Lumix Leica 8-18mm Review // Micro Four Thirds 

Today is my birthday wooo! I am out and shall respond so any comments in the coming days. Just wanted to say thanks for sticking around ❤️ if you have any video ideas you’d like me to cover let me know in the comments! 📸

Happy belated birthday. I part exchanged the Oly 9-18 for the Pana Leica 8-18 and I adore this lens for my city photography so useful & versatile for the towering architecture plus more street style pics. I combine it with the Pana Leica 25 f1.4 and Panasonic 35-100 f2.8 for a complete kit ... but its the 8-18 that takes 85% of the pics

GH6 IBIS seems leaps ahead of everyone else in the market atm,wunderbar kamera

Options, Options, Options... and stil 2 more Options on the Olympus side ------> 8-25mm f4 and 7-14mm f2,8 ;-) but the Leica 8-18mm seems to be a kind if sweet spot. I've been thinking for a long time what might be the right solution for me. And although I'm an Olympus shooter, I'm most drawn to the Leica. Very good review, by the way. thanks!

I’ve had one of these since they were new out. I’m very satisfied with it. I came to it through an Oly 9-18 (a bit slow wide open, a bit too soft in the corners), and Panasonic 7-14 (better than the Oly, but not brilliantly sharp, a bit slow wide open, the flare problems). Straight away I felt like this one was a keeper where the others disappointed a bit. Nice sharpness right out into the corners. Stunning sharpness in the centre. Good aperture speed at the wide end. Something you don’t mention is colour balance. With different lens coatings, colour rendition straight out if camera without editing can change. I own several of the PanaLeica lenses and they all give really pleasing colour results straight out of camera. This is my default ‘walk around’ lens for street photography and stuff like car shows.

Awesome review Emily and absolutely stunning images!! You really show the power and capabilities of m43 cameras. I'm looking into purchasing the Panny 8-18mm and you sold me on it. Keep up the amazing work!

There's really good stuff on how to do general photography in this lens review. Very impressive and helpful!

I guess the olympus 8-25 would be a better choice. Happy birthday to you!🍀

Nice overview!👍🏻 I have the Pan/Leica 8-18 for the G9, and the Olympus 9-18 for the tiny GX9. Both great lenses, as you said.

I highly recommend this 8-18mm, it’s by far the best ultra wide to wide angle lens out there. Super sharp and very versatile. This lens made me love ultra wide angle. One of the highlights of this lens is it’s internal zoom. Put on a quality UV filter for a complete sealed lens. This lens handles flare very well, I always keep the lens hood on it because it looks a bit odd without it. It’s not a just a beautiful lens, it’s capable of amazing images. This lens gets a 10/10 from me. Highly recommend it to be your ultra wide to wide angle zoom lens.

Personally I have doubted between getting either the Leica 8-18 and the Laowa 7.5. Went with the latter, mainly because it's a bit faster and also lighter and more compact. It is manual focus, but in most situations you can focus on infinity and have everything in focus since it's so wide. Looking forward to what it'll do with photographing the stars. Still, nice review of the Leica and I think that if people need auto focus and want a bit more versatility it is also a great choice. Happy birthday!

Wonderful diction and explanation of the lens and I appreciate your review.

Great review and tips! I didn't even know about this lens until today. I've been using the tiny Laowa 7.5mm for real estate and love its size but not loving its manual focus and full stop aperture. Thank you again for all of your Lumix related videos 🎉❤🎉

loved wide lens - loved the distortion! My best one is a 10-18mm Canon, very dynamic FOV !!!

Options options and options... Olympus 8-25 maybe? Or new loawa 6 mm F2? Have fun and thanks!

Good to have you back Emily. Missed your content as it is true content keeping it on the subject with a smile and not loads of waffle. I have this lens. Can easily be your only lens if you prefer the wide end which as you say is just as well as not the lightest for MFT. Keep up the good work and hope you got a biscuit to go with your brew! 😀

Really enjoyed your tips regarding landscapes with the wide angle xx

Flares can be lovely and cinematic if used appropriately. When I started photography I avoided them like the plague and all its ever done was give me grief. Now I just work with them when hard to avoid. It certainly gives character to videos and photos.

