PANASONIC LUMIX G VARIO LENS, 7-14MM, F4.0 ASPH., MIRRORLESS MICRO FOUR THIRDS, H-F007014 (USA BLACK)

I'm not a guy who makes big prints or does 100% blow ups of resolution charts, but you can find that junk on the web. Whether you want this lens or not will depend, of course, on your needs. Here are mine:I am a casual photographer, shameful gear luster, and former photojournalist. A couple of years ago I realized that I had a bunch of great DSLR equipment I never used unless I was feeling particularly guilty about not using it, so I got rid of it and reassessed my needs.A camera is only as useful as how often you actually take it out with you, so I knew I was going to have to go smaller than the 1D. And while I occasionally found myself cropping tighter than my 1.3x or 1.6x plus 70-200 could reach, I realized that I much more frequently wished I could go wider. Seeing how ultra wide would never be wide enough I made my decision to buy into a new system based on one criteria: who had the best ultra-wide lens in a package smaller than an SLR?My research (in 2010) lead me to this lens: the Panasonic 7-14mm and its associated micro four thirds system. A GF1 with 20mm pancake lens was almost pocket-small, and the effective 14-28mm field of view with this well-reviewed zoom seemed like just the ticket so I took the (May '10) plunge of a combined $1700-1800. I'm happy to say I haven't regretted it for a second.The 7-14mm is a manageable size and weight, creates quite sharp, contrasty images, and has good flare control given its FOV. The build quality is what I would expect at the price point: the slight heft of quality, though I wouldn't use it to pound tent stakes in a hurricane like I might with some pro gear. I've used many third-brand ultra wides that were worthless indoors or when pointed within 180 degrees of the sun because of their flaring and ghosting. I've also used many of Canon's L series which I imagine is where most of the 'prosumer' segment marks the bench. For my casual, candid, or travel purposes, this lens runs with the best of them. The field of view at 7mm (14 equiv.) is monstrously wide. So wide that I have no problems taking pictures of people who are ordinarily camera shy, because they see me pointed far enough off to the side that they assume they are no longer in the shot. This is a pretty valuable quality when you're trying to be all docu-style in close proximity to people. The latitude you get with this thing makes shooting from the hip very possible, and the quick AF and wide DOF work well enough together to keep it in focus.It's not all peaches and gravy, of course. Shooting in large indoor spaces your FOV will always capture some of those 1000 watt light bulbs on the ceiling and their flare. When you get this wide distortion around the edges becomes a reality, though it can often be used to your advantage. Although it will focus very close, a 7mm focal length at F4 on a 2X crop sensor will never give you a super out of focus background unless the distance between the subject and the background is remarkable.All in all, if your needs warrant it, this lens is worth every penny. It has made photography interesting and fun for me again, and I would probably have paid a lot more for that.

The new ones are so expensive I was looking for an alternative. I bought this one used (labeled as like new), but I felt it was more like brand new. It came in it's original box and packing. As hard as I looked, I could not find a single wear mark. I made about 30 test shots at different zoom lengths and apertures, and optically it was excellent. A great transaction, so consider this option to save some coin.As for the lens itself, the sharpness is very good at f4 and f5.6 throughout the zoom range. It does drop off a bit at the long end (14mm), and at f8, but not much. Some reviews find softness at the edges, but they seem fine to me -- very little fall off. I did notice color fringing at the edges when I didn't expect it -- that is, when there wasn't obvious strong backlighting. I'm guessing the extreme wide angle is gathering light from the edges that isn't obvious when you're focusing on the central image area. It's easily corrected in products like Lightroom.7mm is very wide, and takes in a huge amount of foreground and background. I took the lens to an air museum and shot 101 pictures. I only used 7mm on 5 of them, with most shots being in the 9-12mm range (18-24mm full frame). It takes thought and skill to make a good wide angle shot, so 7mm won't be used much by me but it's nice to have when needed. The point is that the Olympus 9-18mm might be a good alternative for less money if super wide is not critical.The lens is well constructed, a bit heavy and bulky, but it balances well on my OM-D E-M1. Zoom and focus rings are silky smooth. The zoom ring turns clockwise which feels natural to me. It doesn't take a filter like the Olympus 9-18mm, but the only filter I use is a polarizer, which won't work well on wide angle shots anyway (only a portion of the scene will be affected, giving an uneven blotchy look).Overall a superb lens with great optics and versatility when used in the right situations.