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Lenses

First Impressions: Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 (Micro Four Thirds)

Chris Gampat
No Comments
01/10/2014
4 Mins read

Last Updated on 01/12/2014 by Felix Esser

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (3 of 9)ISO 2001-40 sec at f - 3.5

If you’re a Micro Four Thirds user, get ready to be very excited. At CES 2014, we had the opportunity to test the brand new Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 lens. Typically, Zeiss lenses are really the only ones that leave us this speechless. But somehow Panasonic has not only left me speechless, but in serious lust.

This lens may be the most important to the entire Micro Four Thirds system so far. To date, it is the fastest aperture lens with autofousing abilities in a surprisingly small package. However, it is a tad pricy at $1,599. But when you really think about the folks that will want to buy this lens, then you’ll see that it’s an absolute no brainer. Professionals that do work with the Micro Four Thirds offerings (and yes, they exist) will have their hearts melt.

And when you see the images, you’ll exhibit a feeling synonymous to falling in love with photography all over again.

Tech Specs

Specs taken from the B&H Photo listing

Performance
Focal Length 42.5mm
Comparable 35mm Focal Length: 85 mm
Aperture Maximum: f/1.2 – 16
Camera Mount Type Micro Four Thirds
Format Compatibility Micro Four Thirds
Angle of View 29°
Minimum Focus Distance 1.64′ (.5 m)
Magnification 0.1x
Groups/Elements 11/14
Diaphragm Blades 9
Features
Image Stabilization Yes
Autofocus Yes
Tripod Collar No
Physical
Filter Thread 67 mm
Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 2.91 x 3.03″ (74 x 77 mm)
Weight 14.99 oz (425 g)

Ergonomics

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (2 of 9)ISO 2001-40 sec at f - 3.5

Though we handled a pre-production unit, Panasonic’s 42.5mm f1.2 is still amazingly small and incredibly solid. There is the massive 67mm filter thread on the front of the lens, which is protected by a special lens hood that has a screw on one side in order to hold it in place.

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (1 of 9)ISO 2001-40 sec at f - 3.5

The rest of the lens is solid metal all across the board. Not a single thing about the exterior feels or looks like plastic. Instead, you’ve got a real aperture ring and a solid manual focusing ring. The aperture ring makes real clicks–not the softened ones that Fujifilm does.

Indeed, it feels like a digital Leica.

On the side are two switches: one for Power OIS and the other for AF/MF.

Autofocus

We tested the autofocus of the lens on the Panasonic GX7 and the GH3–and it’s fast. While it isn’t as fast as many of Panasonic’s other more speedy offerings, it’s still faster than anything Fujifilm has developed so far and not even noticeably slower than Samsung and Sony except to the untrained eye.

The fact that Panasonic got something like this lens to focus so quickly is incredible.

Build Quality

Take everything that Zeiss has done, mix in a sprinkle of Fujifilm, and then put a Leica badge on it and you’ve got this lens. Seriously, we want you to imagine Zeiss’s DSLR lenses but miniaturized. With that said, this lens doesn’t have weather sealing.

When I say that this is the best feeling product that I held at CES 2014, I’m really not fibbing.

Ease of Use

Point, shoot, and enjoy. No really, your eyes will really enjoy what this lens can do for you. It’s super sharp wide open and due to the Micro Four Thirds sensor, f1.2 will actually have the depth of field comparable to that of an 85mm f2.4 lens on a full frame sensor.

Image Quality

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (9 of 9)ISO 2001-80 sec at f - 1.2

EXIF DATA IN THE IMAGE FILE NAME

Panasonic allowed us to put a card in the cameras that we tested the unit with as long as we clearly stated that we handled a pre-production unit it. So here’s our big disclaimer

DEAR READERS! THESE IMAGES ARE FROM A PRE-PRODUCTION UNIT! SO DON’T MAKE FINAL ASSUMPTIONS YET. NO, REALLY. I KNOW THAT 43RUMORS IS GOING TO LINK OVER AND DPREVIEW’S FORUMS ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS BACK AND FORTH. THESE ARE ONLY PRE-PRODUCTION UNITS AND YOU’RE ALL GOING TO SIT THERE AND BE TROLLS BACK AND FORTH. SERIOUSLY, CHILL. THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN DO ON A TRADESHOW FLOOR.

Now that that’s out of the way. This lens is stupid sharp, and the bokeh is nothing short of glorious. All images were shot wide open at f1.2 with a Yonguo 560 EX III added ont he side for some fill.

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (8 of 9)ISO 2001-125 sec at f - 1.2

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (7 of 9)ISO 2001-125 sec at f - 1.2

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (6 of 9)ISO 2001-125 sec at f - 1.2

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (5 of 9)ISO 2001-125 sec at f - 1.2
Model: Natalie Nadine

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer CES 2014 Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 first impressions (4 of 9)ISO 2001-125 sec at f - 1.6

First Impressions

This year at CES 2014, there was seriously very little that impressed us. But by far, not only has this lens single handedly stolen the show for me, but it has also renewed my faith in the Micro Four Thirds lineup. As APS-C offerings become better and better, one of the ways that this format can hold its own is by outdoing everyone else on glass.

And Panasonic, though losing money in its digital imaging division, seems to not want to go down without a fight.

We’re calling in our review unit. And we’re going to be giddy when it comes in.

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42.5mm f1.2 autofocus ces 2014 ergonomics image quality leica lens micro four thirds panasonic
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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