Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 vs Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 + Metabones Speedbooster XL - Best MFT Lenses

I compared the Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 to the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 + Metabones Speedbooster XL on my Lumix GH5 and made this comparison, so that you can decide which lens you like better.
Both have different lens characteristics and the one you like more will probably depend on your personal subjective perception.
I personally think that the Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 is the best MFT lens. There aren't any other Micro Four Thirds lenses on the market that cover the same focal range at that f-stop in just one lens. Maybe some day, but for now the Leica lens will remain the king of M43.
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❓ QUESTIONS THAT ARE ANSWERED IN THIS VIDEO
Which is the best lens for the GH5 / GH5s / G9?
Which is the best lens for Micro Four Thirds?
How good is the autofocus of the Panasonic Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 on the GH5?
How good is the autofocus of the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 + Metabones Speedbooster XL on the GH5?
Which speedbooster is better, the Viltrox EF-M2 or the Metabones Speedbooster XL (0.64)?
Is the Speedbooster XL sharper than the Viltrox EF-M2?
Which lens is sharper, the Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 or the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8?
Which lens has better flares, the Leica 10-25mm f/1.7 or the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8?
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Valentin Kossenko is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. If you purchase something from my affiliate links, I will get a small commission with no extra cost to you. This makes it possible for me to make more videos. Thank you for your support!
✔️ HASHTAGS
#Lumix #Leica #Sigma #GH5 #GH5s #G9

[@MO-hq4iz]

Metabones Speedbooster XL, reduces the focal length and f-stop crop factor, but it makes the lens less sharp due to the optics of the speed booster. I use it without glass for this reason.

[@Yupthereitism]

Preferred A. Still a useful video with release of the gh7

[@ValentinKossenko]

Thanks for your comment!

[@fansofER]

Great comparison! What revealed the lenses to me was the large amount of lens flare on the sigma + metabones which few people mention when using that combo. You are my hero because you recognize the benefits of a m43 camera with native lenses for travel and nature videography! Cheers!

[@ValentinKossenko]

Hi Daniel, I thought the same thing when I was recording that frame. Highly appreciate your feedback, thank you! 🙂

[@hendrikmonzen4216]

perfect video. My favorit was also lens A, but I thought that this was the Sigma. But nice to know that is was the Lecia. Really good video.

[@ValentinKossenko]

Welcome to the A-Team, haha! 😄 Thank you, Hendrik!

[@218visuals]

Great review and exactly the examples I needed to see, especially the sun flare shot at 2:00. Can't believe you have less than 1k subs!

[@ValentinKossenko]

Thanks, Noah! I appreciate your feedback! We'll get there sooner or later. For the time being, I'll just keep creating videos for you guys! :)

[@kiwijinxter]

Excellent comparison, thanks Valentin. Even though I have an Olympus body (EM1 Mk3) I just bit the bullet and bought the Panasonic 10-25mm after testing it in store. When I first saw pictures of this lens I thought, no way, I'm carrying that godzilla of a lens! But instore when I tested it, I was surprised how (relatively) light this lens was, and there is some "pop" quality to the images - very similar to when I first played with the Voigtlander 17mm f0.95 lens. Of course the bonus with the Panny 10-25mm f1.7 is, it's auto focus, yay! Between this lens and the Olympus 40-150mm Pro f2.8, they both pretty much stay on my camera. Thanks again, your video was truly helpful (thankfully I liked most of the "lens A" shots!)

[@ValentinKossenko]

Hi, I'm glad the video was helpful for you! Thank you for taking the time to write this comment!

[@kiwijinxter]

@@ValentinKossenko You're welcome - and your English is perfectly fine :)

[@ManeeshSaxena]

Great video Valentin ... I am planning to buy gh5 for vlogging and photography tutorials with one lens 12-35 f2.8 lens but little confused becoz autofocus capabilities in vlogging. is gh5 still best option for video in 2020? is 12-35mm f2.8 lens good choice for my work ?or 10-25mm f1.7 is best ? how was your experience with 12-35mm f2.8 in terms of bokeh and blurring background ?

