The design of the Panasonic 14 mm-45 mm lens differs from typical single-lens reflex (SLR) lenses because it no longer takes SLR mirrors into consideration. This 12-element Panasonic lens is broken into nine groups and has seven circular aperture blades. The minimum focusing distance is 0.5 metres with a maximum ratio of 1:3 at 45 millimetres. The compact physical dimensions on the Panasonic f/3.5-5.6 lens are noticeable even compared to the smaller four-thirds lenses. The whole lens weighs 195 grams. At 14 mm, the Panasonic lens gives approximately 5.5 percent of barrel distortion, or 4.1 percent at 18 mm. When brought to 25 mm, the Panasonic f/3.5-5.6 lens will have 2.2 percent distortion and at 45 millimetres, it becomes a negligible degree of distortion. The worst possible distortion the Panasonic 14 mm-45 mm lens can accommodate is 1.3 percent at 14 millimetres. Lateral chromatic aberrations on the Panasonic 14 mm-45 mm lens auto-correct to prevent colour shadows in high-contrast transitions.