Introduction

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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Showing posts with label Lumix X 45-175mm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lumix X 45-175mm. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 January 2014

Comparison @ 100mm

As the Micro Four Thirds lens lineup grows, there are more and more lenses covering the 100mm focal length. I have compared the image quality of four of them here:



From left to right: Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6, Lumix X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6, Lumix X 35-100mm f/2.8, Lumix G 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6. The lenses are shown with the original supplied hoods.

Sunday, 24 June 2012

Smaller lenses, smaller apertures

When the Panasonic G mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras were introduced in 2008, two kit zoom lenses were initially available. They were the Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6 tele zoom lens, which is still in production, and the Lumix G 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6.

The latter was rather quickly replaced with the lighter and cheaper Lumix G 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 in 2010. The newer lens has a 13% smaller front lens element, while retaining the same aperture specifications. Not bad!

2011 saw the announcement of newer zoom lenses in the premium X series: The Lumix X 45-175mm f/4-5.6 and the Lumix X 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6. See them below:



Front, from left to right: Lumix X 14-42mm, Lumix G 14-42mm
Rear, from left to right: Lumix X 45-175mm, Lumix G 45-200mm

The newer X lenses are smaller than the original zoom lenses, and retain the same aperture specifications. In fact, The Lumix X 14-42mm has a 35% smaller front lens element, in terms of diameter, compared with the original Lumix G 14-45mm lens. This corresponds to an almost 60% smaller front lens area, see the diagram below:



How is this possible?

One answer is that the lenses do not have the same maximum apertures. Sure, the end points are the same, f/3.5-5.6 for the kit zoom lenses and f/4-5.6 for the tele zoom lenses. But in the middle of the zoom ranges, the maximum apertures are smaller for the newer lenses. See the diagram below for an illustration of this fact:



The diagram uses logarithmic scale. As you can see, the maximum apertures are only the same in the start and end points of the focal length ranges. Inside the ranges, the newer lenses have a smaller maximum aperture. The Lumix X 14-42mm lens has a constant aperture of f/5.6 from f=32mm to the longest end.

This fact is generally not revealed in lens announcements or reviews. So, is Panasonic fooling us? Perhaps. By using "traditional" zoom end point apertures, Panasonic is not drawing attention to the fact that the newer lenses are in fact slower than the ones they replace.

Olympus appears to have chosen a different approach. Some of their premium lenses clearly feature slower zoom end points, e.g., the Olympus M.ZD 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 and the Olympus M.ZD 70-300mm f/4.8-6.7.

Does this matter? I'd say hardly. Those who are interested can read about it here or in other sources. And since the difference is fairly marginal, much less than one stop, it will have very little practical impact. Modern cameras handle high ISO fairly well, so the loss of some aperture doesn't matter.

All in all, I've found the newer X branded lenses to give better image quality than the older lenses. So I am happy. It is the image quality that matters.

Quite recently, Panasonic has launched another tele zoom lens. It is the Panasonic Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6:


Again, we see the same aperture range as the other tele zoom lenses: f/4-5.6. And again, it has a smaller front lens element than the preceding lens. This time, though, the maximum focal length is smaller, at 150mm, which in part explains this.

But I would not be surprised if Panasonic again use the trick of having a more limited aperture as you zoom the lens over the focal length range.

I'm guessing that this new lens will replace the Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6 as the entry level tele zoom lens. This will make more sense from a market perspective, since it will be easier for the sales personnel to explain why the 45-175mm lens is the more expensive, when it also has the longer zoom range. The current situation is a bit counter intuitive, where the 45-200mm lens is the cheapest, but has the longest zoom range.

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Geometric distortion correction

Most of the Micro Four Thirds lenses need geometric distortion correction applied for the output images to become rectilinear. This is done totally seamlessly by the camera and software, both for JPEG and RAW images. So the user never notices that the image, as seen by the camera through the lens, is not rectilinear in the first place.

