I love how MFT users can mix and match lenses from Olympus and Panasonic. I love both my Olympus and Panasonic lenses on my Lumix G9.

I think Panasonic has come up with a novel lens I never thought of. A high-quality super wide with a fast aperture and very close focusing. It’s a lens I didn’t know I wanted until now. 😂👏👏👏

Incredible review, detailed and informative, thank you!!! gorgeous lens....

Thanks for the review. I really like the rectilinear aspect. I usually use manual focus and aperture so that part has held me back.

Great review! May consider purchasing.

Great review, Jimmy. 🙂 This lens is definitely on my wish list. Should pair nicely with my Lumix G9 body. Thank you! 😎 Paul (from your London photo walk) 😎

great video. as usual. Yes, this lens is the BEST. (for ultrawide lovers )

Terrific evaluation.

With you here all the way, had since the summer and really nice and versatile!

OM System should make a firmware update for 8mm pro len to defish in video mode too

HI Jimmy thanks for the review. Santa came early and dropped off one of these lenses. I'm amazed how light it is and the build seems very good for a plastic lens. Looking forward to testing it out more when vacation starts in a few days.

This lens is great. I have been using it for a month here in Macau for landscape and astrophotography. The results are amazing.

As always, great review!!! Just a side note about the wire focus ring on the Panasonic lenses, with the new GH5M2, GH6 and I think also on the G9, with firmware updates, you can configure the focus ring linear or no-linear, and if you choose linear, you can customize the turn degrees... but not hard stops, that's true. With these lenses: - Panasonic Leica SUMMILUX 12mm f1.4 - Panasonic Leica SUMMILUX 15mm f1.7 - Panasonic Leica DG SUMMILUX 25 mm, F1.4 ASPH - Panasonic Leica DG NOCTICRON 42,5 mm, f1.2 - Panasonic Leica DG MACRO ELMARIT 45 mm f2.8 - Panasonic Leica DG VARIO-ELMARIT 8-18mm/F2.8-4.0 ASPH - Panasonic Leica DG Vario-SUMMILUX 10-25 mm, F1.7 ASPH - Panasonic Leica DG Vario-elmarit 50-200 Mm/f2.8-4.0 - Panasonic Leica DG VARIO-ELMAR 100-400MM F4.0-6.3 - Panasonic 25mm f1.7 - Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 Mk.II - Panasonic LUMIX G 12-60MM F3.5-5.6 ASPH. O.I.S. I guess also with this fantastic 9mm lens... I don't want to look like a Panasonic fan boy or Olympus hater... in fact I'm interested to switch from my GH5 MkII to an OM System OM-1... but the price 😅

I already pre ordered this lens. Hopefully it will arrive soon. I will use it on backpacking trips with my GX9 and Leica 15 mm 1.7 as well as street photography. A light combo !

This lens definitely peaked my interest a few months ago. Great review!

Woooow. What a great lens. Just bought the 15mm f1.7

Great review, thanks for pointing out the build quality right off. I really wish Panasonic would have kept the same design aesthetics as the other M4/3 Leica lenses( 1.4 aperture, manual ring, metal housing etc...). I would have been willing to pay a little more for these features. I won't buy this lens even though I already own most of the other primes. However, Panasonic got it right with the focal length and image quality.

congrats, rich Jimmy, you finally get one

I have already pre-ordered it when it was announced. I am looking forward to getting mine and using it with my GH6 for mostly videos and astrophotography and also on my GH5. I often needed a slightly wider angle than my Olympus 12-40mm could give me and couldn't afford the Panasonic 10-25mm and this looks perfect, especially being a slightly wider prime and being as sharp as it is.

Thanks for the great review. Just one point: At 11:00, you mention the bokeh quality with respect to the 7 aperture blades. However, the image is shot wide open. Would be good to also see the bokeh/sunstar performance when stopped down, since that's when the aperture blade design actually comes into play.

You were lucky to be able to buy it. I've had mine on backorder for weeks. Hopefully, stock may now be available.

Impressive Review!

