The 70-200mm is workhorse focal length, but these workhorses tend to be as heavy as they are versatile. The Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 DG Vario-Elmarit Power OIS, however, proves what’s possible with a Micro Four Thirds sensor. Despite reaching a 35mm equivalent of 70-200mm, the lens weighs less than a pound. When it comes to slinging a lens around all day, this one is easy to manage.
The lens gains a Leica collaboration compared to the earlier version and, with it, a few more coatings. That creates a lens that’s both lightweight and capable of delivering stunning images — if the autofocus can keep up.
Table of Contents
The Big Picture
The Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 is a beautiful, lightweight zoom lens. The light construction is paired with a weather-sealed design that even resists cold temperatures. And the images? Those are just as lovely as the lens itself, with beautiful flare and tack-sharp subjects. The lens proves what’s possible with Micro Four Thirds — even if the camera bodies themselves don’t have any weight savings, the lenses are significantly lighter.
While the lightweight design means there’s a lot to love about this lens, that didn’t leave room for a dedicated aperture ring. On the G9 II, it also didn’t have the best hit rate for action shots, though it’s difficult to know whether to blame the body or the lens.
I’m giving the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 four out of five stars.
Pros
- Very lightweight and compact
- Simple design
- Dust, splash, and freeze-resistant
- Easy to use
- Great Stabilization
- Nicely sharp
- Great lens flare and colors
Cons
- No dedicated aperture ring
- Autofocus has some misses
Gear Used
I tested the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 with the Panasonic G9 II. Both the camera and lens are temporary loans provided by Panasonic.
Innovations
The biggest change over the older Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm f2.8 II is the Leica collaboration. But, the update isn’t all about looking like a Leica. The new glass has more coatings than the earlier version that help suppress ghosting and flare. That’s not going to sway owners of the previous lens to upgrade, but it is a nice option for those in the market to add a 70-200mm equivalent.
Ergonomics
For a 70-200mm equivalent, the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 is surprisingly light and compact. The lens doesn’t even hit a pound, sitting at around .8 pounds. It’s only 3.9 inches long and with internal zoom, doesn’t even get longer when fully zoomed. Carrying this lens around feels more like toting around a larger prime lens than a workhorse zoom. It’s the kind of lens that I could shoot with for hours without regrets. While OM System discontinued their 35-100mm f2.8 in favor of a 40-150mm, that longer lens is twice as heavy.
The design of the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 is very simple. At the front is a manual focus ring. That’s followed by the larger, grippy zoom ring. The only other control on the lens is a switch for stabilization. I do wish the lens had an aperture ring, but I think the simple controls are okay, considering how portable the lens is.
The front of the lens accepts 58mm filters. It ships with a large, plastic lens hood that seems almost as long as the lens.
Build Quality
Panasonic says this lens is splash, dust, and freeze-proof. I took this lens out in the snow and didn’t experience any issues, even when the snow melted and made the lens wet. I also didn’t spot any dust or debris inside the camera sensor or lens.
The lens doesn’t have a metal build, but it doesn’t feel like cheap plastic, either. The Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 has a nice balance between weight and build.
Focusing
The Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 delivers nicely sharp portraits. Mixed with eye AF, the autofocus on the lens tracks people fairly well, even when working with more active kids. Taking the lens indoors didn’t slow down the autofocus more than in well-lit outdoor spaces.
But, I had some issues photographing the fastest action. Photographing a runner’s pace or a dog playing fetch, the hit rate dropped dramatically with subjects moving towards the lens. At best, I had around 80 percent of the shots from a burst in focus. But several bursts fell below that rate, even with exposure preview off. However, this is consistent with the other lenses I’ve used with the G9 II. While the autofocus is much improved, it’s still behind some brands. So, while I had at best, 80 percent of my action shots in focus, that’s consistent with what I’ve gotten with other lenses on the same body. The autofocus had some misses with fast action, but I suspect the camera body is to blame more than the lens.
