Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 pancake lens for Micro Four Thirds

see also:

• a catalogue of Micro Four Thirds lenses
• Olympus m.ZD 12mm f/2.0 lens
• Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens
• Olympus m.ZD 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens
• Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN asph lens for Micro Four Thirds

• Panasonic introduced this 14mm pancake lens as a kit lens for the GF series to provide a compact kit with wide aperture 28mm (in 35mm terms) wide angle field of view.
• sharper wide open than the Olympus m.ZD 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens
• with its internal focusing mechanism, it has faster, less noisy AF than the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens
• much cheaper and smaller than the Olympus m.ZD 12mm f/2.0 lens
• edges much sharper wide open than the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 MkII at 14mm but sharpness across the frame is similar at f/5.6.
  • has marginally more CA than the zoom lens
  • much less barrel distortion (1.5%) than the zoom lens at 14mm (7.7%)
  • has more vignetting (2EV) than the zoom lens at 14mm (1.3EV)
• version II adds a stepping motor for fast, silent AF

• 14mm focal length = 28mm wide angle in 35mm term
• f/2.5
• filter size 46mm non-rotating
• internal focusing
• close focus 18cm
• 6 elements in 5 groups
• 55mm diameter x 20.5mm long
• weight 55g
• ~$300

• announced Sept 2014
• similar size and design to version I
• stepping motor for silent, fast CDAF
• 7 rounded blades
• 6 elements in 5 groups, 3 aspherical elements
• close focus 0.18m (0.1x magnification)

• ephotozine review
  • can be prone to flare and has 1.5% barrel distortion although easily corrected
  • very sharp wide open (marginally better at f/4 with edges best at f/5.6), fast AF, low CA, good value