[@ValentinKossenko]

The Leica 10-25 is definitely the only lens I need for most of my projects now. It's quite expensive but definitely worth it. I feel like the other options are not good enough in low light conditions. The autofocus is quite decent after all the updates but still not on par with other cameras by Sony and Canon. I personally use manual focus most of the time anyways, because I don't move around too much. If great working autofocus is critical for your work though, I'd probably suggest getting another camera like the A7 III or Canon EOS R instead. Hope that helps! Appreciate having you on the channel! Thanks for your support! :)

[@JonBear]

Huge fan of the sigma speedbooster combo. I talk about it on my channel a lot. That said, the pana-leica looks amazing and if price wasn't a factor, I might have picked one up instead of the sigma Unrelated: The talking bits look like a greenscreen. Background is completely static and the lighting looks like a studio.Very clean and surgical image

[@ValentinKossenko]

I can totally understand that. The Leica is indeed quite expensive, but I personally think, it's still worth it, if you consider that primes of equal focal length would cost at least as much and you have the comfort of not needing to switch any lenses with the Leica. All shots were taken outside in a forest near a small town I grew up in. I love taking walks there and the lighting is always interesting there, so I grabbed all my camera gear and took it for a walk. :D Thanks again for feeding the algorithm with your comments! This really helps me grow this channel! Talk to you soon again! :)

[@JonBear]

@@ValentinKossenko Here's some more comments for you! And thanks for confirming you were actually outside! Maybe this lockdown has made me crazy

[@hrhsmm]

Thanks for the video. I love the colours. Wondering if the Speedbooster Ultra would yield better results? Especially with vignetting?

[@ValentinKossenko]

You're welcome! Yes, the Ultra should be better, because it was made for APS-C lenses. There shouldn't be any vignetting in video mode. Photo mode might still show dark corners because it's 4:3 and the focal reduction is a little more than x0.75 on the Ultra. Hope that helps!

[@ValentinKossenko]

Oh and if you're interested in how I color grade my footage, I made a video about that already on my channel. 🙂

[@redakumaproduction]

2 secondes into the vidéo and i dont remember wich caméra is wich..please right the name of caméra a and b.. why a and b ?

[@ValentinKossenko]

Sorry about that, this video was intended as an experiment for my viewers so that they can guess which lens is which.

[@chrisklugh]

I like A too, but too bad about the price difference. But it is native with weather sealing so overall a better lens to pair with the GH5. But for those that already have the Sigma, I doubt for most it will be worth the 'upgrade'.

[@ValentinKossenko]

Native is just soooo much better. It took me quite a while to realize that but making videos with native glass is a lot more comfortable because you don't have to deal with issues you usually run into with things like speedboosters or 3rd party adapters.

[@chrisklugh]

@@ValentinKossenko I think for video the Sigma even with the speed booster does the job. I can't say I have any issues with it. Its not like anyone uses AF. But for photography... 100% go native. I have the Oly 40-150 and I kinda wish I went with Pany 35-100. Not that the Oly is a bad lens, its just missing something... lol

[@ryanprussin]

One thing that stood out to me visually that I don’t think you mentioned was the colors of the final product looked richer on the Panasonic 10-25 over the Sigma 18-35. Is that a product of the lens, or did you subject them to different color grading processes?

[@ValentinKossenko]

This is definitely a product of this lens as I didn't add any color correction or grade to the footage.

[@artistjoh]

I preferred B, but thought it was the Leica. As I already own the Metabones Speedbooster, it is a no-brainer for me to buy the Sigma. There are plenty of alternative Lumix lenses if I want to use AF.

[@ValentinKossenko]

I heard Metabones was working on an update to support continuous AF for newer cameras like the GH7. I still have my old Speedbooster XL. If it focused just as well with CAF as some of my natives lenses, that would truly make MFT the perfect system. Go light if you want with small native lenses and use full frame glass if you want maximum separation and bokeh. Perfect!

[@artistjoh]

@@ValentinKossenko I hope that Metabones rumor is accurate. It had not occurred to me that PDAF might open greater capabilities.