The lens is capable of focusing as close as 2.8 feet. That’s not terrible, but the .1x macro rate isn’t as versatile as some lenses are capable of.
Overall, the autofocus here was difficult to test. It will perform just fine for portraits, but, on the G9 II at least, is going to struggle to keep up with the fastest action.
Ease of Use
The portable size and simple controls make the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 a lens that you can just mount and shoot with. There’s little learning curve here, and you won’t need an instruction manual.
The lens has stabilization built-in, which means even as a 70-200mm equivalent focal length, I could take handheld long exposures with this lens. I could get several shots at half a second long and occasionally longer if I pulled out all the stops.
Image Quality
There’s a thin line between technical greatness and sterility. But, the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 finds the sweet spot. The lens has plenty of sharpness and even pixel peepers will find it hard to find colored fringing or unpleasant bokeh. Yet, the lens still delivers some lovely flare. The image quality is one of the biggest reasons to consider adding this lens to your kit.
Bokeh
The longer focal length helps compensate for the smaller sensor, delivering some nicely soft backgrounds. The softest bokeh will come from getting in close to the subject and using the 100mm end of the lens.
Points of light are rendered into smooth bokeh balls. Towards the corners, bokeh takes on more of a cat-eye shape. But I couldn’t find any onion ringing or soap bubbles on the bokeh, even at 100 percent.
Color Rendition
The colors coming from this lens had a nice balance, not too bold but not too muted. The lens worked well with the G9 II’s built-in color profiles. In soft, even light, colors felt close to reality and a touch on the warm side. Direct this lens towards the sun, and there’s some occasional purple coming off the lens flare. I didn’t find any chromatic aberration when working with this lens, either.
Lens Character
The Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 strikes the ideal balance between technical greatness and character. The lens has few annoyances, without obvious colored fringing, vignetting, or barrel distortion. But it’s not sterile either. Directed towards the sun, the lens creates some lovely flare. Depending on where that light hits, you can get some lovely streaks of light or a bit of purple flare. Mixed with the lens’ sharpness, it’s a really great combo.
Sharpness
There’s nothing to complain about there. The Panasonic Lecia 35-100mm f2.8 captures some nicely sharp shots, down to eyelash detail. Subjects placed towards the edges don’t lose much of that clarity compared to the center either.
Extra Image Samples
From day one, The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency with our audience. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, lots of folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the lens can do. So we have a section in our Extra Image Samples area to show edited and unedited photos. From this, you can make a decision for yourself.
Unedited
Edited
Who Should Buy It?
The Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 is an excellent choice for photographers who want to travel light or shoot for long stretches. The lens is a versatile yet lightweight piece of glass. Images strike that ideal balance between sharpness and character. It’s also easy to use and equipped with excellent stabilization.
The reason to potentially avoid this lens is the autofocus speed. However, I had similar struggles with other lenses on the body that I used for testing. It’s possible the lens’ performance could be even better with another body.
Tech Specs
LensRentals lists the following specifications for the Panasonic Leica 35-100mm f2.8 DG Vario-Elmarit Power OIS:
- Angle of View: 34° to 12°
- Aperture Blades: 7, Rounded
- Autofocus: Autofocus
- Brand: Panasonic
- Filter Size: 58.0mm
- Focal Length: 35.0-100.0
- Dimensions (ø x L): 2.6 × 3.9″ / 67 × 99.9mm
- Weight: 0.8 lb. / 12.7 oz / 360 g
- Hood Included: Yes
- Image Stabilization: Yes
- Item Type: Lens
- Lens Type: Telephoto
- Max Aperture: 2.8
- Maximum Magnification: 0.1x
- Mfr. Model Number: H-ES35100
- Minimum Aperture: 22.0
- Minimum Focusing Distance: 2.8feet
- Mount: Micro 4/3rds
- Optical Design Groups/Elements: 13/18
- Extra-Low Dispersion Elements: 2
- Ultra Extra-Low Dispersion Elements: 1
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