PANASONIC LEICA DG VARIO-ELMARIT 8-18MM F2.8-4 ASPH
We put Panasonic’s premium micro four thirds wide-angle zoom through its paces to see how it stands up
With their two body styles, Panasonic’s micro four thirds cameras are clearly designed to appeal to different users – but here’s a lens that’s made in conjunction with Leica, which is more likely to appeal to the DSLR user than a traditional rangefinder user. Still, zooms don’t feature in coupled rangefinder photography, so it’s a moot point. Although relatively large as a G-series lens, it’s far smaller than a
35mm DSLR equivalent and is just as much at home on the Lumix GX8 as it would be on a GH5. Not surprisingly, Panasonic’s premium Leica-branded lenses have a lot of design cues from the likes of the M-series, and the collaboration certainly nudges up the price, but it does hint at the kind of quality to expect.
This lens has a mainly metal exterior, nicely milled focus and zoom rings and a beautifully designed hood. Autofocus is another highlight. It’s fast for stills, and video users will appreciate the smooth, near-silent operation. Overall it’s a good match for the excellent AF capabilities of the GX8 we had for testing. As for the optical quality, it has strong barrel distortion at its widest, but as this is corrected on the fly in the camera and with most RAW converters, it’s not really noticeable. Like a lot of zooms it’s sharpest at the wide and mid-focal lengths. But, with little fringing and good resistance to flare and ghosting, who can argue that this kind of versatility isn’t warranted for people who like ‘rangefinders’?