Great review as usual, Jimmy. You should've also mentioned the excellent Laowa 10mm f/2, which I bought last year. Gorgeous metal construction and so tiny! Only downside is that it's MF, but at least there's some electrical connections for aperture & lens identification.

I had a curiosity on that lens. Nice review! I also was curious about reviewers who like to leave their rear elements exposed just to show the lens. I guess do what you want to at home but you should never expose your rear element in public. 😂

Nice symmetry shots.

I definitely want one. God knows when this will be available for sale in Malaysia. Maybe in the year 2789.

Looks like a great lens but my laowa 7.5 fits all my needs right now 😊

Hi Jimmy! Great review, and thanks yet again for helping inform on mft uwa lenses! Can you comment on your experience with flare or purple aberrations on this lens? I've seen some interesting sample images on Olympus/OMDS bodies where there are some unexpected purple artifacts with strong light sources in or just outside the frame. If you do have a Panasonic body, maybe it would make for a helpful comparison video? Totally agree that OMDS should make something comparable, maybe even with wider fov?

Thanks a lot Jimmy for this really helpful review. After it coming close in your recent awards and your detailed thoughts here I decided to pull the trigger on ordering one. Need a more compact faster and lighter option than the MZ 9-18 for video as I almost never zoom beyond 9mil when filming. Also it’s IQ looks like it’ll do nicely for stills too. I’ll probably also ditch the MZ 8-25 as I’m using a set of primes these days for just about everything, so with ultra wide taken care of I don’t need the weight and bulk of that f4 zoom either. Once I’ve sold off those two I’ll be well in profit overall 😊👍🏻

I’m getting one this thxgiving!

13:22 It makes you wonder about modern lens design. The old and tiny and gorgeous 21mm f/3.5 Zuiko OM syatem lens from the 1970s has virtually no distortion if I recall correctly.

This review is fucking fantastic. you are entertaining even in what I assume is not your first language! you have clearly methodically planned out what you were going to say about the lens, and backed up all of your points with evidence and the brilliant photos you took around London. KZfaq is a better place for this video! can't wait to watch more of your videos. BIG UP MFTTTTT BABY!

I'm searching your channel for your audio workflow. You sound amazing.

I hear you , Jimmy! I ordered mine from B&H, and hoping they start shipping soon. I've been wanting a 10mm f/1.4 M Zuiko Pro for years, which I fear will never show up. All the best sir!

Thanks for the review of this lens Jimmy. This looks like a nice lens for wild field astrophotography. Do you think it will work with the Starry Sky AF on the OM-1? I always enjoy your videos, all the best Bill.

Thanks

13:21... IMMEDIATELY, all the fancy digital stuff notwithstanding, my eye was drawn to the gorgeous old black OM1 or OM2 in the far left of the screen.😊🤗😍

I Definitely need a 7mm OM lens, when going wide always want wider

Hi Jimmy, I was waiting for your review indeed. Would you consider replacing the PL 8-18mm with this 9mm f/1.7? I do love the build and flexibility of the zoom, but obviously this lens attracts me greatly for it being faster (and as a counter-argument to flexibility, well, we could say that there's a creative benefit in framing images through a prime :) ). I'd love to hear your wise words. Thanks, and good to see your excellent videos as usual.

Worth mentioning, g9 has a linear focus ring mode, where you even can select an angle. I'm not sure about other lumix camera

Hello. Thank you for a review. I am in to astrophotography and landscape photography, so it could be a nice lens for the task. But unfortunately some m43 lenses struggles with sunstars. For me this is very important. Maybe could you test this part to. Thank you.

I've just got this lens the other day and I have got a Olympus em5 mark iii coming in a couple of days

Thanks!

A good review, never considered using a non olympus lens with the em1 mark 2, using a 12-100 and looking at lens below 12 and well above 100 for different stuff, software wise I use dxo that has lens profiles to tweak the end result with batch processing. Have seen fish eye photos and would probably not need that sort of effect, but this gives ideas...

