Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 9 mm f/1.7 ASPH review - Summary

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Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 9 mm f/1.7 ASPH

29 December 2022

Maciej Latałło

11. Summary

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Pros:

shapely, weather-sealed casing,
excellent image quality in the frame centre,
acceptable image quality on the edge of the frame,
negligible longitudinal chromatic aberration,
properly corrected lateral chromatic aberration,
moderate coma,
sensible performance against bright light,
pleasant out-of-focus areas,
silent, quick and accurate autofocus.

Cons:

high distortion on RAW files,
a bit too high astigmatism.

I admit the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 9 mm f/1.7 ASPH appeals to me a lot. It is shapely, lightweight, fast, and optically good. What's interesting, despite a 'Leica' inscription on its barrel, its price is also acceptable – you can buy it for a almost $500.

If I was inclined to pick holes in that picture I would start with the parameters of the tested model. After all we have an outstanding Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Summilux 10-25 mm f/1.7 ASPH that at 10 mm focal length is even sharper than the Panaleica, tested here. It seems these two Panasonic lenses are direct rivals – I suppose if you buy the 10-25 mm model you won't even look at the 1.7/9 instrument. If Panasonic shortened the focal length to 7-8 mm or added a faster aperture, say an f/1.4, it would change. On the other hand such parameters as 7 mm and f/1.7 are much harder to correct – I guess such a lens wouldn't be so shapely and lightweight anymore.

Anyway I am so happy that we've got such an interesting alternative in the system: if you don't care so much about weight and dimensions you can have the PanaLeica 10-25 mm, a truly universal and optically brilliant instrument. If you want to take something small on a trip during which you plan to enjoy day or nighttime landscape photography, the shapely, fast, and optically good Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 9 mm f/1.7 ASPH will be a perfect companion without adding several kilograms of equipment to your back.