Excited to get this lens. I will say the Olympus 8-25 f4 PRO is compelling as hell, but as a Panasonic shooter I think the 8-18 makes more sense, and it can also be found for $300 cheaper.

Already own the 10-25 f1.7 which is superb BUT is very heavy when used on the gimbal so tend to use the 12-60 f2.8-4 for gimbal work. BUT again, the 12-60 isn’t quite wide enough so think the 8-18 will be replacing it soon :)

Happy Birthday to you 🎶and thank you very much for this lovely channel 🤗

Yep, spot on video, agree with your lens guidance on using wide and long lenses for landscape. I have the Olympus 12-105 (think it’s 105, don’t look these days, as had it for several years now, she’s a bit of a go to) but she’s a bit of a lard arse for landscape. Definitely going to take a look at the Leica Pano you shot with her though! Thanks, enjoyed the outdoors video too. 👍

Wow! I'd love to see an editing breakdown for the photo @2:07

Your photos are wonderful.

Hello from twitter, nice review, but I think the main competitor of this lens is the Olympus pro 8-25mm f4, any chance you can review it in future?

Good review. I sold my Olympus 7-14 and got this lens mainly for operational reasons which needed portability and a filter. I now prefer the Panasonic rendering and relative lack of awkward flaring like the Olympus had plus its more portable. Also the PL is significantly more versatile with the 18mm. I do miss the Olympus 7mm capability which was awesome.

helpful and very pleasant too! Thanks !

Great job on this video!

It's a great lens I have mine on fb marketplace but am reconsidering after watching. I generally used it for interior real estate photography but also have the super compact laowa 7.5mm f/2 dreamer (which I will never sell.) The 8-18 is def more versatile and I can get creative when inspired. Thanks for providing the inspiration!

I don't do a lot of wide angle photography, although I did consider getting this lens at some point. I do have the 12-60F2.8-4, so I wonder how much the 8-18 would add, since 2/3 of the range is already covered by my current lens. The main alternative I've considered is the Laowa 7.5F2 lens. What your video did help me consider is video. This is where having a wide angle zoom could be helpful, even if part of the range is covered by another lens. Choices, choices, choices. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Hmmm.

I do prefer the combination of the 10-25 and the 7.5mm Laowa since it's pretty light and pretty fast with its 2.0 aperture.

Sehr symphonische Erläuterungen 👉🏻😎

Good review presented very well....

I wonder how it compares to the Laowa 7.5mm at the wide end obviously. :) Is 0.5mm noticable and what about the image quality. That would be interesting to know.

Maybe I was unlucky with my copy of the 8-18. It was good at either end of the focal length range but I was unsatisfied with the middle focal lengths. I sold it (to a dealer) and replaced it with the awesome 10-25, which is sharp everywhere.

I Just bought the g9 and 8-18 as a content creator! Previously owned a black magic 4K!

I might trade in my Lumix 7-14 for this. It's a great lens but I wouldn't mind sacrificing 1mm for the ability to use filters.

How about the Olympus 7-14mm f2. 8 pro? I have the Olympus 12-40mm f2. 8 pro. I was thinking I need a wider lens for some of my video shoots. Thank you.

Look at the Sigma 10-20 with adapter....,😍 7-14 f2.8 on a real low budget...

Stunning Images! I have Lumix GH4 and I’m looking for a wide angle lens , so I was thinking about 8-18 mm but haven’t seen any review that have that combination, so I’m not sure 🤔

i love your content thank you!

Thank you for this interesting video. I’m wondering that you doesn’t compare it to the Olympus Pro 7 to 14mm with constant f=2.8. I’m currently thinking about to buy the Olympus Pro vs Panasonic Leica and tend to the Olympus.

How about against the Olympus 7-14mm F.28 Pro?

Hi, amazing vid! Question though, does anyone know if there is any lens adapter that can connect this lens to the s5iix?