Jimmy -- great review -- thank you for taking the time to go over so many aspects of the lens. One question -- I have a Panasonic G85 (I know, getting a little old now!) -- but for my photography and occasional "home movie" it works great (love adapting vintage lenses to it) -- so with this new lens, how would my camera know to correct for the true distortion of the lens?

This lens is on my short list! Great review. Makes me want the lens even more. How is the flare control??

Well, that's the lens I've been waiting for. I have many lenses, but of course also the Pana-Leica 15/1.7. The lens I use mostly, but I miss an ultrawide for m43. Somewhat slow to purchase any of those good alternatives, but the Pana-Leica 9/1.7 should be the right one for me.

Thanks for the review. Puzzling why it is a Leica/Summilux branded lens without the features, such as manual focus, of the other Leica/Summilux lenses. Still, the price point is excellent and the size and weight make it easy to take it with you for almost any occasion. I am going to sell my Oly 8mm and get this lens instead.

Would love one of these but beyond my budget currently

Given the raw distortion, it just means OM digital can just apply a profile for the 8mm f2 fisheye to make it a normal lens. I hope they do that.

Nice video. And what about Coma? Would you recommend this lens also for astrophotography?

Wonderful review on this lens! I just picked one up, and notice that I hear the autofocus pretty audibly when I half press on the shutter. Do you notice this on yours? Or should I be concerned that this is a defect on mine?

Great video, I have a question, if you had to buy an ultra wide angle, which would you buy, the panasonic or the laowa? I had in mind to get the laowa but I don't know if the panasonic would be a better option. Thank you

Thank you for your informative review. I shoot with an EM1 M2 and am considering purchasing this lens after watching your review. I had severe purple flaring when using the older Panasonic 7-14 f4 on my Olympus bodies. Have you experienced anything like this on your Olympus body while using the Panasonic 9mm F1. 7? Thanks again.

Another great e view, Thankyou👍👍 How though does this lense compare with the Oly 9-18. Weather sealing is not a consideration for me. Looking though for a wide lense for my new(ish😂) Pen f👍👍

It sounds great - my question is, never having used anything wider than my 12-40 f2.8, is it wide enough for landscape/architecture/interiors, or would I be better off with the Olympus 8-25 - wider but slower. I love the size and the fact it takes screw-in filters. Keep up the good work, Jimmy.

Hey Jimmy, could I get some suggestions? I got the OM 20mm f1.4, and the Olympus 45mm f1.8. I’m looking for a wider lens. Do you think the 9mm Pany would complement these two lenses? Do you have other suggestions? Thanks for your time. I’m not a pro photographer, but I’d like to start doing some more serious travel photos. For now I can only afford to hike through the nearby forests and nature reserves though. Any advice?

Great reviev - thank you - but one more question: Is it able to cover a total 90 degree horizontal angle of view ? Example: The camera is positioned in an 45 half angle in a corner of a room , hall or cross gangway. Do you see the left and the right wall ? I call it the 90 degree challenge

Bought in London? There is hope that I'll get mine in the States before I leave for Germany in 2 weeks. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for sharing this. I wonder how good it is is for astro shoot. Have you tried it? Also, what is that nifty wireless microphone?

I enjoy all of your reviews and this one in particular. I listened carefully to everything you said because no other reviewer used an Olympus body. I did not hear you say that there are no problems using this lens with an Olympus body. So, is there anything about using this lens with an Olympus body we should know before throwing $500 at Panasonic for it?

good review! Seems like a mft all star already. I would like to use this on my original blackmagic pocket as my 27 equiv option (yes 3x cropfactor). But I am kind of wary of the uncorrected image not being corrected on that camera.. Still have the laowa 7.5mm though :D

Hey! Thank you for your review! I struggle to find a clear answer on forums, but could you tell me whether this lens sounds noisy in S-AF with the OM-1 specifically? I've had two copies of this lens so far, and both were (mechanically) noisy when acquiring focus, especially in S-AF (less so, but still, in C-AF). Most users/reviewers state it's completely silent, but they seem to use Panasonic bodies, so I'm keen to know your experience, if I may. Thanks for your time, all the best!

