Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 12 mm f/1.4 ASPH review - Coma, astigmatism and bokeh

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Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 12 mm f/1.4 ASPH

11 July 2017

Arkadiusz Olech

7. Coma, astigmatism and bokeh

Because of differences in sharpness between the left and the right side of the frame we decided to check the coma level also for two opposite corners. As the crops below show, that decision was right. The coma in the upper left-hand corner is barely visible and it would be difficult to have any reservations here. In the upper right-hand corner the situation is quite different, with the coma being very distinct. What’s more, its level doesn’t decrease on stopping down the lens to f/2.0.

Such a situation shouldn’t have happened even in a case of a cheap lens; here you deal with an expensive instrument with the word “Leica” in the name, suggesting a top-of-the-range, high quality design and rigid quality control standards.

Center, f/1.4	Left corner, f/1.4	Right corner, f/1.4

Center, f/2.0	Left corner, f/2.0	Right corner, f/2.0

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Astigmatism, understood as an average difference between horizontal and vertical MTF50 function values, amounted here to 10.3%. It is a medium level but it can increase due to differences in sharpness between both sides of the frame.

Circles of light in out-of-focus areas seem to look sensible but, for such a fast lens aperture-wise they could have looked even better. There is a rim and a characteristic doughnut in the centre of the circle. In a good quality prime the light spread should be perfectly even and smooth.

E-M5 II, 25 mm, f/1.4, center	E-M5 II, 25 mm, f/1.4, corner

E-M5 II, 25 mm, f/2.0, center	E-M5 II, 25 mm, f/2.0, corner

E-M5 II, 25 mm, f/2.8, center	E-M5 II, 25 mm, f/2.8, corner