As requested by chancy, I carried out a comparison test between these 2 lenses when used with the Panasonic L1 which was set on a tripod. The exposures were triggered by timer. The 2 lenses was compared at the focal length of 50mm and aperture settings starting from f/3.5 as this is the largest aperture the Leica can use at the focal length of 50mm.

The photos were shot in RAW and converted using the SilkyPix software that was bundled with the L1. All parameters were set at average during RAW conversion except for Exposure which was set to Auto for all shots. There is a slight difference in magnification as it seems that 50mm on the ZD 50mm is not the same as 50mm on the Leica 14-50mm.

This is the target that was used for both lenses...



This is the comparison sheet with 100% crops of an area near the centre of the target as taken by both lenses at various aperture settings. Only realised after all my hard work later on that they were not at the centre of the target.



I'll follow up with the comparison with 100% crops near the edge later on today.

Not too shabby a performance from a zoom lens from these comparison shots, I think.

This is the comparison of 100% crops near the top right corner of the frame.

Wow... I would say, the Leica 14-50 is fantastic, even at the corner. Comparable to the ZD 50mm prime!

leica did exceptionally well in this test, even when u r comparing a zoom with a prime. Tomcat thanks for taking time to do the comparision. hope to see a 14-54 to 14-50 shoot out soon

Hello Tomcat,

First off, my hats to & thanks to you for executing this major review from my one-liner question

On your point of varied magnification, I read that many manufacturers depart from their stated focal length, and in the case of smaller sensored manufacturers, small variances lead to noticeable FOV differences. Thanks for highlighting this.

From your review of centre performance, it's quite amazing to note how well the Leica zoom kept up with the ZD prime at equivalent FLs although in fairness the latter design has to accomodate the faster F2 optical requirement. It's not until F16 where diffraction effect set in that quality is on par, else the Leica appears to have a descernible edge in edge contrast, and indirectly resolution.

On your separate post on edge performance, it is interesting to note that the ZD exhibitions strong colours at F2 which starts to lose intensity towards smaller apertures while the Leica which never reaches the ZDs intensity at F2, appears stronger than the ZD at other equivalent F stops.

BTW: It was really wonderful to see you include test at F2 as the optical improvements gained moving from F2 to F3.5 was very noticeable.

Lastly, can I have your permission to put this in Mytikas' knowledge base, it is our privilege to have this post captured this wonderful post & contribution. Feel free to finalize & add further comments as you deem fit.

Final comments, a truly competitive lens the Leica is, too bad it comes with a body attached :-)

Also possible variation of test, Leica lens & ZD performing with Olympus TruePic turbo & Studio, plus ZD35mm Macro alongside the Leica. Tests like these are tedious, let us know how we can be of help :-)

Thanks Again !

Hi chancy,

I have also posted this comparison test in dpreview and some have commented that the performance of the ZD50mm at f/2 can't possibly be that bad which would either implied that there was a focusing error for the f/2 shot or that I have a 'lemon' of a lens compared to theirs which would impliy indirectly (though they didn't say so in so many words) that this test was flawed.

I don't think that my lens is faulty since I have used it successfully in the past unless it is only faulty at f/2. Anyway, I plan to repeat the test at f/2 just to check if it was a focusing error or not.

Of course you can include this in Mytikas' knowledge base. It is already common knowledge to all who read this post in Mytikas.

I plan to also compare the Leica with the ZD 35mm as well and if some kind soul would loan me a ZD 14-54mm, I would do that comparison too. I think that that's the one that everybody is dying to see, right?

Later, I will change cameras and see how the Leica and ZD lenses perform on my E-330 as well.

Cheers

Hi Tomcat,

Thanks, that's quite an effort to conduct a review so comprehensive. Let me know how I can be of help, I'll be glad to lend my copy of the ZD14-54 although I can't qualify whether it's representative of a good test sample.

Putting your post to the Knowledge Base means the article will appear not in the current Forum topic, is that OK with you ?

Cheers,

No problem, you can put it in the Knowledge Base.
And if you don't mind lending me the 14-54mm, I can collect it from you at your convenience.

[ 4 Oct 2006 ] Fine contribution by tomcat moved from Panasonic forum to Mytikas' Knowledge Base.

Thanks Tomcat for your test. Very nice lens.

Looks like my wallet is going to hate me.