I find the bokeh on the Laowa 9mm more pleasing than that of the Pana Leica.

Does the smooth aperture transitions work on the om-1? It works on lumix bodies. But Olympus lenses do hard stops when changing apertures in video mode on the g9 I had. I wish they would update pro lenses to have smooth iris transitions

Has anyone any experience with this lens for wide angle underwater? Has anyone popped this in a housing? What length extension tube did you use?

cn u to a conparrision on the 12mm vs this 9mm vs 7.5mm ... for video... the edge distortion worp on th 7.5 looks annoying on the footage i seen on youtube... how is it on 9mm ????

Great review, I wished that you included video samples without distortion camera correction. I'm interested in this lens but don't use panasonic camera.

Nice Review! This lens works wonderfully with your OM-1... but how about older Olympus bodies such as Pen-F and EM1? 🤔

I just bought this lens and although I agree it is very sharp corner to corner, I can see quite a bit of purple fringing at the edges if there is a high contrast scene, like tree branches against an overcast sky, or reflective windows and the window frame. It doesn't diminish significantly until f/8. It's more prominent than the Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 purple fringe. My 7-14mm f/2.8 doesn't show any fringe at all. I wonder if my copy is perhaps defective?

Great, non-nonsense review - thanks for that! I have the Laowa 7.5 F2 and wonder if the Leica 9mm is worth buying? I'm not overly bothered about autofocus and all the nice stuff - what is the difference in quality? And - do you miss that extra 1.5mm wideness?

Thanks for making this video! I really haven't seen many videos featuring it on KZfaq. Could you please take some pictures of dogs with this lens? I have the Pana/Leica 8-18mm f/2.8-4 lens which I sometimes use for pet photography. I love to stick an ultra wide angle lens in the dog's face to make it look really big and cartoonish, but I'm curious about how this lens would work for that. I have a feeling that the brighter aperture would make it possible to blur out the backgrounds a little, especially when getting fairly close to the subject, which might look really cool at Christmas time, but I'm wondering just how close I would have to get to my subject and just how far away from my subject the background would have to be to get that effect. I can actually get distant light sources to form little bokeh balls with my 8-18mm lens at f/2.8 if they're hundreds of meters away, but I'm hoping this lens would do better. I guess it could be useful for wide angle shots of dogs in low light, even if there was no bokeh. Just having an extra stop and a half of light would allow me to photograph dogs with a cityscape in the background, for instance, but a bit of bokeh would make it a little easier to justify such an expenditure. I am also curious about whether the OM-1's animal subject detection works as well on this lens as it does on Olympus lenses.

I was thinking about buying one but I'm holding out for the 18mm for my S5 but Panasonic are taking their sweet time... Hnmm maybe I should just get this one. Looks like a bargain

Very interesting lens, thanks for the review Jimmy. I was wondering how this lens compares to the Olympus 8mm F1.8 fisheye, with fisheye correction turned on. I already own this 8mm lens, so I'm wondering if it's worth also getting the 9mm Panasonic. In other words, what is the added value of the Panasonic lens, besides smaller size and accepting screw-in filters? Is it optically much better in the corners?

I would consider this for astro-landscape photography - have sued the laowa 7.5 2.0 // a third of stop better light and auto focus is appealing - especially of the StarryFocus Feature of Olympus camera works on this lens, lighter and faster than my 7-14 2.8 , any idea about the coma wide open ?

Hi, how does it compare now with the Laowa 10mm f2 or the 9mm f2. 8

Planning to oair it with my new wow for the $ camera, my OM-5

where did you buy it. I only see it pre-sale

Hello. Tell me how to use the lens at night, if there is no object on which you can focus? How to focus on infinity? Is this possible in my Olympus OM-D EM 1 Mark II camera?

I don't understand the preference for the Panasonic lens over the Olympus 8mm fisheye (the Oly used with & without rect. correction). No, having JPEG only on the Correction does not impede my workflow. I also don't care about using this focal length for video -- I do Weddings. Am I missing something? You had light falloff at f1.7; but I didn't recall any falloff on the Oly 8mm wide open. I don't have either, yet. I think you like this lens for the blogging you do; I do not blog. I also use the fisheye, albeit very sparingly. If I've missed something, please fill me in. Thanks.

