This photograph started it all, the decision to finally get myself some “good glass.”
While the image above might seem poorly focused, it is because it’s actually concentrating at a very shallow range. This was a test of a 25mm Lumix G lens that turned out to be the Leica Summilux… a totally unexpected appearance in one of the displays led to my taking one home. Prior to going to the shop, I’ve looked at their catalog online and this was not one of those available there.
There aren’t a lot of lenses for the G-Series of the Panasonic Lumix line-up and this one is probably among the top tier if not THE most meticulously created one. Bearing the name Leica is no joke, it is one of the most widely known names in the field with intrinsic qualities that appeal to the professionals in a special sort of way.
I’ve also opted to add a UV filter (I was going for an ND filter but there wasn’t one that fits a 46) as a ‘shield’ of sorts, I wouldn’t like my very first non-kit lens to have any incident whatever the cause may be… accidental or no.
You can see in the photo above that other lenses bear ‘Lumix’ and have a silver band where the lens connects to the body whereas the Leica lens bears ‘Leica’ and has a black band.
Both the 14 and the 25 are lenses with a fixed focal length but because of the difference in which they are constructed, it feels more natural to use the focus ring of the 25 and could influence one to opt for manual focus instead; Also because of the high aperture, it is fairly easier to shoot in dark environments using this new lens, but the highlight of the attachment really is the ability to blur out objects that shouldn’t be in focus just like the very first photo in this post.
This should be a really interesting tool for use in portraiture and a little bit of macro and for low light conditions using its large aperture, look forward to better photos with this new weapon. Initial reviews I’ve gone through talk about how especially standing out among others of its nature this lens is when on the 1.4-2 spectrum. I feel as if I did one of those techniques in an RPG where you opt to purchase/acquire a good piece of primary equipment and level up and improve utilizing the merits of that particular item.
Panasonic does not have outright support for its photography line here in the Philippines, most of the commercially available equipment for the micro four thirds would be from Olympus; There are shops that carry the lenses but they charge a little bit too high for my taste, and a better alternative would be to purchase one from a resource person on the internet. There was no turning back for me once I’ve reviewed that initial photo I took using the demo unit. Here are some shots from inside Foto File in MBK, Bangkok where I got the lens… enjoy:
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