Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 Review


Introduction

The Lumix S 18mm F1.8 is a fast ultra-wide-angle prime lens for the Panasonic, Sigma and Leica “L-mount” full-frame mirrorless camera system.

The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 lens features a bright f/1.8 maximum aperture and has 9 rounded diaphragm blades for smoother bokeh.

It is comprised of 13 elements in 12 groups, including 3 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) lenses to prevent axial chromatic aberrations, 3 aspherical lenses and 1 UED (Ultra Extra-low Dispersion) lens to reduce chromatic aberration and color fringing and and one ultra-high refractive index element.

The Panasonic 18mm F1.8 has a closest focusing distance of 0.18m / 0.59ft and a maximum magnification of 0.20x.

It boasts a dust, splash and freeze resistant design that can operate at 10 degrees below zero.

The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 is available now priced at £799.99 / €899.99 / $999.99 in the UK, Europe and the USA respectively.

Ease of Use

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The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 is a small, compact and very light wide-angle prime lens, and measuring 8.2cm / 3.23inch in length, 7.36mm / 2.90inch in diameter and weighing in at a mere 340g / 0.75lb.

When mounted on the Lumix S1R mirrorless camera that Panasonic sent us for testing, the Lumix S 18mm F1.8 feels extremely well-balanced and suitable for both two-handed and one-handed use.

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Build quality is very good. The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 feels solid in your hand, even if it is mostly made out of plastic, with a metal lens mount.

It’s also weather-proof, being both dust and splash resistant and working all the way down to -10 degrees. We successfully used it in more inclement conditions with no adverse effects.

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There is no built-in Image Stabilisation, though, with the lens instead relying on the camera body’s stabilisation system (if it has one).

In terms of controls, there is just one – a focus mode switch with the standard AF/MF settings.

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The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 lens has a fairly wide focus ring with a ridged, rubberised grip band.

There are no hard stops at both ends of the range, making it more difficult to set focus at infinity.

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Polariser users should be pleased that the 67mm filter thread doesn’t rotate on focus.

When it comes to auto-focusing, the Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 is a fairly quick performer, taking around 0.15 seconds to lock onto the subject when mounted on the Panasonic S1R camera that we tested it with.

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We didn’t experience too much “hunting”, either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing virtually all of the time in the single AF-S mode.

The liner motor focusing mechanism is very quiet, in fact virtually silent, making this lens well-suited to video recording as well as candid stills photography.

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The lens ships with a large, round, high quality lens hood (S-S18) with a lock button, but there’s no case included.

Focal Range

The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8’s 18mm focal length provides an angle of view of 100º degrees.

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Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are only conspicuous by their almost complete absence from our Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 test shots.

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Light Fall-off

With the Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 lens set to its maximum aperture of f/1.8, there is significant light fall-off in the corners. Stopping-down to f/4 virtually eliminates this.

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Distortion

Barrel distortion is not at all evident.

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Sunstars and Flare

The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 is capable of producing quite nice sunstars when stopped-down to f/16, as shown below. The lens is prone to flare though, especially when shooting directly into the sun.

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Macro

The Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 isn’t claimed to be a macro lens, but it does offer a useful minimum focusing distance of 0.18m / 0.59ft and a maximum magnification of 0.20x.

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Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc.

In the Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 lens, Panasonic have employed an iris diaphragm with 9 rounded blades, which has resulted in very nice bokeh in our view for an ultra-wide-angle lens.

We do realise, however, that bokeh evaluation is subjective, so we’ve included several examples below for your perusal.

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Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp the Panasonic Lumix S 18mm F1.8 lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following page.



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