I have been back to your videos in late 2020/early 2021 on the Laowa 10mm f2.0, and your comments (and images) on sharpness, vignetting and flare seem about equaly favourable for that lens and this one. And a comparison is what many of us have been waiting for. In Australia the RRPs are $769 for the Laowa, $749 for the Panasonic, so that doesn't help the decision - yes autofocus is worth something, but I value the compactness (and cooler looks?) of the Laowa as well. I suppose the fact that you didn't buy the Laowa 10mm and that you did buy the Panasonic enables us to draw our own conclusion. But can you confirm that you rate the Panasonic ahead of the Laowa? If so is that because of image quality or other features?

besides the obvious with autofocus and the different focal lengths, what are you thoughts on this 9mm vs the laowa 7.5mm?

Perchance, did you try it with OM1 and Starry AF??

In the end, I thought Mark Watson is suddenly recommending what to do with this lens.

This one and the laowa 10mm f2. Which one do you think better

I'm afraid you'll never see this comment/question so far down on the list, but I want to get a wide lens without breaking the bank. Will non-olympus lenses work with Starry-AF? A long time ago I think I read no, but I can't find anything to back that up, nothing official. I have the EM1 Mark III. And love the precision of Starry-AF plus I don't know how to focus on stars without it, lol. Thanks for all you do!!

The PanaLeica 25mm f/1.4 has a linear focus throw on Olympus bodies despite not having a focus clutch. Is the 9mm f/1.7 focus throw linear?

good review, but I'm undecided whether to pay for this leica 9mm or the laowa 7.5, for my lumix G9. Help?

Mulling over this v Laowa 7.5mm f2. A real shame the Panasonic has no manual focus.

@RED35 :Have you tried it with filters for vignetting? At 55 mm, it has an odd diameter size in the M43 universe, so a step-up ring from 55 to 58 would be nice if it is vignett free. Good one! After browsing the take with the 9 mm Oly body cap lens that stood in for a UWA in Italy during my vacation, I think this will be added to my lens line-up, as soon as someone in Norway gets it in inventory. If it is as good as the reviews will have it to be, I may actually ponder selling off the PL8-18. @RED35 :Have you tried it with filters for vignetting?

Thanks for video, I have a question for those who used this lens with Olympus bodies, how stabilisation is working with Olympus cameras? I’m using em 5m3, this lens seems to be a great choice, because I’m using Leica 15mm f1.7 and it’s not wide enough, I only doubt this 9mm lens stabilisation will be fine the same as on 12mm-15mm lenses, please reply )

Thx Jimmy. Is this lens also good for Sunstars?

👍🏾🙏🏾

One question, if you have the 15mm f1.7, would you "upgrade" to this lens???

hello, I have a pen-f with 30mm sigma and 42.5 nocticron and I need a compact lens that is hard to detach from my camera like the leica 9mm 1.7 or the leica 15mm 1.7 or the 20mm? I hope but not I think the 9mm has the same softness and leica look ... anyway I am interested in the color rendering ... advice?

You mentioned that the AF works "quite well" with your Olympus OM-1. Does it work with the OMD EM-1 MkII? Does that camera body support the in-camera distortion correction?

Has anyone used this with the BMPCC 4K? I’m worried about the uncorrected elements that only Panasonic cameras correct in-camera…

The only sad thing is, with a 1.7 aperture, it probably isn't worth picking up if you already have the 10 - 25mm 1.7. for just one single mm difference (2 at full frame lol) you're probably better just sticking with your 10-25 zoom. am I wrong?

Hello I’m interested in buy this lens can you tell me if all the function of OM-1 are compatible with this lens? ND, star focus and HR mode. Thanks

If OM does come out with an ultra-wide fast prime, they'll want $1000 or more for it. Probably $1200. This can be had for about half that, but I'm going to wait for a while and see what OM does. Maybe they'll surprise me.