RESOLUTION
Looking at the actual shots, it’s clear that the new kit lens isn’t that sharp on its own, as a combination of a low diffraction limit and compact design yield fairly soft corners at most apertures. The GM1 combats this by applying some software enhancement to make edges look sharper than they really are. While we generally frown on this sort of thing, the GM1 doesn’t apply a blanket filter and call it a day, but rather applies it selectively.
The result, as you can see in our sharpness crops below, is an improvement in the acutance—the perception of sharpness—without introducing too much ugly haloing that would ultimately detract from overall image quality. Given that we’re talking about a $749.99 kit here, we think Panasonic deserves a pass here, at least for JPEG shooters.
