The Panasonic 45mm lens is one heck of an interesting lens. You can get this lens from either Amazon (Best Price + FREE Shipping)
This is a lens that is co-developed by Leica and Panasonic. Yes, Leica, the big daddy of expensive photography equipment (Note: Leica is often read EXPENSIVE in the photography world).
And interestingly enough, this is also the first Macro lens made for the Micro Four Thirds system.
The 45mm length is equivalent to a full format of 90mm which is the perfect focal length to shoot macro.
In terms of optical performance, you can expect Leica quality. It is very sharp both on the center and on the borders. All the optical defect are kept to a minimum as well.
Build quality is also stellar. The materials used are of the highest quality.
There is also the Image Stabilization feature which works very well up to 3 stops.
If you are looking for a Macro lens or a portrait lens for your Micro Four Thirds camera… then you only have one options – this lens! 
However, be prepared to spend the money. At around $900 USD, this is definitely not a cheap lens by all means.
To see if this is the lens for you, read my complete coverage of the Panasonic 45mm below.
Specs • Performance • Sample Image • Conclusion • Where to Buy
Panasonic 45mm Specs
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Official Name:
Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 Leica Macro Elmarit O.I.S
Focal Length Markings:
45mm
Features:
This lens is only compatible with Micro Four Thirds camera
Macro – Special lens that allows you to focus closer than normal lens to take close up pictures. In this lens, the magnification ration is 1:1 (you’ll get real size subject on the camera sensor).
Leica – Indicator of an expensive lens
O.I.S – Optical Image Stabilization – Panasonic’s technology to reduce picture blurriness caused by hand shakiness during handheld shooting.
Full Technical Specs (from Panasonic’s website):
| Technical Specifications | |
| Groups / Elements | 10 / 14 |
| Angle of View | 27 |
| Number of Blade Diaphragm | 7 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/22 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 0.15m Full / 0.5m with Focus Limit |
| Filter Thread | 46mm |
| Weight | 225g |
| Dimension (Diameter x Length) | 63 x 62.5mm |
| Macro Magnification Ratio | 1.0X |
| Available at | Amazon, B&H Photo, Adorama |
Optical Performance
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Panasonic 45mm Sharpness
On the center, this lens is sharp at any aperture.
Same goes with the borders. At the smallest aperture range, the sharpness will drop slightly, but this is not caused by the lens, but instead it was caused by diffraction.
On my testing the sharpest aperture seems to be at f/4.
To see the full sharpness test, look at the tables below.
Sharpness Scale (from Best to Worst):
(5) Excellent
(4) Great
(3) Good
(2) Fair
(1) Poor
Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 Leica Macro Center Sharpness
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/2.8 | f/4 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 | f/16 |
| 45mm | Great | Great | Great | Great | Great | Good |
Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 Leica Macro Border Sharpness
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/2.8 | f/4 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 | f/16 |
| 45mm | Great | Great | Great | Great | Good | Good |
Distortion
Being a macro lens, distortion is non-existent on this lens.
You can safely ignore the distortion on this lens.
See the distortion test result below.
Panasonic 45mm Distortion
Vignetting
Vignetting at f/2.8 is on the high side, which is quite normal for a Micro Four Thids Lens.
However, being a macro lens, the f/2.8 aperture will be rarely used by most photographer.
The other use of this lens is portrait photography and some photographers enjoy having vignetting on the borders for creative purpose.
Stop down to f/4 to reduce vignetting significantly. At smaller apertures, the vignetting can be ignored.
See the full vignetting test result below.
Panasonic 45mm Vignetting
Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic aberration is very well controlled on this lens. You can safely ignore it at any aperture.
See the test result below.
Chromatic Aberration Scale (from Best to Worst):
(5) Negligible
(4) Very Low
(3) Low
(2) High
(1) Very High
Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 Leica Macro Chromatic Aberration
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/2.8 | f/4 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 | f/16 |
| 45mm | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible |
Build Quality
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Materials
High quality plastic with metal mount.
Focusing
The focus ring operates smoothly on this lens and the physical dimension remains constant during focusing, thanks to the Internal Focusing design.
The front element does not rotate so using polarizing filters would be possible.
Autofocus speed is fairly fast and accurate. There is a focus limiter on this lens which you should take advantage of when you are not shooting macro.
Image Stabilization
The Mega Optical Image Stabilization (Mega O.I.S) works very well on this lens. You can expect it to be 3 f/stops effective.
If you are using an Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera, you can turn off either the Image Stabilization on the lens, or the Image Stabilization on the camera body.
I personally prefer to turn off the Image Stabilization on the camera body because from my experience, it has been proven to beat the In-Body Image Stabilization.
Also, make sure that only ONE image stabilization is active, not both. You will get slightly less sharp picture because the two mechanism will work against each other when you turn them both on.
Compatibility
This lens is only compatible with Micro Four Thirds camera: both Olympus and Panasonic Micro Four Thirds can be used with this lens.
Note that this lens is not compatible with regular Four Thirds DSLR camera.
Sample Image
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Below are some sample images taken with this lens. Click on any thumbnail to enlarge the images.
Get the best price online from these sites: Amazon
Conclusion
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Here is my conclusion for this Panasonic 45mm lens.
In terms of optical performance, you can expect highly of this lens. It is sharp both on the center and on the borders at any apertures.
Distortion is well controlled, typical for a good macro lens. The chromatic aberration control is also excellent. You can safely ignore it at any aperture.
Build quality of this lens is also superb. It is made of high quality plastic with metal mount. Combined with the excellent autofocus and Image Stabilization mechanism, I would rate this lens very high in terms of build quality.
The weak point of this lens is vignetting at the widest aperture of f/2.8 which is quite common among all Micro Four Thirds lenses. Stop down to f/4 to reduce it significantly.
Another one is the price. The Leica tag should alert you when you see this lens. All in all, I think the price is a tad expensive for this lens.
However, at the time of this writing, there is only one macro lens for the Micro Four Thirds format which can give Panasonic all the reason to increase the price since they are holding monopoly on the market
Below are the conclusions for this lens in bullet point style.
Drawbacks
- Vignetting is apparent at f/2.8
- Expensive price tag
Positives
- Great sharpness both on the center and borders
- Excellent distortion control
- Superb chromatic aberration control
- Solid build quality
- Great Image Stabilization performance up to 3 stops gain
- Great autofocus performance
Good For
- Macro photography
- Portrait photography
- Any photographer looking to get near professional results using the Micro Four Thirds format
Not So Good For
- Anything other than the above
What Others Are Saying…
by “David Robinson”
The Panasonic/Leica Elmarit 45mm F2.8 macros is a little bit controversial because of it’s price. However there are a lot of considerations. Built by Panasonic but designed by Leica and built to Leica supervised quality standards…
Click here to see the full review
by “Noirists”
I’ve had the Panasonic 45mm/f2.8 lens for a month now and have taken many thousands of pictures with it on my GH1. Macro photography is challenging, but I’ve gotten some great macro pictures of insects and plants…
Click here to see the full review
Where to Buy
Support this site, buy the Panasonic 45mm lens from these sites (best price online):
Amazon (Best Price + FREE Shipping)
Below are some related lens reviews for you to see more Micro four thirds lenses options options.
Thanks for checking my Panasonic 45mm review and I will catch you in the next review!
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