This is in contrast to older DSLR systems. In these systems, there is an optical viewfinder, in which the users sees exactly what the sensor sees, through the lens. With a DSLR system, the lens must be rectilinear, otherwise, the user will be appalled by the geometric distortion when using the camera.

Here is an illustration of two basic kinds of distortion: Pincushion distortion (left) and barrel distortion (right):


In reality, the geometric distortion might very well be more complicated than what is illustrated by these simple models.

I have previously tested the geometric distortion properties of some Micro Four Thirds lenses, and I found that virtually all lenses featured some distortion correction. Especially wide angle lenses, or the wide end of zoom lenses. Since this time, I have acquired some new lenses, and I wanted to test them in the same way.

Again, I have done the tests by taking a pictures of a tiled wall. The images look like this:


Since I am only interested in the geometric distortion, I have increased the contrast so that the images become monochrome. I also superimposed the corrected out of camera JPEG images (black) onto the original RAW uncorrected images (red).

I included the appropriate adjustment needed. The adjustment numbers in percent refer to the "Lens Distortion" filter in The Gimp, an image processing software. Of course, to become rectilinear, some lenses might require more complicated adjustment than the simple model given by the "Lens Distortion" filter. So these figures are just intended to be approximate relative indicators of the degree of distortion. A positive figure indicated barrel distortion, while a negative figure indicates pincushion distortion.

Here is a comparison of the uncorrected and corrected images for some lenses.

Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 pancake: -16%

There is a significant barrel distortion, which is corrected in the in-camera JPEG image. However, there is some residual barrel distortion even in the corrected image. I have noticed this previously. In fact, the lens is rectilinear (after correction) at long focus distances, but has some barrel distortion at close focus distances. In this example, we see the barrel distortion at close focus distance. This is not an uncommon behavior for lenses that feature internal focus.


Olympus M.ZD 45mm f/1.8: 0%

No distortion correction at all. It looks like there is a small amount of pincushion distortion, though, so perhaps there should have been some in-camera correction done by the camera.


Panasonic X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6 @ 45mm: 0%

No distortion correction at 45mm.


Panasonic X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6 @ 100mm: +5%

There is some pincushion distortion correction at 100mm, but not a lot.


Panasonic G 100-300mm f/4-5.6 @ 100mm: 0%

No geometric distortion correction at 100mm.


Summary

Including the results from my previous study, I can present a table with the relative distortion corrections of various lenses:

LensFocal lengthRelative distortion correction
Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 Pancake20mm-11%
Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 Pancake14mm-16%
Lumix G 14-42mm f/3.5-5.614mm-18%
Lumix G 14-42mm f/3.5-5.630mm0%
Lumix G 7-14mm f/47mm-17%
Lumix G HD 14-140mm f/4-5.814mm-17%
Lumix G HD 14-140mm f/4-5.830mm-4%
Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.645mm+1%
Lumix X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.645mm0%
Lumix X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6100mm+5%
Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6100mm0%
Olympus M.ZD 45mm f/1.845mm0%
Panasonic Leica Lumix DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro45mm0%
Lumix 8mm f/3.5 fisheye8mm0%
Sigma 30mm f/2.88mm0%

Conclusion

We see that wide angle lenses and zooms typically feature barrel distortion (negative figure) in the wide end. On the other hand, longer lenses are often not corrected, or are corrected for a small amount of pincushion distortion (positive figure). The in-camera distortion correction is some times insufficient, for example we've seen that the Olympus M.ZD 45mm f/1.8 and Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 pancake lenses feature some geometric distortion in the short focus range, while behaving better at infinity focus.

There are some who have speculated that Leica-branded lenses are not subject to any software corrections. I have looked at the Panasonic Leica 45mm f/2.8 1:1 macro lens, and found no indications of software adjustments to the images. However, I still don't believe that statement. One of the first cameras for which the software corrections were widely discussed online, was the Panasonic Lumix LX3 high end pocked camera from 2008. And it does feature a Leica-branded lens, and quite clearly, there is a significant barrel distortion in the wide end of the zoom, which is corrected by software.

