Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. review - Vignetting

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Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S.

11 June 2012

Arkadiusz Olech

8. Vignetting

Concentration on small dimensions of a lens almost always ends up in noticeable vignetting problems. The Panasonic 14-42 mm, tested here, is not an exception to this rule. When you look at thumbnails, posted below, you can become convinced of it.

Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Vignetting

At the difficult combination of the wide angle and the maximum relative aperture the light fall-off in the frame corners reaches 42% (-1.6 EV). It’s worth remembering that if you want to use a non-corrected RAW file you will have a field of view even wider than the normal 75 degrees so you should take into account the fact that the vignetting might amount to 53% (-2.18 EV). The stopping down of the aperture helps to reduce that problem but even if you do so the vignetting doesn’t disappear completely. By f/4.0 the brightness loss in the corners gets to 38% (-1.38 EV) and by f/5.6 it is still 21% (-0.67 EV). Small vignetting you can see only by f/8 and f/11 where it reaches respectively 14% and 12%.

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In the middle of the focal range the vignetting won’t be bothersome almost at all. Even at the maximum relative aperture (f/5.2) that aberration is difficult to notice, amounting to 19% (-0.61 EV). On stopping down to f/8.0 you see it decrease further to the value of 12% (-0.36 EV).

Another vignetting increase we see at the maximum focal length. Using the f/5.6 aperture we must take into account the fact that the light fall-off in the frame corners will reach 30% (-1.03 EV) and in RAW files it will be additionally by 2% higher. Stopping down the aperture to f/8 makes this problem decrease to 22% (-0.73 EV). Using f/11 aperture allows you to reduce the vignetting to the level of 17% (-0.54 EV).