Conclusion

The Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH is an excellent moderate wide-angle prime lens that is small and light enough to be carried in a coat pocket if required. It's very well-built and delivers great image quality at both the centre and edges of the frame, even when shooting wide-open at f/1.7, and the very welcome aperture ring makes it quick, easy and precise to set this key element of exposure.

As with most other recent Panasonic Micro Four Thirds lenses, it's incredibly fast to focus on the new DMC-GX7 camera and almost virtually silent too, making it well-suited to both stills and video. This lens is also very small and lightweight considering the f/1.7 maximum aperture, although fitting the supplied lens hood is a rather convoluted process.

Optically the Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH is an excellent performer. You can safely use it wide open for maximum bokeh and still achieve sharp results in the centre of the frame, or for optimum performance stop down to f/2.8, where even the edges of the frame are sharp. Chromatic aberrations are almost completely absent, while distortions are automatically corrected on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies.

Perhaps our only real question mark is over the 30mm equivalent focal length, which is in-between the more classic 28mm and 35mm primes that are also available in the Micro Four Thirds system. If you like the unique angle of view that the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH offers, though, there's little reason not to add it to your kitbag. Highly recommended.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4