Saturday, 31 December 2011

Lumix X HD PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6

The new, compact tele zoom Panasonic Lumix X HD PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6 has a long name, indicating a lot of improvements over the existing value tele zoom Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6. In this review, I have mostly been comparing the lenses head to head. I think this makes sense, since most users will be choosing between them, and hence would like to know how they compare, and if the newer lens is worth the premium price.

Most camera systems have lenses like this: Fairly light and inexpensive tele zoom lenses for people who want to test a tele lens, but not invest too much in it. For the Nikon Z system, there is a similarly specced Nikon Z 50-250mm



Specifications

Lens
Weight380g210g
Length100mm90mm
Diameter70mm62mm
Filter thread52mm46mm
Minimum focus1.0m0.90m
Maximum magnification0.19x0.2x
Lens elements1614
Lens groups1310
Exotic elements3 ED2 Asph, 2 ED
Diaphragm blades77

Based on the specifications, it is easy to see that the newer lens looks more interesting. It is smaller, lighter, has more exotic lens elements. The only negative item is that it has a shorter zoom range. However, the difference between 200mm and 175mm maximum extension is barely significant.



Aperture range

In the specifications, it looks like the two lenses have the same aperture range. And they do have, f/4-f5.6. However, when looking at the aperture as a function of the focal length, it is easy to see that the new lens in fact has a less impressive maximum aperture for all focal lengths between the start and end-points:


This means that the new lens not only gives a slightly shorter zoom range, it is also a slower lens on average. However, I guess that lenses like this tend to be used in the very shortest and very longest settings the most, so this might not be big issue.

Physical, Power Zoom

The most striking difference between the lenses is of course the size and weight. Beyond that, the newer 45-175mm lens has the all-black "premium design", associated with the Leica branded lenses from Panasonic. The older 45-200mm lens has the "common design", featuring a grey ring around the base of the lens.

Another fundamental difference between the lenses is that the new lens has power zoom (PZ), and also internal zooming. Internal zooming means that the lens doesn't change shape during focal length change. The old lens, on the other hand, extends when zooming towards the long focal length range, which is very common for tele zoom lenses. Internal zooming makes the new lens feel very solid. There is no wobbling front section, unlike the older 45-200mm lens.

Power zoom is a feature mostly included for video use. Zooming smoothly manually during video recording is pretty much impossible. But with motorized zooming, it is possible to zoom while recording a video. On a personal note, I think that zooming during a video capture almost never looks good, and is best avoided. But at least the new lens makes it possible to do this with a better result.

For still image use, power zoom is not needed. And some would even argue it is a nuisance: You have better and more precise control with a manually operated zoom ring. However, I find the implementation of the motorized zooming to be very good. There is the option of zooming using a broad, rubberized ring, or using the switch on the side. Using the ring for zooming feels almost like using a mechanically coupled manual zoom ring. There are two exceptions: The zoom ring does not stop when reaching the end of the focal length range, and you cannot see the focal length by looking at the position of the ring. Rather, you must take a look at the display to see the actual focal length.

When using the zoom ring while recording a video, it has the advantage of smoothing out the zoom movement for you, so that the zoom action becomes more even. Using the zoom lever makes the zooming even more smooth. It is possible to operate the motorized zoom at different speeds using the zoom lever, by pushing it more or less hard. This works well

The rubber zoom ring feels a bit thicker and more generous than the old lens. Also, the focus ring feels a bit more dampened than the old lens.

Autofocus

I have tested the autofocus, and compared it with the older 45-200mm lens. I found the autofocus to operate a bit faster than the old lens. The old lens is also very fast focusing, so this is a good achievement.

