

Rear of the Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens

Side of the Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens

Usefully the lens comes with a fairly large circuular lens hood, and it accepts 46mm filters. Less usefully, you need to remove a plastic ring from the front of the lens in order to fit the lens hood, which will inevitably get lost at some point.

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens in-hand

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens with the supplied lens hood fitted

Focal Range

The lens has a diagonal angle of view of 47°, equivalent to that of a 50mm lens in a 35mm system.

Field of view at 25mm

Focusing

The Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens offers almost silent focusing, and in use, we have found the system very quick on the DMC-GX7.

The 46mm filter thread does not rotate on focus, which is good news for users of polarisers and graduated neutral density filters.

Manual focusing is possible in a focus-by-wire fashion. This should not put you off using it as it feels pretty natural in use, and actually enables the camera to display a magnified view of the subject automatically, i.e. without your having to press a dedicated button or enter the menu. The focus ring is quite wide and more than adequate for the job.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are only conspicuous by their almost complete absence, as shown by the 100% crop below.

Light Fall-off

With the lens set to its maximum aperture of f/1.7, there is noticeable light fall-off in the corners.

Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH Light fall-off

Macro

ThePanasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH has a closest focusing distance of 0.25m / 0.82ft and a maximum 0.14x magnification rating.

Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH Close-up performance

Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In the Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH lens, Panasonic employed a diaphragm with 7 rounded blades, which has resulted in fairly nice bokeh, at least in our opinion. However, recognising that bokeh evaluation is subjective, we have provided a few examples for your perusal.