Panasonic Lumix G H-H014 14mm f/2.5 ASPH - still good in 2020?

Testing the very old Panasonic Lumix G H-H014 14mm f/2.5 ASPH lens for MFT with the GX9 in 2020

Since we got our Micro 4/3 camera just a year ago we have been exploring different lens options for different scenarios. Our Panasonic Lumix GX9 came with kit 12-60 lens which to be honest weren't that great at all and only have been good for general purposes.

So, while our GX9 was at the repair shop to get its screen fixed, we decided to sell all the lens we had and start clear either with new ones or move to full frame camera (probably the brand new Panasonic S5). 

Once the screen was fixed the GX9 was on stand-by for a while until we got a very good deal (under 100 Euro, while stock price is around 230 EUR) for a second-hand 14mm f/2.5 ASPH lens which is quite compact and would suit the small GX9 well.

Panasonic Lumix G H-H014 14mm f/2.5 ASPH - First Impressions

Well, we knew that this is cheap lens and didn't expect miracles from it. Using it straight out of the box and we were pleasantly surprised. It looked like one can get equipped in 2020 with nice MFT lens for a very low price. 

Outdoor images looked sharp and the 14 mm focal length seemed quite versatile. Please note that this lens does not have optical image stabilization built-in and you will have to rely only on the camera stabilization skills.

Six months with the Panasonic Lumix GX9 - 2020 review

We made all of the sample photos here handheld and didn't use any gimbal or tripod. The result - in good outdoor daylight objects were looking sharp and focus was relatively accurate, while indoor shots later in the evening had some issues and looked quite blurry. Well, to be honest that is quite expected, at f/2.5 aperture it is not the sharpest lens out there and the lack of stabilization was another factor that might have ruined some shots.

It's a shame that the H-H014 lens doesn't come with any lens hood, so you can expect some flare to be present depending on the light conditions. 

Mmm, that's delicious

Other than that, the Lumix G H-H014 is a small, versatile lens that is made in Japan so we would expect it to be well made and to last.

Panasonic Lumix G H-H014 14mm f/2.5 ASPH for video

Please note that we are not using the second generation of this lens but rather the very first edition, released sometime around 2011. We haven't tested the second version code-named H-H014A or H-H014AE and honestly we are not sure what the differences are.

Panasonic Lumix H-H014 14mm f/2.5 ASPH video test

From the video samples that we made with the H-H014 we can conclude what we already mentioned in this post earlier - quite a versatile lens with good low-light performance. Recording 4k on 24fps outdoors in good light turned out to be good fun with the GX9. The wide-angle lens at 14mm gave us a lot of flexibility and the option to zoom and crop if needed in post (thanks to the higher resolution). 

In regards to shake and stabilization - the 14mm f/2.5 ASPH did well in that aspect, probably thanks to the GX9 5-axis built-in stabilization, which is very good, one of the best in class.

Great panoramas

If you like to take panorama shots in 2020 with your Micro 4/3 camera you should definitely consider the 14mm f/2.5 ASPH. It is really good lens for that purpose, panoramas looked sharp and thanks to the wide-angle setup you get a lot of objects in a 16:9 photo.

Late afternoon panorama with the H-H014 lens

Portraits with the 14mm f/2.5 ASPH

We got decent background blur in the portraits we took. Images looked sharp and focused was easily manageable most of the time (issues with Panasonic auto-focus are not always connected to the lens performance, but you probably already know that).

Well, it is just couple of days that we had the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 ASPH MFT lens but we are pleasantly surprised so far. Of course not everything is perfect and not all of our shots were focused well, we wished it was just a bit sharper for better low-light performance and nicer bokeh. 

Thank you for checking our 2020 Panasonic Lumix G H-H014 14mm f/2.5 ASPH lens review! Please leave your consumer feedback in the comments form below! 

Sample images taken with the Panasonic Lumix GX9 (edited)

Thanks!