Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 II ASPH (H-H014A)

The smallest “pancake” for the Micro 4/3 mount in the second generation only barely protrudes from the camera body in the installed position. Measuring 21mm thick and 56mm in diameter, the wide-angle prime fits in with the entry-level compact mirrorless cameras that fill the Micro Four Thirds system.

Internal hardware

In such a miniature “pancake” case, they managed to place an optical scheme consisting of 6 elements, united under the wing of 5 groups. In the company of lenses nestled stepper autofocus drive, which provides fast and accurate aiming at the target, along with virtually no sounds when focus. Instead or in addition to it, the user always has the right to catch the object in focus in the old fashioned way, i.e. taking advantage of the mechanical focus ring for a crisp and smooth ride.

Grey mouse

In full frame equivalent, the lens shoots at a focal length of 28mm. This value is well suited for capturing architectural objects, general indoor plans and street photography. And most importantly, the Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 II ASPH does not attract too much attention to its person — the attitude towards street photographers with a large camera is often less favorable than towards owners of cameras with compact optics in the "soap box" format.

Optical qualities

The lens “draws” a very entertaining picture with excellent sharpness in the centre of the frame, starting from the open aperture (f / 2.5). At the edges, the situation is a little worse, and the final result can sometimes be spoiled by vignetting and minor barrel distortions. All this is fixed in just a couple of mouse clicks in the photo editor at the post-processing stage of the footage. But f / 2.5 aperture will have to put up with. If you want something "lighter", you can look at a close relative of the model in the face of the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH. However it costs one and a half times more expensive, and the dimensions of this fix are almost twice as large.