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Panasonic 100mm/2.8 Macro


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  • 2 weeks later...

I ordered the 100/2.8 today from B&H for my SL2. Every written and video review I've seen, from sources I trust, say it's a solid macro lens. If it's not I'll know soon enough and will report back.

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I got mine today, replacing my 85mm 1.8 from Panasonic and 105mm 2.8 Macro from Sigma. This lens is good for portraits and macros as well. I checked the sharpness and I was positivley surprised - very sharp already wide open from center to corners (tested with Lumix S1R). The 85er needed a bit closing the aperture to 2.2-2.8 to get the full sharpness.

And the AF finally is fast. The Sigma 105 is very slow.

I sold my other lenses, so it was like an exchange without additional costs.

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Mine should arrive today.  Although not in apples to apples at all, I recently picked up the TTArtisan 90 1.25.  I'd probably only keep one since I don't shoot in that focal length range that often.  It's going to come down to AF and Macro vs shallow depth of field and manual.  I am interested in seeing how subject separation looks with the Panasonic and how the falloff zone renders.  On the SL2-S the light advantage of the 90 isn't as big as it would be if I was using on the SL2.  

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I'm reporting back on the Panasonic 100/2.8 that I received yesterday and have now tested on my SL2. Wow! This lens is much better than I hoped for. AF is very fast, contrast and resolution is impressive both near and far. On a standardized test I do with targets 70 feet away (tripod mounted, ES, self timer, viewed at 300%) the resolution across the field of the 100/2.8 @ f/4 was equivalent to my SL 90/2 APO @ f/2. That (to me) is jaw dropping great for a macro lens.

In terms of haptics it's really a joy to use on the SL2. For kicks I weighed it up against my current macro setup, the Fuji XH2 with XF 80/2.8 macro. That APS-C kit weighs 5 ounces heavier!

I've owned a lot of macros in my day. The Panasonic 100/2.8 is a winner. Leica should surely choose this design for their upcoming SL macro lens. A macro lens this small, light weight with the AF and optical performance it has, well no other camera company offers anything close to it.

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SL2 S Iso 12500 f3.2 1/10s

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I haven't really used it properly yet but here's a quick shot taken in the the dark corner my amp lives in of my latest 300B

Had to manually focus 

Took one of my Io 2 cartridge but it revealed an embarrassing amount of lint on the stylus tip.

Edited by huwm
typo
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vor 3 Stunden schrieb oldwino:

Would love to see some non-macro photos with this lens. General rending curiosity. 

Just some first shots...nothing special....I haven't done any retouching. I exported the images with Lightroom Classic.

Link open here....

Click the Info-Button and you'll get the EXIF-Data.....

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Edited by DirkZ
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vor 17 Stunden schrieb goodbokeh:

Wow! This lens is much better than I hoped for.

Yes, I didn't expect it is that good as well. Due to the compactness I was expecting compromises in IQ but the lens is compact AND delivers pleasing results.

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I was testing it with my SL2-S, trying to see how much detail I could see on some trout caviar.  This is a crop of one of my focus stacked images.  

 

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Edited by Dr. G
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Am 7.2.2024 um 20:10 schrieb DirkZ:

Just some first shots...nothing special....I haven't done any retouching. I exported the images with Lightroom Classic.

Link open here....

I have put some more images into the folder...just check the link above.....no retouching done, only minor cropping and aligning - nothing else.

Most of the shots are wide open aperture 2.8 - already tack sharp.

Edited by DirkZ
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On 2/7/2024 at 8:20 PM, DirkZ said:

Yes, I didn't expect it is that good as well. Due to the compactness I was expecting compromises in IQ but the lens is compact AND delivers pleasing results.

+1. The images look very nice, indeed! Given the size & weight (and fast af as far as I understand), this lens is interesting and offers a valuable alternative to Sigma 105 macro. Info from the inner circles at Wetzlar tell that a 'made in Japan' 105mm Leica macro is coming. Would guess this means a Leica-version of Sigma 105; time will tell. But the Panasonic is certainly interesting!

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It's the first time, I am using Focus Stacking with S5II and Lumix 100 F2.8 Macro (16 images, +1, stacked in Photoshop). I didn't use a tripod and was shaking a lot during the images were taken. But Photoshop can handle this apparently. BTW: I do not miss processing the focus stacking into the camera. It's always better doing this at the computer (Photosho, Affinity Photo, Helicon Focus, etc....). So, don't miss this feature in the S5II.

Aperture 5.6, 1/200 sec., ISO 3200

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No stacking: Aperture 7.1, 1/80 sec., ISO 6400 (retouching in Lightroom Classic)

Aperture 7.1, 1/125 sek., ISO 6400 (retouching in Lightroom Classic)

Edited by DirkZ
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  • 2 weeks later...
Am 31.1.2024 um 22:44 schrieb tom0511:

I checked both lenses in a store today on a SL body. The Panasonic seems to have faster and more quiet AF. I didn't compare optical quality.

„seems“ more fast? It is way faster… And it’s fantastic optically.

Edited by Tennisarm12
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  • 4 weeks later...

I just got mine today - it seems to be really nice to use (so light!) and IQ so far looks excellent. Mostly shot at f2.8 - nice bokeh as well

All of these taken on the SL3

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not just for macro!
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Indeed:

And it even tracks moving subjects:

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Hand held at f2.8:

compared with the 90mm APO Summicron at f2:

(these are not minimum focus distance in either case)

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