Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 Macro Leica D Vario-Elmar Micro Four Thirds

Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 Macro Leica D Vario-Elmar Handling and features

Although not up to the standard of Leica's 'M' lenses, the build quality is good, with high quality plastics used for much of the barrel's construction and metal for the lens mount. This helps to keep the overall weight down. With the lens tipping the scales at 225g, it is certainly lightweight for a 1:1 macro optic with a fast f/2.8 aperture and optical stabilisation. At only 62.5mm long, it is very compact too and balances perfectly on the Panasonic G1 used for testing.

As focusing is performed internally the 46mm filter thread does not rotate during use, making this lens ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. Focus speeds are quick at normal distances and a focus limiter switch is provided to prevent the lens hunting through the entire range of focus. The wide manual focus ring is very well damped and offers a decent amount of resistance, which makes applying fine adjustments a pleasure. The effective aperture of the lens isn't compensated for as the lens is focused closer, unlike many other macro lenses, which can cause inconsistencies with flash exposures.

The minimum focus distance of 15cm provides 1:1 magnification of your subject, but care may need to be taken not to shade the subject when this close. The optical stabiliser allows sharp shots to be taken hand held of subjects at normal distances at 1/13sec with a certain degree of consistency, which is around three stops longer than the usual rule of thumb would allow. At close distances the image stabiliser is less effective, but it still does an excellent job of stabilising the image on screen, which makes focusing and composing easier.

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