Micro Four Thirds Ultra Wide Angle Lenses - Panasonic, Olympus, Laowa

Today I'm going to talk about some Micro Four Thirds ultra wide angle (rectilinear) lenses, especially Panasonic Lumix 7-14mm f/4, Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6, Laowa 7.5mm f/2, and some other lenses that caught my attention: Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8, Panasonic Leica 8-18mm f/2.8-4, and Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7. I'm sharing short review of these lenses, sharing my personal thoughts, some positives and negatives about the lenses, and also which one is my favorite as well as my recommendation for your needs.
In the video, I will also show some sample of pictures taken using some of the lenses from various places around the world such as Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Greece, Norway, Finland, Svalbard, Canada, and many more.
I am WELL AWARE that there are other lenses in this category such as the Voigtlander 10.5mm f/0.95, some Rokinon / Samyang lenses, 7Artisan, SLR Magic, and some fish-eye lenses. But they don't really caught my attention, so I'm not going to discuss that on this video.
This video is NOT SPONSORED by anyone, I pay all the gear that I have in this video by myself.
🎬 Time stamps
00:00 Intro
00:33 Panasonic 7-14mm f/4
04:04 Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6
07:27 Laowa 7.5mm f/2
10:51 Panasonic Leica 8-18 f/2.8-4 and Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8
14:24 Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7
16:53 Personal Favorite Reveal
18:10 Recommendation: Landscape Photography w/ filters
18:46 Recommendation Casual Wide Angle
19:07 Recommendation Low Light
19:32 Recommendation Versatile Wide Angle
19:55 Recommendation Dedicated Wide Angle
Stay safe and healthy, thank you for watching!
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🎬 Recorded using Panasonic G85, Panasonic GX8, Panasonic LX100, DJI Osmo Pocket
📷 Lens I use: Laowa 7.5mm f/2, Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8, Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7
🎤 Audio: Rode Wireless Go, Rode VideoMicro, Saramonic XM1, Rode VideoMic NTG
🎬 Graded and edited using Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 16
🎵 Intro Music: Decisive Redux - Gary Wiryawan
🎵 Outro Music: Edge of the Mind Remix - Gary Wiryawan
garywiryawan.b...
Hopefully you guys find this video to be useful.
Cheers!
Gary Wiryawan
#microfourthirds #m43 #mft #m4/3 #wideangle #ultrawide #panasonic #olympus #laowa

[@Gary_W]

🎬 Time stamps 00:00 Intro 00:33 Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 04:04 Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6 07:27 Laowa 7.5mm f/2 10:51 Panasonic Leica 8-18 f/2.8-4 and Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 14:24 Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 16:53 Personal Favorite Reveal 18:10 Recommendation: Landscape Photography w/ filters 18:46 Recommendation: Casual Wide Angle 19:07 Recommendation: Low Light 19:32 Recommendation: Versatile Wide Angle 19:55 Recommendation: Dedicated Wide Angle

[@BobDiaz123]

About a year after this video was made, Panasonic introduced the 9mm F1.7 lens. It's an amazing lens with autofocus, wide angle, low light, and very close focusing. Unfortunately it does not have image stabilization in the lens, but my G95 seems to make up for that missing feature. In the USA the cost is around $500.

[@kwchalky02]

Good summary Gary. I use the Panasonic 7-14 and really like it. Good range of focal lengths. I use the PVGear adaptor with it, which allows me to use a screw on circular variable ND filter. I also have the Laowa 10mm F2, which I love. Not as wide as the 7.5mm which you mentioned, but it is a good focal length for self vlogging, and although it is manual focus it does have electronic contacts so the camera recognises it and sets ibis accordingly as well as recording the focal length data with your photo. It also has filter thread. 🙂

[@Gary_W]

Hey Kenny thank you for the comment. Good information regarding Laowa 10mm, thanks for sharing your experience. The Pan 7-14 is a really good versatile ultra wide lens.

[@miljomupp]

Thanks for a great video! I wasn't sure how often I would need ultra wide or would do astro so instead of the Laowa 7.5 I bought the 7artisans 7.5. The max aperture isn't quite as good and I think it is considerably heavier...but at less than half the price and since I don't use it often works for me, so far. I find the 7artisans is the most prone to flare among all my lenses.

