Panasonic G X VARIO 35-100 mm f/2.8 P.O.I.S. review - Vignetting

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Panasonic G X VARIO 35-100 mm f/2.8 P.O.I.S.

22 March 2013

Arkadiusz Olech

8. Vignetting

Attentive and regular Optyczne.pl Readers certainly remember that the Panasonic 12-35 mm f/2.8, tested here by us not so long ago, didn’t impress us in the vignetting category (it reached the level of 2EV). That’s why we were rather anxious about the performance of the 35-100 mm model, especially that its dimensions are much smaller than those of its full frame equivalents. The tested lens is actually a bit narrower even than the 12-35 mm so its vignetting might be higher.

Our fears weren’t exaggerated as you can notice glancing at photos below.

Panasonic G X VARIO 35-100 mm f/2.8 P.O.I.S. - Vignetting

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At the shortest focal length and the maximum relative aperture the vignetting reaches 39% (-1.44 EV) so it is on the borderline between a moderate and high level. The aberration decreases to 24% (-0.80 EV) by f/4.0 and to 19% (-0.59 EV) by f/5.6. Using f/8.0 aperture you can make it descent to 12% (-0.36 EV).

In the middle of the range the situation is a bit better. At the maximum relative aperture you must take into account the fact that the brightness loss in frame corners might reach 38% (-1.38 EV). After stopping down by 1 EV the aberration decreases to 21% (-0.67 EV). Then it becomes negligible by f/5.6 and f/8.0 where the vignetting is just 13% (-0.41 EV) and 6% (-0.19 EV).

The biggest vignetting problems you can encounter at 100 mm where, applying the maximum relative aperture, you lose as much as 42% (-1.55 EV) of light in the corners. By f/4.0 you can notice a significant improvement, though, as the vignetting is just 24% (-0.79 EV) there. The level of this aberration becomes low by f/5.6 where its value we would assess as 17% (-0.53 EV). The problem disappears almost completely after stopping down the lens to f/8.0, with the formal vignetting value being 10% (-0.30 EV).

Because of the slight cropping of images after the distortion correction you must take into account the 2-3% increase of vignetting level if you work with RAW files developed with neutral software.