As with other Contrast Detection Autofocus (CDAF) systems, the focus accuracy is very good. Unlike Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF), calibration of the lenses and camera bodies is not needed. However, as with all other long lenses, you must take care that the camera focuses on what you want to have in focus. Even if the aperture is not very large in the long setting, f/5.6, the depth of focus (DoF) is still narrow enough that you may experience to focus on a background object rather than the subject. So make sure you understand how the autofocus modes work, and consider using centre spot mode to have full control over what comes in focus. This is important when using the lens in the longest tele zoom extension.

Autofocus while zooming

The older Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6 lens is not optimal when it comes to keeping the focus when zooming. It is clearly not parfocal, and loses the focus immediately when zooming. The longer Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6 (my review) is somewhat better in this respect, but still has this problem.

With the newer Lumix X 45-175mm lens, this is still a problem. When zooming during video recording, I've found that it can keep the focus fairly well if the background is static. However, with excessive subject movement or camera shake, the focus can wander off for an extended period of time. In general, you can not expect tack sharp focus until around one second after you stop zooming. This will take longer if the lens is zoomed in.

Here is an example showing how zooming while video recording can look using the two lenses:



As you can see, both lenses fail to focus perfectly while zooming. However, the newer lens generally does a bit better. Also, it is easier to zoom smoothly using the new lens. Especially when using the zoom lever. An added benefit is that keeping the camera stably is easier when using the motorized zoom through the lever.

I could find examples where the new Lumix X 45-175mm lens also fails to retain focus while zooming. This would typically happen if there is excessive camera shake, much subject movement, or very close distance. Closer distance is more challenging for the lens, especially at a long zoom.

Sharpness

When comparing the sharpness of the two lenses, it is hard to find much difference with low contrast test images. This can be seen here, in my first sharpness tests. However, with high contrast images, for example with back light, I've found the new lens to be consistently better. It has less Chromatic Aberration (CA) artefacts, and less flare.

I would say that the newer Lumix X 45-175mm lens is generally sharper wide open. When using a Panasonic camera in auto mode, it will almost always choose to use a long lens like this wide open, so the wide open performance is important.

Here is another sharpness comparison with four other lenses at 140mm. Again, the Lumix X 45-175mm lens comes out as one of the best performers.

Bokeh

The term bokeh denotes the rendering of out of focus areas, which can vary a lot between lenses. I have looked at the bokeh of the two lenses by using a high contrast night image as an example. The focus is set on the foreground, which is about 1m away. The focal length was 45mm in both cases. Here are the full images:
Lumix G 45-200mm
Lumix X 45-175mm

Looking at some 100% crops from the top right region reveals that the bokeh from the newer Lumix X 45-175mm is not optimal. The out of focus hightlights are rendered as non-round discs off the centre:


The problem of non-round out of focus renderings becomes smaller as the lens is stopped down. In low contrast situations, this is not an issue at all, since you wouldn't see the bokeh discs as clearly as here.

Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)

Just like almost all other zoom lenses from Panasonic, this lens features optical image stabilization (OIS). Based on my experience, this appears to be effective both during still image photography and video recording. It is almost impossible to video record stably at 45mm and longer focal length without a tripod, so OIS is pretty much needed for video.

In online forums, there has been much discussion about the effectiveness of the OIS with this lens. I cannot see how I can test this scientifically, and hence my advice is: If you are worried about the rumored dysfunction of the OIS, then don't buy the lens. My personal opinion is that this problem, if it is a problem, is way overrated in online forums.

Example images

Here is an example image taken at 45mm, f/4.0, ISO 160, 1/60s, OIS on, handheld:

And a crop from the centre of the image, not re-scaled or sharpened:


This image was taken at 175mm, f/5.6, ISO 320, 1/50s, OIS on, handheld, but with the camera supported against a railing:


And a crop from the middle of the image, not re-scaled or sharpened:



And this image was taken at 175mm, f/5.6, ISO 640, 1/125s, OIS on, handheld, but supporting my wrist on a hand rail:


And a crop from the top left part of the image, not re-scaled or sharpened:


Example video

This video was done with the GH3, using the Extended Tele Conversion (ETC) mode, and the zoom mostly around 100-175mm. The camera was handheld:



A video recorded using the GH2 at ISO 160, f/6.3 and mostly f=175mm. One of the wider shots was recorded at a shorter focal length.



