Pros & Cons
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- Very wide aperture.
- Sharp from edge to edge at f/1.2.
- No distortion.
- Optical stabilization system.
- Physical aperture ring.
- Fantastic build quality.
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- Big.
- Heavy.
- Expensive.
Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 Specs
| 35mm Equivalent (Telephoto) | N/A mm |
| 35mm Equivalent (Wide) | 85 |
| Dimensions | 3 by 2.9 inches |
| Stabilization | Optical |
| Type | Lens |
| Weight | 15 |
Let's dispense with the downsides: The Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ($1,599.99) is big, heavy, and expensive. But it delivers edge-to-edge sharpness even at its widest aperture, captures a heck of a lot of light, shows no distortion, is optically stabilized, and makes it possible to capture images with a very shallow depth of field, which is not always the case with Micro Four Thirds cameras. If you can get past its bulk and price, you'll be rewarded with a lens that earns a very rare 5-star rating, which also makes it our Editors' Choice. If you're on a budget, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f1.8 ($499.99 at Amazon) is a solid alternative, but its photos can't quite match the look of an image shot at f/1.2.
The Nocticron ($1,197.99 at Amazon) is hefty, especially when paired with a compact Micro Four Thirds camera. It measures 3 by 2.9 inches (HD), weighs 15 ounces, and supports 67mm front filters. It balances well with the Panasonic GX7 ($399.99 at Amazon) , but I don't think I'd want to use it with the diminuitive Panasonic GM1 ($660.00 at Amazon) . The barrel is metal, with a large manual focus ring and a physical aperture ring, and the included lens hood is also metal. It connects via a thumbscrew, and is cylindrical in design so there's no wrong way to attach it. The aperture ring has a setting for automatic operation, and full-stop markings from f/1.2 down to f/16, but can be adjusted in third-stop increments. Even though the Nocticron can be used with cameras from Olympus, the ring only functions on Panasonic bodies—you'll need to use the camera to adjust the aperture if you opt to mount the lens on an Olympus body.
Despite the focus ring being an electronic affair—turning it activates the focus motor rather than physically moving the elements—I found manual focus to be quite a pleasant experience. I wasn't turning and turning and turning the ring in order to adjust focus like I had to with the Zeiss Touit 2.8/50M ($700.00 at Amazon) , even when moving toward the 1.6-foot minimum focus distance. That the lens doesn't support macro focus distances helps speed the manual focus experience; if you're looking for macro capabilities in a lens with a similar field of view, Panasonic has you covered with the Lumix G Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm F2.8 ($379.00 at Amazon) .
There's a physical switch on the barrel to toggle between manual and autofocus, and one to enable or disable the optical stabilization system. I recorded some handheld video with the system enabled and then with it disabled, and was happy to see that it did its job in smoothing out the motion of the footage. When you're working with stills, the f/1.2 aperture makes it possible to get a really short shutter speed in a lot of situations, but you will want to stop down to increase the depth of field in certain situations. It's not as shallow as the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM ($1,999.00 at Amazon) , a lens with an identical field of view when paired with a full-frame camera, so you can get away with shooting at f/2 or f/2.8 and getting enough depth of field to keep your subject entirely in focus. The aperture blades form a perfectly round circle, which works to create a smoother bokeh effect behind your subject when stopped down.
I used Imatest to check the sharpness and distortion characteristics when paired with the 16-megapixel GX7. At f/1.2 the lens bettered the 1,800-line center-weighted score we use to mark an image as sharp, recording 2,051 lines per picture height. There's very little falloff in image quality at the edges of the frame, as is often the case at the widest aperture; it even averaged 1,986 lines at the outer edge of the frame at f/1.2.
Stopping down to f/1.4 offers just a modest improvement in sharpness (2,082 lines), but at f/2 the score jumps to 2,338 lines, and it hits 2,489 lines at f/2.8. Peak sharpness is achieved at f/4 (2,502 lines). At f/5.6 there's a drop-off in detail due to diffraction, but you can stop down all the way to f/11 and get an acceptable image (1,947 lines). Distortion is a nonissue, it shows just 0.2 percent barrel distortion, which is completely irrelevant in real world shooting.
There aren't a lot of bad things to say about the Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2. I was happily surprised by the impeccable quality of the images it captured, even at its widest f/1.2 setting. The shallow depth of field that the longer focal length and wide aperture create gives photos the look of those captured with a much larger sensor. If you're a Micro Four Thirds photographer, and if you can stomach the Nocticron's price and bulk, this is a lens that should be on your wish list. It's about as close to perfect as they get from an optical standpoint, and easily earns our Editors' Choice award.
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Further Reading
Final Thoughts
Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 Review
The Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 is the best Micro Four Thirds lens we've seen for portraiture thanks to impeccable sharpness and a wide aperture. It's an easy Editors' Choice.