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This blog is a user's perspective on the Micro Four Thirds camera system. Read more ...

Lens Buyer's Guide. Panasonic GH4 review.

My lens reviews: Olympus 9mm f/8 fisheye, Lumix G 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6, Leica 25mm f/1.4, Lumix X 12-35mm f/2.8, Lumix X 35-100mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm f/2.8, Sigma 19mm f/2.8, Lumix X PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6, Lumix X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6, Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8, Panasonic Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6, Panasonic Leica Lumix DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro, Panasonic Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6, Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 pancake, Panasonic Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 pancake, Panasonic Lumix G HD 14-140mm f/4-5.8, Panasonic Lumix G HD 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6, Panasonic Lumix G 8mm f/3.5 fisheye, Lumix G 7-14mm f/4, Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 fisheye, Tokina 300mm f/6.3 mirror reflex tele, Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 circular fisheye lens
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Thursday 7 February 2013

Bokeh comparison @ 20mm and 19mm

The Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN lens can be an interesting alternative to the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7. It focuses significantly faster for both stills and movies, and while it is not as sharp as the 20mm lens, it is still sharp enough. It also comes at a much lower price.


In this article, I'm looking at the out of focus rendering of the lenses, the bokeh. I also threw the Lumix X 12-35mm f/2.8 into the comparison.

The comparison was done by focusing on a close object, the box at about 50cm distance in the left foreground:

Sigma 19mm @ f/2.8 Lumix G 20mm @ f/2.8 Lumix X 12-35mm @ f/2.8

Here are some 100% crops from the centre:


And from the extreme right border:


The Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 features asymmetrical out-of-focus rendering outside of the centre of the frame: The further from the centre, the more elliptical the bokeh highlights become. You can see the same phenomenon in this study. This property is also shared with the Lumix-Leica 45mm f/2.8 1:1 macro lens.

The Lumix X 12-35mm f/2.8 also has some minor disturbance in the border: The out-of-focus highlights are rendered somewhat non-circular. When stopping down, this becomes less of a problem. However, this is a very minor issue.

Overall, I think the Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN probably has the most pleasing out of focus rendering in this high contrast scene.







6 comments:

  1. Bought the 19mm last week bc I have always wanted a 35mm FOV and 38mm equivalent is good enough. I already have the Pana 14mm and PanaLeica 25mm. The 19mm is really wonderful lens to add to my bag and definitely worth more than just $99. It may not have the sharpness of my PanaLeica, but I think I can live with it. I love the FOV of 35mm and 50mm. Thanks for the comparison. Now I feel better about my choice and don't feel bad about not investing in the 20mm.

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    Replies
    1. The Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake is a very good lens. But the Sigma 19mm f/2.8 is a perfectly good alternative. That is my conclusion so far.

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  2. It looks like excuses why you bought that cheap bulky and slow aperture lens. It's a monstro. ))

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  3. Not everyone needs the speed! The Panasonic has very unsure edges to the out of focus areas. Thanks for testing.

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  4. Would that mean "in focus" area on the edges of the 20 mm are also distorted? Also how many iris blades are on the sigmas? Thanks!

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  5. The Sigma lens has seven iris blades. The Lumix 20mm lens does not have distorted corners when in focus. It is only the bokeh which is non-round and blocky when out of focus.

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