[@ValentinKossenko]

@@artistjoh I just checked their website and they released a firmware update yesterday that seemingly improves AF on PDAF cameras like the G9 II. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for my GH7 (should arrive next week) and don't have any Canon EF glass right now to test it. Here's a link: www.metabones.com/article/of/Metabones_Introduces_New_EF-MFT_Smart_Adapters_PDAF_Support

[@artistjoh]

@@ValentinKossenko Please keep us updated on the GH7/Metabones situation.

[@TheOneMonk]

Nice comparison. I agree that the Sigma/Metabones look is a bit more dreamy, partly due to lens flaring. I prefer the Leica look. I also think that the talking parts show its video strengts. Good seperation and a pleasant background without going over the top with blurriness. This is something to be aware of with all these FF f1,2 videos. People want to see where you are and it is actually nice when your nose as well as your ears are in focus ;-) I am holding back though purchasing this lens as I first want to understand what Panasonic‘s plans are with M43. The day Pana announces a GH6, hopefully with phase detect AF, I will buy it :-) EDIT: it is a pity this lens isn‘t stabilized. Then this could also be perfect for BMCC4K !

[@ValentinKossenko]

I absolutely agree with everything you say here! Thanks for taking the time to write your thoughts into a comment!

[@JakeLevesquecreate]

Great video. What lens did you use for your talking parts?

[@ValentinKossenko]

All talking parts were recorded using the Pana Leica 10-25. :)

[@suekelly3910]

Hallo Valentin, würdest Du mir als Hybridkamera eher die GH 5 II oder die Sony a 7 IV, also MFT oder VF empfehlen? Ein sehr guter Autofokus ist mir wichtig, da liegt Sony sicher vorne. Aber sonst, Gewicht/Größe/Preis/ Robustheit für unterwegs wäre MFT. Beruflich drehe ich Spielfilm auf der RED oder Alexa, Doku auch auf Blackmagic. Die sind dann natürlich aus dem Verleih. Aber für privat mit meinen Ansprüchen und vielleicht mal im Dreheinsatz - ich weiß einfach nicht, wofür ich mich entscheiden soll. Großes Kompliment für Deine Videos und Tutorials!

[@ValentinKossenko]

Wenn Autofokus eine hohe Priorität hat, dann ganz klar die Sony. Ich würde sagen für Fotos hat die Sony ganz klar die Nase vorne und auch der Autofokus ist deutlich besser. In Videos ist die GH5 II mit den besseren Codecs (4k60 bei 10-bit) etwas im Vorsprung. Ich muss zugeben, dass ich auch die Menuführung bei Panasonic Kameras einfach deutlich besser finde. Leider ist der Autofokus in Videos aber nicht zuverlässig - beim Fotografieren hingegen, steht die GH5 II was den Autofokus betrifft im keinster Weise irgendwie schlechter da. Danke dir für das positive Feedback!

[@JCSvideography]

Man, I’m making the toughest decision of my life right now. I’ve had the sigma 18-35 & 50-100 for years now. I recently bought the Leica 10-25 and 25-50 for a native option. The 25-50 doesn’t replace the focal length for the sigma 50-100 but it’s close as the speedboosted sigma option is more like a something-70. I don’t really want to keep both sets but the sigma 50-100 I’m having trouble in my mind repacking. Even thought it’s heavy af so at events and weddings the dreamy image costs me my back.

[@ValentinKossenko]

Sorry, I'm a little late answering this, but here are my thoughts. I personally got rid of all adapted lenses and totally prefer the experience on the 10-25 and 25-50. I still own the Speedbooster XL and now that the GH7 got released, I was thinking about getting some adapted lenses again. Metabones even released a firmware update, which lets those lenses work better on the G9 II and GH7. From what I've heard, it is a lot better, but still not as good as native lenses. And that's enough to convince me to stay away from it. It's just a lot more convenient to use native lenses. And frankly speaking, although the Sigma's will give you slightly better low light performance with the Speedbooster, it also comes with some downsides like weight, balancing, et cetera. I think the 10-25 and 25-50 is the perfect set, especially for gimbal use, as the lenses are almost identical.