The camera was hand held, but rested against a hand rail.

Another example video, recorded handheld with the GH2. The zoom was set to about 60mm.



I think the OIS system does a good job of keeping the image stable. Compare it with a video recorded using the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 non-stabilized portrait lens. In the video recorded using the MZD45, I was not able to handhold the camera sufficiently stable.

Durability

After 1.5 years of extensive use, I accidentally dropped the lens on a hard wood floor from a height of 1.5 meters. The lens bounced a couple of times before coming to rest, and I thought that this lens is gone for sure. However, the only visible side effect from the accident is that some chrome has chipped off one of the mount flanges:



Beyond that, the lens works just as before, and continues to give very sharp and good images. This indicates that the lens is very well constructed, and can take a lot of abuse, should you be unlucky and drop it or bang it into something.

Conclusion

The newer Lumix X 45-175mm lens is a good improvement over the existing Lumix G 45-200mm lens. It is better optically, and much more compact and light. It also feels more solid, without any extending section when zooming. The power zoom (PZ) implementation is well done, and works fine also for still image use.

While some of the specifications are better than the old lens, it should be noted that some are also worse. The new lens has a slightly shorter zoom range, and is about 1/3 stop slower in the middle of the zoom range. Out of focus renderings of highlights are non-round outside of the centre of the frame. This is mostly a problem only for night time photos. The bokeh is quite good in daylight situations, when the contrast is lower.

So which lens should you buy? If you are interested in video use, then I think it makes sense to get the newer Lumix X 45-175mm lens, since it generally gives you better footage, and allows for smooth zooming while filming. The new lens could also give better image quality for stills use. All in all, I think it comes down to how much you want to spend, and how much you value the compactness. Both lenses are certainly good.

Thursday, 29 December 2011

AF speed comparison, Lumix G 45-200mm vs Lumix X 45-175mm

The Lumix X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6 has the "HD" designation, and it does have the newer "X"branding, indicating that it is a premium lens. I have already seen that it performs better in terms of optical qualities than the older Lumix G 45-200mm f/4-5.6 lens. But what about the focus speed?

I tried to put a figure at about 1 meter distance, close to the minimum focus distance of both lenses. Then I timed the focus. The camera had just been turned on, meaning that the lens is at "close to infinity" focus at the start of the experiment. There is a fair amount of light, with daylight coming in through a window.

Here are the results:



And in a table:

Focal length
Lumix G 45-200mm
Lumix X 45-175mm
45mm0.24s0.18s
max0.54s0.42s

Conclusion

In my tests, the newer Lumix X PZ 45-175mm does focus faster than the older Lumix G 45-200mm lens. The older lens was very fast focusing already, so this is a good achievement.

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Sharpness of Lumix G 45-200mm and Lumix X 45-175mm

I have previously tested the sharpness of the Lumix G 45-200mm and Lumix X PZ 45-175mm lenses. My test images then were fairly low contrast, and not too challenging for the lenses. To put them to a more difficult test, I've tried to test them head to head with a backlit subject. This is taken at approximately infinity focus, which is perhaps not the most realistic usage of these lenses.