[@Gary_W]

Hello Miljomupp, thank you for the comment and sharing your experience regarding 7artisans 7.5mm. Good choice! Most UWA are somewhat prone to flare too, especially the wider the focal length is. Cheers :)

[@Zaibacu]

Thank you, super useful. Was looking in to those lenses one by one in youtube reviews, but this summary is far better 🙂

[@Gary_W]

Hello Sarunas Navickas, thank you for the kind comment, glad I could help! Cheers 😊

[@kevincarter5548]

Nice video Gary - very informative and a good guide to these wide angle lenses. I bought the PL 8-18 just prior to a trip to Canada and Alaska in 2019 and whilst I enjoyed the lens and took some decent photos have not used it much since. Covid lockdowns and no travel have impacted but find I tend to pick up a prime lens PL15mm or something like lumix 12-60 or even 45-175 as they are smaller and lighter. Have good intentions to try it out on my GX9 as have only used it on larger bodied G85 so far. Did toss up buying Olympus 9-18 but got a good deal on the PL at the time for only about 10% more and wanted filter option and faster lens. Shame your review was not out then - may have opted for Laowa 7.5 but then again just under half my shots have been at 8mm about a quarter at 18mm and the rest scattered pretty evenly between.

[@Gary_W]

Hello Kevin, thank you so much for the kind comment. That's good to know! Surely the Laowa would have been really nice as it has larger aperture, slightly wider focal length, and also has filter thread, but I think the PL 8-18 should be more than good enough, especially if you got it at 10% more of the Oly 9-18 price. Cheers :)

[@simon_jakobsson]

Thanks for this very helpful video. I can't believe how much you've traveled! Amazing :)

[@Gary_W]

Thank you for the kind words Simon. I am very grateful I've been able to visit many places in the world.

[@rawsteaksauce]

great video! Gary, what are your thoughts on the new Laowa 10mm f/2?

[@Gary_W]

Hello Michael, thank you for the kind words. Although I haven't personally used it, I think Laowa 10mm is a great lens and a good alternative to the 7.5mm f2. Be mindful that there's a significant difference of field of view between 7.5mm to 10mm. Cheers :)

[@daviddeane723]

I would agree with your reasoning about the Laowa lens, but it's only just a keeper for me. I was disappointed with the sharpness of some of my landscape images. I discovered that the sharpness for things distant deteriorates if the infinity symbol is set to maximize the dof. ie. offset left to the relevant aperture mark. So when photographing a landscapes I keep the infinity mark aligned close to the centre position. Focus peaking exaggerates the dof and can't be trusted, best use the magnify window. Definitely not an easy lens to use, but can produce nice results.

[@Gary_W]

Hello David, thank you for the comment. Yes true, I also try to not trust the focus peaking indicator too much, I much prefer to punch in using the magnify window when using manual focus, especially the Laowa 7.5mm. I also don't trust the markings on the lens, I much prefer to check what's in focus in the screen by myself. The Laowa 7.5mm is not a common choice for Landscape photography, it definitely has some learning curves to it, but once you know how to overcome that, the Laowa is somewhat a very handy lens. Thank you once again and cheers :)

[@dongee6351]

Good interesting video, nice attitude and well presented.

[@Gary_W]

Hello Don Gee thank you for the kind comment :)

[@AlexDD]

Gary, thanks for the comparison! I just bought the Pana 10-25mm Lens. My thoughts: on the down side there is weight, dimensions (huge!), price and usability (the lack of tele), on the other hand a nice to have factor(!), 10mm wide angle, manual Focus ring, manual aperure ring. Continuously f1.7(!) The special look of the pictures are not so special, good quality but no special look. For me it not a "one and only lens", because I like to use a tele from time to time. Since now, I am using a pana 14-140 as my standard lens, good quality pictures and size. For low light I am using the pana 20mm f1.7 fixed focus, goos pictue look, very small, great to carry arround. Sometime I use my pana Leica 45mm f2.8 Macros lens and new to me the pana 100-300mm - good picture quality, low price and I love to shoot the moon... I want to share my thoughts, thanks again ALEX

[@Gary_W]

Hello Alex, thank you for sharing your thoughts as well as your experience with 10-25mm f/1.7. Looks like you have a very well setup to cover your needs. Good to know you also like to take pictures of the moon, I do that too occasionally, also with the 100-300mm. Cheers :)

[@AlexDD]

@@Gary_W ... and it works well, doesn't it?