[@JCSvideography]

@@ValentinKossenko better late than never! And I entirely agree! I ended up selling off my beloved power duo and have gone native for my MFT cameras. Also after purchasing the GH7 and autofocus finally being addressed I’m happy with my decision to go native as it’s much snappier without a third party lens communicating through a third party adapter. I will however make my return to sigma as I also have a S5IIX and the 24-70 mark two form sigma looks great.

[@ValentinKossenko]

@@JCSvideography Oh yes, L-Mount is so tempting to me right now as well. The new lenses for it look seriously dope. I just wish it was a little closer to what the GH7 can do in terms of high frame rates and overall crop factors. The GH line of cameras is still king for me in that regard. And IBIS of course, which is unbeaten - even on the 10-25 and 25-50, which doesn't have OIS. That's how good MFT IBIS is in my opinion.

[@Democratiser]

@@ValentinKossenko I think the answer is that one needs (or can benefit from) both MFT and FF systems! I’m still patiently waiting for a GX9 Mk II to be released but am very tempted to get a S5II/X… maybe Black Friday sales will be the opportunity… I hope your dream of an internal VND comes true at some point… maybe the S1HMkII?

[@vladislavihl]

I could distinguish between the both lenses easily. Pana-Leica is sharper, Sigma has a much more pleasing boke!... Mft system has so many lenses but I just can’t find a perfect set for me: I use a good but a little bit boring (and slow) 12-35mm f2.8 which I use for wide angle photography and a Sigma 16mm f1.4, which I use for videography only (I like its sharpness and autofocus on my G9, but I hate its microcontrast behavior). What I need are two primes 10(or 12)mm f1.4 and 25mm f1.4 with good autofocus performance (According to many tests the Leica 12mm f1.4 and the 25mm f1.4 aren’t really good: the first one has inconsistent edge sharpness, the second one isn’t as sharp as the cheap 25mm f1.7 even ). The 10-25mm f1.7 is arguably the best mft lens but I‘m reluctant to spend 1800€ to have a 700g weight on my camera permanently when I need two (12&25mm) focal lengths only!

[@ValentinKossenko]

I thought the weight would be a lot more of a problem in the beginning. But after filming a few projects with the 10-25 I realized that it isn't that heavy. It's actually really well balanced on the GH5. Still, most other MFT lenses are a lot lighter and therefore even more pleasing to shoot with so I can definitely understand your point of view here. What genres are you shooting in for both your photography and videography? Thanks for taking the time to write a comment! It's nice to have you on the channel!

[@vladislavihl]

Valentin, thank you for your kind response! Photography and videography are just a hobby for me. I mainly film my travel experience like this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iobVnHiPr7aog68. That’s why the size and weight of my equipment matters anyway (but not crucially so that I even feel temptation to purchase a S1 sometimes, when I see that the scene requires a wider dynamic range than a mft sensor can provide). But back to the 10-25mm f1.7 lens... The lens is so (/too?) expensive taking into consideration that I need two focal lengths only. On the other hand, the price is approximately the same as the prices of Leica 12mm f1.4 and 25mm f1.4 put together and the 10-25mm seems to perform much better than the both primes actually. The question is, if I‘m ready to invest 1.800€ into my equipment and prepare to care some heavier gears with me, wouldn’t be better to sell my mft equipment and to buy a S1 with a 24-105 f4.0 instead?!...

[@theskyspire]

@@vladislavihl The 24-105 f4.0 seems to be 2.60 lbs according to Amazon, so it's more than double the weight of the Leica 10-25mm, just something to consider.. But of course the S1H is great, but not as good as the soon to be released Sony a7siii though.

[@raksh9]

@@theskyspire Depending on what and how you shoot, the Canon 24-105L with Speedbooster XL is a really versatile setup. The only drawbacks are 30mm wide end, the weight for walking around all day and one hand shooting, and the relatively slow autofocus. But I've shot a lot of footage with this setup, and it gives a huge variety of images with no need to change lenses. As an alternative, if you only need 24 and 50, why not get a second body and mount both lenses?