Lumix G 45-200mm (left) and Lumix X PZ 45-175mm (right)

@ 45mm

The first set of images are taken at 45mm with both lenses. I used the Panasonic GH2 at ISO 160, and a tripod. The shutter speeds were fast. This is what the whole frame looks like:



Lumix G 45-200mm @ 45mm f/4
Lumix X 45-175mm @ 45mm f/4

Here are 100% crops from the centre:


And from the left corner:


I've also made a similar comparison at maximum zoom extension. First, the full images:

@ 175mm and 200mm



Lumix G 45-200mm @ 200mm f/5.6
Lumix X 45-175mm @ 175mm f/5.6

Here are 100% crops from the centre:


And from the left corner:


Conclusion

While my first test indicated that the lenses were fairly similar in terms of sharpness, these tests, taken at more challenging lightning, show a consistently better performance from the newer Lumix X PX 45-175mm f/4-5.6. The newer lens shows less Chromatic Aberration (CA) artifacts, and a better sharpness in the corner, especially in the longest zoom reach.

Monday, 12 December 2011

Sharpness of Lumix G 45-200mm and Lumix X 45-175mm

Note: Since this test, I have done another one in a more challenging lightning.

The Lumix G 45-200mm tele zoom was one of the first Micro Four Thirds lenses launched. It is a value tele zoom, and as such, it does a good job. It does indeed provide good value for money. But it is often seen not too sharp, especially in the longer end of the zoom reach.

A newer version of the lens was launched in 2011, the Lumix G X PZ 45-175mm, with Power Zoom (PZ). It also sports a number of other innovations, for example non-extending zoom action, and nano surface coating. But does it improve on the original tele zoom lens in terms of sharpness?


Lumix G 45-200mm (left) and Lumix X PZ 45-175mm (right)

I have tried to answer this by photographing a simple test setup with the Panasonic GH2 camera on a tripod, using the Panasonic FL360 flash unit for illumination. The flash was angled up towards the white ceiling to spread the light better. The ISO was set to 160, and the shutter speed to 1/60s.

1st series of tests

Here are the two shots at 45mm, from each lens. These images were scaled down and resharpened:



Lumix G 45-200mm @ 45mm f/4
Lumix X 45-175mm @ 45mm f/4

The focus distance was about 1 meter. A distance of one meter at 45mm focal length corresponds to taking a headshot portrait picture. In both cases, I set the focus point on the centre beer bottle logo.

Let's look at enlargements for a better view (the older Lumix G 45-200mm in the top row, and the new Lumix X 45-175mm in the bottom row):


I also tested them in the same way at maximum magnification. In this case, the focus distance is about 2 meters. Here are downscaled versions of the whole images frames:



Lumix G 45-200mm @ 200mm f/5.6
Lumix X 45-175mm @ 175mm f/5.6

And here are 100% crops from the images taken at maximum zoom extension:


Using the flash for illumination has a great advantage: It freezes the image, and camera shake is no problem. On the other hand, the flash cannot quite illuminate the subject sufficiently at f/8, which makes those exposures a tad bit darker. If I had angled the flash towards the subject, rather than up into the ceiling, this would of course be no problem. But having the flash face the subject would create a reflection effect, which is not good for this comparison.

Conclusion

At 45mm, there is not a huge difference between the lenses. In this experiment, they are quite comparable, I would say. In the longest zoom reach, I would say the newer Lumix X 45-175mm lens has somewhat better clarity wide open at f/5.6.

Perhaps it is a bit unfair to compare the old lens at 200mm with the new lens at 175mm, but I believe this is how people would typically use them: When you need a long reach, you usually zoom to the very end.

2nd series of tests

Again, the focus distance is around 2 meters. This time, I use the ambient light, at ISO 160. The shutter speeds were around 1s. To avoid camera shake, I used 2s shutter delay. That way, any shake induced by pressing the shutter is allowed to calm down before the image is taken.

A centre focus point was used.



Lumix G 45-200mm @ 45mm f/4
Lumix X 45-175mm @ 45mm f/4

Here are 100% crops from the centre of the image:


And from the lower left corner:


Conclusion

The second test shows that both lenses are pretty much equally sharp in the centre at 45mm. It also confirms the conclusion from the first series of the test: The newer Lumix X lens is sharper in the corner part of the frame. It also appears to handle flare somewhat better. Perhaps the hyped "nano surface coat" is actually doing something for the image quality.