Happy belated birthday! Really enjoyed the video. I currently own a GH5 and I'm going down the route of gathering up prime lenses for video work. I'm actually surprised that it took me this long to come across your channel, as I research lenses on RU-vid to an annoying level. Are there any primes that you would recommend? I'm not rich enough (yet) to buy up the Olympus pro line. I currently own the Olympus 25mm f1.8, Panasonic 42.5mm f1.7, and the the leica 12-60 kit lens that came with the camera. I've been thinking about the Olympus 12mm f2.0, but the budget cine lenses are always calling, such as the rokinon and meike. Decisions decisions. Oh, I also own a couple of vintage lenses, which include the helios 44. I currently work at a large media company in London, but I'd love to work on set as a camera operator/cinematographer. In the meantime I'm working on independent short films and just general video based production (playing around). P.s. If anybody in this community wants to collaborate on a project, I'm very happy to jump on board, especially if you're in London, as I'm new here 😭. Keep up the good work. I'm so jealous that you have the GH6 grrr.

Hello, I am using gh6 model and 8-18mm lens If you have any information on why the power zoom function is not working, could you tell me?

8-18vs9mm 1.7，which one is more interesting?

Lenstip finds the 8-25 f4 to be somewhat sharper, center and edge. Not sure how much that translates in to the real world. I do large-ish prints (12x12). The 8-18 is really hard to get in my region. It seems Panasonic has all but withdrawn MFT here.

How does it compare to the OM 8-25 f4?

Opps I see now it's the GH6. Just got mine today. I with you or somebody would do a set up video tutorial. I know it's very similar to my GH5 but a lot seems different. Thanks

I have the 8 to 18 and you made me love it more. LOL. I wanted to ask you. I saw a video on GH6 from the Geek Nerd Tech follow and he was saying that older lenses don't respond as well with auto focus as the newer ones, but he did not really elaborate on it. Do you find that? I was thinking about the 10 to 25 and selling my 8 to 18. I was always a manual focus person with GH5 but going use it some on the GH6 and if a new lens is going to make a real difference that would be great. What do you think about auto focus and certain lenses.?

What did you prefer? The Olympus 9-18 or this Panasonic 8-18? Is the Panasonic worth the double price? (Used) what are the pro/con between the two of them?

Have just purchased this lens for my GH6,also using a gimbal so this should sort out any stabilization issues,have you managed to try out any filters with this lens ?

Wow, that's a lot of money for the Lumix 7-14. I think I paid $350 US for mine like new. It's an oldie but a goodie.

hey what's the other camera lens your using to make this video also! It looks fantastic

does the aperture stay the same throughout the home range

Curious, What camera where you shooting with. GH6 or Gh5?

I've been thinking about doing a wide-angle zoom one of these days. Since I will use it for portraits (eg.: a ballet dancer in front of a Cathedral, or a big monument, or some "different" shots for sports) I was planning the Olympus 7-14mm f2.8 but I hesitate between this Leica 8-18mm or the new and small 8-25 mm f4... Obviously I will also do landscapes, but mainly it is as I said for portraits. Which one would you choose? Thank you

Wondering how MFT would be for a hybrid real estate set up….

This is a superb lens but a word of warning, do not drop your lens hood into a lake when detaching it to put filters in, its quite expensive to replace lol

The GH5 was really suffering from the wide angle wobble in videos with this lens. Is this still the case with the GH6?

Hi, Im interested in how your 9-18mm MZuiko lens died? I like mine🙂

Are you running into any photo issues with the GH6 being a native iso 800 camera? Shadow noise on bright days?

Since years I want a small wide angle lens. Will you do a image comparison between all of them?

@4:05 same to you ...

*Outstanding, accurate impressions* here which I share with you from the first to the last. Especially your point over the use of wide angle for the landscapes reflects a matured (outdoors) photographer. What made me decide on this expensive lens acquisition is its color rendition. For me its one of the prime quality aspects of any lens; not often being mentioned. Researching the reviews and comparisons this virtue became already obvious to me. Especially in this Arber's comparison: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iD7W7it2F5I.htmlsi=MpGvO-QNLcoJmXEp. In reality my copy absolutely holds true. It is better in that respect than the Pana-Leica 12-60 mm. And very sharp and clean wide open already. A champion lens! I had bought it for a real estate assignment, hoping it will pay itself off that way but the owner of the hotel canceled the job later. Still I don't regret buying it. The only downsides of this lens are the high price, the variable aperture and the weight: it's a bit heavy to carry on the longer hiking trips.

Why buy this when you can have a better camera and better lense using a full frame sony? I bet you that a A7C with an equivalent lens is cheaper, lighter, smaller and better.