PANASONIC LUMIX G LEICA DG SUMMILUX 12mm, F1.4 ASPH Lens announced

Following up with the release of the exceptional Leica 100 - 400 mm nature and wildlife photographers' dream lens, Panasonic has announced a new Leica 12mm (24 mm equivalent on MFT bodies) f/1.4 weather sealed wide-angle prime lens.  Suitable for great landscapes and with this f/1.4 speed it will be ideal for astro photography.  This will be Panasonic's widest non-fish eye prime lens in the MFT lineup.  Hope to have one in my kit for my Iceland workshop in September.It will be available later this summer for $1300 (rounded).Here is the press release:NEWARK, NJ (July 1, 2016) – Panasonic unveiled a new LEICA DG SUMMILUX 12mm/F1.4 ASPH. (35 mm camera equivalent: 24 mm) digital interchangeable lens for Digital Single Lens Mirrorless camera based on the Micro Four Thirds standard. The new 12mm wide-angle lens enables photographers to capture beautiful group, event, and nature photography. It also allows indoor shooting in low lighting and produces an impressive, natural defocusing effect with its F1.4 aperture. In addition, the LEICA DG SUMMILUX 12mm/F1.4 ASPH. boasts a rugged, splash/dust-proof design (when combined with splash and dustproof LUMIX G Mirrorless camera models) to meet the needs of a wide-range of photographic situations.Integrating two aspherical lenses, two UED (Ultra Extra-Low Dispersion) lenses and an ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) lens, the lens system is comprised of 15 elements in 12 groups. The adoption of five special lenses makes it possible to meet the stringent LEICA standard for exceptional image quality with high resolution and minimum distortion. In general, flare is commonly seen around the periphery of a point source with many high-speed lenses when a large aperture is employed. However, the new LEICA DG SUMMILUX 12mm/F1.4 ASPH. achieves high resolution from the center of the image to the corners by suppressing this flare. Users can take advantage of this lens to shoot a brilliant night skies or night scenes containing illumination to capture true-to-life images with minimal blurring and distortion at the edges. The multi-coated lens elements also minimize ghosting and flaring.Incorporating an inner focus drive system and a stepping motor, the new LEICA DG SUMMILUX 12mm/F1.4 ASPH. is capable of smooth, silent operation together with the camera’s high-speed, high-precision contrast AF system for both photo and video recording. It is also compatible with the sensor drive at a maximum of 240 fps to take full advantage of cameras with high-speed AF. This stunning AF performance is excellent for recording 4K videos, where precise focusing is essential.The LEICA DG SUMMILUX 12mm/F1.4 ASPH. comes with an aperture ring for direct, intuitive aperture control. Nine blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. A highly reliable metal mount assures durability for repeated use. The lens mount, the barrel and the hood are all made of metal to provide a sleek, sophisticated design that matches the entire line-up of LUMIX G Digital Single Lens Mirrorless (DSLM) cameras.Specifications:

Focal length	12 mm
Maximum aperture	F1.4
Minimum aperture	F16
Aperture ring	Yes
Number of diaphragm blades	9
Elements	15
Groups	12
Special elements / coatings	2 aspherical lenses, 1 ED lens, 2 UED lenses
Minimum focus	0.20 m (7.87″)
Maximum magnification	0.1×
Autofocus	Yes
Motor type	Stepper motor
Weight	335 g (0.74 lb)
Diameter	70 mm (2.76″)
Length	70 mm (2.76″)
Filter thread	62.0 mm
Hood	Yes

Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100 - 400mm F/4 - 6.3 lens

Last week at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife festival I had the opportunity to briefly try out a pre-production unit.  The lens was one of the first pre-production units and a lot has changed since it's manufacture.  The final units will be way better in image quality, performance and handling.  With that said, I will say I was truly impressed with the way the lens performed.The Leica 100-400mm is an f/4-6.3 telephoto zoom lens that gives the equivalent of 200-800mm in 35mm equivalence.The lens has a lockable zoom pull feature, so you can pull the end of the zoom to set the zoom position, or when it is locked, you need to rotate the zoom ring to vary the focal length. The lens has Power Optical Image Stabilization, and high-speed 240fps AF drive, which makes it incredibly fast in focusing performance. It is also, splash and dust proof.A feature I found most useful was the lens collar and foot that also rotates all the lens function switches. This allows you to easily access these in any orientation, landscape or portrait.In thumbnail view, hover over the thumbnail to see the focal length and exposure details.  To see a larger rendition of this slide show please click here

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000

Received an evaluation unit of this bridge camera this afternoon. The camera has an incredible 24 to 400 mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.8 lens that will blow you away.  BTW the lens has the Leica designation.  More on this camera in a future post but this was the first image shot out my back door.  A juvenile male Downy Woodpecker.  Not the best lighting conditions but the camera and lens performed really well.  The crop represents less than 15% of the original image before being resized for this blog.  Click on the image for a larger rendition.