Opinions on Pana/Leica 8-18mm

General
1

I currently own the Olympus 9-18mm although it has never really clicked with me. I’m not very fond on how much distortion it renders.
I enjoy using the 15mm most of the time, and the 12-60mm for casual photography, but a super wide angle has always called my attention but the distortion of the 9-18mm on its widest is really off putting and I end up correcting the image in post, losing a good deal of coverage.

My questions for actual 8-18mm users is how much do you like it? How about the distortion, performance, low light capabilities, portability and weight, etc.

Thanks for the help.

2

Have you seen the Lenstip review? Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 8-18 mm f/2.8-4 ASPH. review - Introduction - LensTip.com

  1. Summary
    Pros:

    Solid, metal casing,
    Excellent image quality in the frame centre at all focal lengths,
    Imperceptible longitudinal chromatic aberration,
    Slight lateral chromatic aberration,
    Lack of problems with spherical aberration,
    Properly corrected coma,
    Lower vignetting than in the case of the majority of rivals,
    Silent, very fast, and efficient autofocus.

Cons:

Very high distortion level for RAW files,
Image on the edge of the frame at longer focal lengths could have been better.
3

I usually read all reviews before asking, but nothing beats a real user’s opinion.

4

I have the 8-18 and like it a lot. It is my primary ultra-wide lens. I do not see a lot of distortion, and low light is fine. It compliments my other lenses well. Recommended.

Admittedly, I’m more of a zoom/telephoto guy, but when I go wide the 8-18 is the one I use.

5

It’s a fabulous lens. Small, light, excellent autofocus, sharp, lovely color and contrast, nothing I can think of that I dislike about mine. I bought it at release, as I didn’t think that Panasonic was going to come out with an ultrawide prime lens, and I like it much more than I thought I would. Since then I’ve picked up both the Laowa 10mm f2 and the Panasonic Leica 9mm f1.7, but that’s nothing to do with any deficiencies with the 8-18. I’ve taken many of my favorite shots with the 8-18, it’s a good, solid, well built weathersealed workhorse Highly recommended.

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2 Likes
6

I also have the 8 to 18.
It’s a great lens for ultralwide images!
I handle typical wide-angle distortion two ways

  1. I make it a deliberate part of my image
  2. or using darktabke lens correction and distortion modules I can correct a lot of it.

I use my wide-angle lens to give an image that people would not normally see with our human eye field of view. So I find the distortion is fun to play around with.