LUMIX S lenses are pretty unique overall in the field of photography. The brand makes affordable lenses with pretty high end features that other manufacturers would charge so much more for. We’re talking about super fast autofocus motors, solid image quality, weather resistance, and an overall very uniform size. Plus, they make a ton of lenses that have macro features built in. Honestly, there’s no better time to go full-frame. And with that said, we’re giving you our guide to LUMIX S Lenses.
This article is presented in partnership with LUMIX.
LUMIX Lens Nomenclature
Here are some buzzwords to know and keep in mind as you’re using this guide.
- LUMIX: Panasonic’s lineup of cameras and imaging devices
- LUMIX S: Specifically, Panasonic’s full-frame lenses
- LUMIX S Pro: Panasonic’s highest end full-frame lenses
- Macro: Meaning focusing very closely
- OIS: Optical image stabilization
LUMIX S 24mm F1.8: For Landscape Photography
Here’s what we note in our review:
- Sharp
- Beautiful colors
- Images require minimal editing when using film simulations
- Compact and lightweight
- Weather-resistant
- Versatile focal length
LUMIX S 35mm F1.8: It Does Everything
Here’s what we note in our review:
- Nicely sharp, with good bokeh
- Minimal distortion
- Easy to use
- Weather-sealed
- Compact and lightweight
- Decent autofocus
LUMIX S 50mm F1.8: A Short Portrait Lens
The best things about this lens, noted in our review are:
- Beautiful image quality
- Fast focus to get the first target
- Weather sealing
- Small size
- Lightweight
- Incredibly affordable for what it is
LUMIX S PRO 50mm F1.4: For Portraits and Documentary
Here are the notes from our review:
- Very sharp
- Beautiful bokeh
- Nice colors
- Sharp images
- With LUMIX’s latest firmware updates, it focuses surprisingly quick
- Well built
- Super well weather sealed
LUMIX S 85mm F1.8: For Candids and Portraits
In our review, we note:
- Lightweight
- Fast focusing
- Weather sealing
- Incredibly affordable
- Sharp
LUMIX S 100mm F2.8 MACRO: For Macro and Product Photography
Key points from our review:
- Incredibly small
- Matches the size of the LUMIX f1.8 prime lenses
- Fast autofocus, some of the fastest that the L-mount alliance has seen
- Weather resistance
- 1:1 Macro abilities
- Nice bokeh
- Very sharp
- Incredibly lightweight
LUMIX S 14-28mm F4-5.6 MACRO: For Landscapes
Key points from our review:
- Lightweight
- Good image quality
- Close focusing abilities
- Not that pricey at all
- Weather resistance
- Fast focusing performance
LUMIX S 16-35mm F4: For Events
In our review, we said:
- Small
- Amazingly lightweight for an L mount lens
- Sharp optics
- Weather sealing
- Nice feeling in the hand
- Focuses very fast!
LUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6: For General Shooting
In our review, we state:
- Lightweight
- Nice colors
- Fast to focus
- Fun to use
- Weather sealed
LUMIX S 24-105mm F4 MACRO OIS: For General Shooting
In our review, we state:
- Image stabilization is excellent in most cases, but most effective during the daytime
- Solid image quality, very sharp!
- Nice bokeh for portraits
- Very versatile
- Probably as compact as you’re going to get for this system
- Perhaps the best current option at this zoom range as Leica has nothing that is a constant aperture and Sigma’s lenses are clones of their DSLR options
- Built incredibly well
- Fairly priced
LUMIX S PRO 24-70mm F2.8: The Pro Standard
In our review, we state:
- Very sharp
- Beautiful bokeh
- Close focusing
- Weather sealed
- Very fast and usable autofocus
LUMIX S 70-200mm F2.8: For Events and Portraits
In our review, we state:
- Excellent stabilization to seven stops
- Weather-sealed
- Lots of controls
- Beautiful color and bokeh
LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm F4 OIS: General Shooting
In our review, we state:
- Fairly compact for an L mount lens
- Weather sealed
- Very good image quality
- Pretty close focusing
- Beautiful bokeh
- Very usable for photojournalism; perhaps the most reliable optic I’ve used for it thus far
- Not terribly priced at $1,697.99
LUMIX S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6: The Best Pet Photos
In our review, we state:
- Lightweight
- Weather-sealed
- Very sharp
- Gorgeous colors
- Great ‘Macro’ ability
- Fast, silent autofocusing
- Reasonably priced at $1,249.99
Picking the Right One For You
If you’re still a bit confused as to the right lens for you, here are some questions to ask yourself
- What’s your budget?
- How will you use the product?
- What lighting situations are you in, and how will that affect what you’re doing? Our reviews hyperlinked in this article can help with that.
- Are you traveling a lot with it?
- Will you be using it in a situation that’s a bit rougher?
- Who else uses this product? How are they using it?
- What’s so appealing about this product that I can’t get from what I have already or something else?
- When will I really have time to use this product?
- Where will I bring this product?
- How will this product help bring me joy and joy in my photography?
These are just a few of the questions that we ask ourselves, but we think that you should ask yourself these for sure.