[@Cinetrax21Creations]

And I knew from the grt-go that Lens A was the Leica. The cones footage looked a lot similar..and the sigma is not good with flares

[@ValentinKossenko]

Totally right on the flares. Sorry about my late response. Clearing up some old comments at the moment. Was about time! :D

[@jacksuttonfilms]

And with the GH6 announcement, it really is just around the corner...

[@ValentinKossenko]

True... can't wait!

[@StanTregubenko]

Крутой обзор. Если сравнить lumix10-25 mm и 12-35 mm , большая разница , на англ.обзора у тебя не нашёл?!)

[@ValentinKossenko]

Разница в фокусном расстоянии не особо велика. К сожалению, конкретных сравнительных снимков не сделал. Когда доберусь, сделаю фото. Спасибо!

[@StanTregubenko]

@@ValentinKossenko Cпасибо, уже купил 10-25мм)

[@raksh9]

The price difference isn't so great in Australia. The 10-25 costs about AUD $2500, the Sigma is between $850 and $1100, and the Speedbooster XL is about $1200. So unless you buy secondhand, there's no appreciable price difference in Australia. Secondhand, I was fortunate to get a Speedbooster XL and Sigma for less than half the price of the 10-25.

[@ValentinKossenko]

Thanks for pointing that out! It's kinda hard to keep up with prices in all countries. Glad you could make a great deal! The Sigma 18-35 + Speedbooster XL has been my all time favorite for a very long time and is a combination that is here to stay. I still like the 10-25 a little bit more because of its lower weight, bigger focal length coverage and usability features.

[@DieGeesteangler]

Was ist a was ist b lens hm. und wieso gehst du nicht ins detail ? ich finde das sigma ist ausgelutscht und das 1025 ist in vielen bis allen belangen besser

[@ValentinKossenko]

Wird doch im Video nach dem Test gesagt. :) Das Leica hat in dem Vergleich definitiv die bessere Bildqualität. Allerdings ist das Sigma ein hervorragendes Objektiv und der Unterschied in der Qualität liegt zum Teil an dem Speedbooster.

[@TheFaustianMan]

The 10-25 is nice. But no image stabilization? You know there's gonna be a version ii with IBS for the gh6. At hat price it's nuts. You can get a second hand sigma dirt cheap. The weight of the lens with the metabones keeps the camera stable for the weight. The Leica has no IBS and is light, AND the lens retracts which is the hallmark of a cheap lens. It is more susceptible to dust and dirt and fungus. It also will focal breathe like crazy and forget about trying to follow focus or gimble work. The expansion of the lens barrel makes it unusable.

[@ValentinKossenko]

Hi, I didn't know anything about a version II with IBS. Do you mean OIS? In body image stabilization is usually found in cameras, not in lenses. You're right about the weight. It is less stable than the Sigma because of that, but you can always add a cage or something if weight is of a concern. I prefer the small weight because I travel a lot and can just use a camera strap to stabilize footage when needed. I agree with you on the dust, although in my case there hasn't been a huge problem with dust inside of the lens so far, but can say that focus breathing is pretty minimal on this lens. If you know how to balance a gimbal properly, you can make it work easily. Just zoom to about half extension and balance your gimbal. Almost any modern electronic gimbal can deal with the slight off axis weight pressure. And since only one axis is affected, quickly rebalancing after zooming isn't that much of a problem, if you don't want to strain your gimbal motors too much.

[@przybylskipawel]

No brainer. Leica looked so much better I am truely surprised... :(

[@ValentinKossenko]

Yeah.. I thought the exact same when I saw the results. Thanks for your comment!

[@Shayne_Play]

nice

[@ValentinKossenko]

[@zibik7140]

A lens...

[@ValentinKossenko]

Good decision! 😏

[@Cinetrax21Creations]

The Leica is waaaaay too expensive

[@ValentinKossenko]

It got a lot cheaper in the meanwhile. Totally worth it in my opinion. Depends on what you're doing with it though. If it is just a hobby, even the Sigma can be quite expensive.