Conclusion

The new Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 9mm F1.7 ASPH is an excellent wide-angle addition to the extensive range of Micro Four Thirds lenses.

This tiny lens has an equally small price-tag to match, making it something of a bargain if you're into landscapes, cityscapes, and night photography.

The Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 9mm F1.7 ASPH lens is satisfyingly sharp in the image centre throughout most of the aperture range, although performance at the edges does drop off somewhat.

The fast maximum aperture of f/1.7 makes it surprisingly easy to creatively throw the background out of focus, especially when taking advantage of the half-macro capabilities and the amazing close focus point of just 9.5cm / 3.72in.

There is very little optical distortion worth mentioning, chromatic aberrations are not too much a problem and vignetting isn't too bad at all even when shooting wide-open at F1.7.

Despite weighing a mere 130g, the build quality is very good, with full weather-proofing the icing on the proverbial cake.

It is a very simple lens, though, with no external controls other than the focusing ring, so you'll need use the camera's controls and menu system quite a lot.

The linear AF motor results in fast, accurate, and virtually silent auto-focusing on the GH6 camera that we tested it with, making it well-suited to both stills and video.

Even after 12 years, this new 9mm lens proves that there's plenty of life left in the Micro Four Thirds system. With the exception of the Olympus 8mm fish eye prime, none of its main rivals can match this lens' combination of a fast maximum aperture and tiny size and weight.

In summary, it's great to see Panasonic continuing to evolve its MFT range with the launch of such an innovative and affordable wide-angle prime lens.

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