[@lamboleum]

That’s a great lens set for mft cameras. The 10-25 is my number one desired, then the 100-400 for really long shots, and 14-140 for everyday lens. I have the 12-60 and it’s great for most normal stuff but I’d like a bit more reach. So many choices.

[@tonycastillo8210]

Great job on this video, I'd like you to do a video of Sigma 16, 30 and 56 mm f1.4 for mfts

[@Gary_W]

Hello Tony, thank you for the comment and the suggestion. I want to save up for those Sigma lenses and share my thoughts on a video. Cheers :)

[@alamin-fr8rc]

Very helpful. The Laowa 7.5mm is favoured by many other reviewers.

[@Gary_W]

It is really a good lens, I love it! Thank you for the comment!

[@lim9571]

Great video. Love your energy!

[@Gary_W]

Thank you for the kind comment! 😊

[@S.ripple]

Thanks for a great video, Laowa 7.5 mm probably the next one in my bag.

[@S.ripple]

Give the Sigma 16 mm 1.4 a spin, you won't be disappointed.

[@Gary_W]

Hey Ripple thank you for the comment and for the suggestion. I have my eyes on the Sigma lenses for MFT for some time now, will try to borrow them or get them when I get the chance, thanks!

[@rajdeepmotilal]

Can I use the Laowa lens with my Panasonic DMC-GF7 ? Please let me know. I am very impressed with this lens and would love to purchase it if it fits my camera.

[@Gary_W]

Sure, it is a Micro Four Thirds lens, it should work with all interchangeable lens camera that has Micro Four Thirds mount.

[@garybrown9719]

I only have the laowa in my. Pocket And 12mm don't really need anything else for wide angle

[@Gary_W]

Hello Gary, thank you for the comment. Good to hear that, happy shooting and cheers :)

[@HellasAndroid]

Greetings from greece Very nice video !!!

[@Gary_W]

Thank you so much for the kind comment. Greetings from Indonesia :)

[@vadodaraavtar92]

I want start real estate photography work lens please suggest me

[@maksrej5082]

Have you seen Olympus 8-25mm f4 lens? It looks intresting.

[@Gary_W]

It is indeed an interesting lens, the focal length range is quite versatile, and the image quality is quite sharp as well!

[@jd5787]

Hi! So if someone has the Leica 10-25mm, is it worth buying anything else? (like the Laowa 7.5mm) thank you!

[@Gary_W]

Hello JD, I almost think that in terms of wide angle, the 10-25 could potentially cover both the ultra wide and normal focal length with just a single lens, and negates the need to get something lime the 12-35 or similar lens. However, depending on your shooting style and needs, you might still need something wider like 7.5 or 7-14, and sometimes you might also don't need 10-25 if your priority is to cover the widest focal length possible. I hope this explains 😊

[@jd5787]

@@Gary_W clear. Thanks for the reply. Lenses can be a bit confusing haha 😁. Merry Christmas btw!

[@Gary_W]

@@jd5787 it is confusing 😄😄😄 I am sti struggling with my lens choices too sometimes. Merry Christmas and happy holidays 🥳

[@MichaelGerrard]

Are you tempted by the Laowa 10mm?

[@Gary_W]

It seems like a solid performing lens. However, I already have both Laowa 7.5mm f2 and a Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8, so I find little need to have a dedicated 10mm lens as for now.

[@kwchalky02]

I have it and like it a lot. 👍

[@JG-mz7hg]

Still deciding between 10mm vs 7.5mm

[@Gary_W]

@@JG-mz7hg for travel and landscape, I found my 7.5mm is more useful due to the wider focal length. It can capture more massive amount of objects in the frame (even compared to the 9-18mm Olympus). However, the distortion at 7.5mm is also more exaggerated and it is extremely prone to flare. Hope this helps :)

[@ulfjonsson2122]

I do like your videos, but who cares about corner sharpness? / Ulf

[@Gary_W]

Hello Ulf, thank you for the comment. Me too, I'm fine as long as the overall image looks good. However for some people that's involved in some types of photo project(usually paid), it might matter. Cheers, and thank you for watching :)

[@BorchOka]

thank you!

[@Gary_W]

You're welcome!

[@CoajaCristiandance]

who still record 1080pin 2021?