Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 Review

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CONCLUSION: Time to summarize this review and draw some conclusions about the Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0, so here goes;

THE BUILD: it's made out of a fine grade of plastic with a metal mount, the focus and zoom rings are smooth and well dampened, but not too tight. On the downside is no screw on filters and the lens is sadly not weather sealed. All in though, we thought it was a pretty solid effort and gave the build a 8.5/10.

AF SPEED AND ACCURACY: Though fast focus isn't always the top consideration for a wide angle lens, the 7-14 does a really nice job locking on to it's subjects very quickly and very accurately, it struggles like a lot of lenses in low light - however, more often than not you're going to be using a lens like this for landscape and architecture in decent lighting, and in that regard the Panasonic excels! AF Speed and accuracy were one of the lenses strong suits, and we gave it a 9.5/10

OPTICAL QUALITY AND THE QUALITY OF THE RESULTS: The pany delivers sharp results across the frame straight from f/4, and it really only gets worse when diffraction sets in at f/11. If you shoot landscape or architecture and you're a micro 43rds shooter, I think over all you'll be pleased with the results the7-14 is capable of delivering - it's not without it's issues - there are some strange flair patterns and chromatic aberration is present, but it's not a huge distraction. We thought the 7-14 delivered results that would in fact please nearly every client out there - we gave the lens a 9 for optical quality and a 9.5 for the quality of the results.

VALUE: As we mentioned previously, if you need this wide of an angle - outside of the manual 7.5mm fish eye lens from Samyang/Rokinon/Bower,etc - they're all the same lens with different branding - then the only real option for ultra wide angle photography and M43 is this Pany 7-14 - at least until Olympus debuts the 7-14 PRO f/2.8 in 2015. I'd complain about the high price, but truth be told, the 7-14 is in fact a competent and very capable lens, that delvers the goods optically. Sure, I wish the lens were weather sealed and made out of more robust materials, but there's nothing here that stands out as a critically bad item, in fact, all in the Pany is a really nice lens and a good value. We gave it a 8.5 out of 10

OVERALL 45/50 and just squeaks out the highly recommended rating

THE FINAL WORD: If you're considering the switch to M43 and you shoot landscape or architecture, then the only real option in ultra wide today is the Pany 7-14mm f/4, it's not cheap but fortunately, it does offer reasonable build and really, really good optics. But to answer the original question, is the combination of an M43 camera and this lens good enough to ween a professional off a DSLR and into the world of M43? Well, after carefully going over the results, I think the answer is a solid yes, yes it is. However, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I just wish there were more options and competitive lenses for ultra wide angle shooting in the world of M43. But at least the one option available is a good one - though I am anxiously awaiting the Oly 7-14 f/2.8 PRO that will debut in 2015.This is Darren Miles with Darren Miles Photography based here in beautiful sunny Naples, FL, if you like these reviews, please don't forget to "Subscribe!" Thanks so much for watching, and until the next time, happy shooting!