Darren Miles Photography Southwest Florida Wedding, Portrait, Family and Real Estate Photographer - http:/www.DarrenMiles.com
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CONCLUSION:
The BUILD: It’s metal from the lens mount to the lens hood, it’s incredibly solid and aesthetically pretty, it’s the best built lens that we’ve tested for the M43 system, the only real nit was the lack of weather sealing, and at nearly $1,500 we thought that was a travesty - apart from that, it’s perfect, we gave it a 9.5/10
AF SPEED AND ACCURACY: Unlike the other f/1.2 glass with AF that’s out there, the panasonic has lightening quick AF, the focus motor is silent and it’s deadly accurate - I’ve seen in some places that the AF is kinda inconsistent, but that has not been our experience with the lens, we’re nailing focus - even at f/1.2 - the overwhelming majority of the time. So for AF speed and accuracy, the 42.5 gets a perfect 10/10!
OPTICAL QUALITY / QUALITY OF RESULTS: Sharp and amazing, straight from f/1.2, you only really begin to see image quality fall off at about f/8 when diffraction sets in… the level of detail that I’m able to capture - especially when pixel peeping is pretty amazing, I have to say Panasonic has done just an outstanding job here, as optically, the 42.5 is just awesome. We have it a 9.5 for optical quality and a 10 for the quality of results
VALUE: I’d be really critical of the nearly $1,500 price tag if the pany wasn’t something special or if it didn’t deliver optically, but the fact of the matter is it delivers in nearly every critical area, build quality, AF speed and accuracy, optical quality, etc… The cup is overflowing with photographic delight, if it weren’t, we’d let you know, but such quality comes at a price, btw, did I mention this thing isn’t weather sealed? For value, we gave the Pany a 9/10
Overall: 48/50 and our editors choice award!!
THE FINAL WORD: If you’re a professional who wants to lighten his or her load and consider the M43 system, then here’s yet another lens in the growing arsenal of M43 lenses targeting professionals with amazing build, fast, accurate AF and amazing optics, lens after lens from Panasonic and Olympus are convincing more and more photographers to take a long hard look at the M43 system, the Panasonic 42.5 is another big leap towards getting DSLr die hards off the fence and into the world of M43….