Everyone loves to talk about prime lenses. And even we’ll admit, we love how simple they make things. But we can also admit at the same time to how they creatively limit a photographer. You know the whole thing about zooming with your feet? Well, we also think that you should compose or crop with your lens. And zoom lenses are absolutely great for that. So we know that lots of photographers are considering the new LUMIX S1RII. So here are the best zoom lenses for the LUMIX S1RII — especially if you’re considering switching camera systems.
This blog post is presented in partnership with LUMIX.
We’re going to say this right off the bat: this article is presented in partnership with LUMIX. But at the same time, we also are transparently stating that we don’t write anything we don’t truly believe in. Trust us, it has caused lots of friction in advertising campaigns with other advertisers. And if we don’t have the facts to back up what we’re saying, we won’t say it. These truly are the best full-frame cameras with a film look for good reasons.
There’s great news for you reading this: LUMIX lenses are small, lightweight, affordable, and they don’t skimp out on performance. With many other brands, there’s always some sort of compromise. But in this case, that doesn’t happen.
Why You Should Trust Us
The Phoblographer has been doing real-world photography gear tests longer than any other photography publication currently run. We also have the largest database of real-world lens reviews, amongst other things like straps, camera bags, lights, accessories, and more. Here’s why that matters:
- AI Can’t Do This Job: These days, other publications do roundups, sometimes using generative AI. That’s the same as a person researching products and then making a decision without actually trying it. All of our reviews and guides are written not just by humans but by working photographers — not AI. Computers don’t use cameras, so why would you trust AI to recommend cameras for you?
- Research and Practical Experience: Here at the Phoblographer, humans consult on what roundups to do with guidance from an editor. Then, a human goes through our database of reviews and selects the best products based on our own internal research. The human creating the roundup has practical experience with photography gear and will apply their knowledge of what’s best to the already human-based experience provided in our reviews.
- We Block AI Bots: The Phoblographer blocks indexing bots from reading our site, so what’s here can only be read here.
How We Test and Choose the Best Zoom Lenses for the LUMIX S1RII
- The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed in these roundups.
- If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
- When we test lenses, we’ve got various things in mind. First off, we consider who might want to buy the lens and what they might do with it. With that in mind, we try to tackle at least three genres of photography with that lens in a variety of situations. If the lens has weather resistance, then we’ll test it accordingly with a weather-resistant camera. We also test the autofocus of the lens in continuous mode, single mode, with exposure preview effects, without those effects, and then with all the major image quality parameters. These days, no one really makes a bad lens — but some are far better than others. The same applies to working with cameras.
- In this specific roundup, we’re basing our findings on the reviews that we’ve done. We’re choosing a favorite, but we’re also giving photographers a bunch of others that they might like, depending on how they shoot.
Why Choose the LUMIX S1RII
There’s great reasons why photographers would switch to LUMIX. In this case, the LUMIX S1RII is an excellent option for so many photographers. The company stuffed so much incredible technology into this camera that photographers are going to love. There’s multiple exposure mode, Real Time LUT, False color for exposure guidance, Live View Composite, and a whole bunch of other features. Here’s a tidbit from our full review’s conclusions:
- The modest megapixel count with the brand keeping it in the 40s for a balance of detail and high ISO output
- The in-camera creative modes
- The autofocus comparable to several other brands
- The weather resistance
- The big lens selection across the entire L mount alliance
- The overall weight
Specifically, the brand has a plethora of really great lightweight and affordable zoom lenses. Many of them even have a macro-moniker in the name to indicate how closely they focus. But what isn’t talked about enough is how incredibly reliable they are. Every single one that they make has weather resistance built into them. Plus they’re fast to focus. Brands love to talk about how their lenses offer fast apertures. But let’s be honest, if you want a fast aperture, just reach for a prime lens or two. If you want the versatility that a zoom lens offers, then you’re going to sometimes need to make modifications. Luckily, LUMIX cameras do well with various flashes and strobes and have great high ISO output for when you need to shoot higher than you normally would.
But you’re probably wondering: why choose this over the options from other camera brands? Well, LUMIX works very closely with third party manufacturers to the point where they’re confident in saying that their cameras have Godox compliance. On top of that, there’s Capture One support from day 1. Plus, the fact that they’re part of the L-mount alliance means that lenses from Leica, Sigma, and more will work with their cameras. Seriously, with a LUMIX camera, you’ve got nearly endless customization — and that comes partially from their beliefs held with the video division of the company.
This camera though? It knocked it out of the park in our review. You can check that out at will. But let’s get back to recommending lenses to you.
The Best Zoom Lenses For the LUMIX S1RII
Here are the zoom lenses we think that every photographer will want. They appeal to a variety of needs and genres.
LUMIX S 28-200mm F4-7.1 MACRO OIS
The 28-200mm is a generalist lens that’s got a lot reasons associated with why you’d want to bring one with you everywhere. It’s light, has nice image quality, optical image stabilization, close focusing, an affordable price point, weather resistance, fast focusing performance, and a versatile zoom range. This can be a perfect backup lens that you keep in your camera bag as a backup of some sort. Be sure to check out our review.
This lens is designed for general shooting, and it can do everything pretty darn well.
LUMIX S 24-105mm F4 Macro OIS
Arguably, this is one of LUMIX’s most versatile lenses that you can get your hands on. With a constant f4 aperture, it will make shooting pretty simple because you’ve got less to worry about with an aperture that doesn’t change as you zoom. But it also boasts solid image quality that’s very sharp, image stabilization, nice bokeh, and a fairly compact size.
To write this section, I headed back into our archives to check out our review. And in it, you’ll find portraits, candids, documentary, street photography, landscapes, cityscapes, macro images, food, night photos, etc. When we say this lens can do everything, we’re not kidding around.
LUMIX S PRO 16-35mm F4
Reach for the 16-35mm f4 LUMIX S Pro if you’re going to be shooting lots of wider scenes like landscapes, cityscapes, product photography, skating, etc. It’s bound to work really well with the LUMIX S1RII’s urban sports focusing mode if you’re photographing stuff like breakdancing. In our review, we stated that we’re really in love with the image quality that it produces. Head over and you’ll see that the color rendition is really something to talk about.
If you shoot wide scenes often, get this lens.
LUMIX S PRO 24-70mm F2.8
No professional photographer is complete with a 24-70mm f2.8 lens of some sort. And thankfully, the one made by LUMIX is pretty incredible. This lens is really meant to do work — and you can feel that when you pick it up. Think of this as the one lens you’re going to rely on to do almost everything. In our review, we talked about how the 11 aperture blades gave us really nice bokeh. And if you combine the output with a flash, your subject is going to pop in ways you never would’ve thought possible.
Event photographers and photojournalists will really love this one.
LUMIX S PRO 70-200mm F2.8
There’s a lot to love about the 70-200mm f2.8 LUMIX S PRO. There’s 7 stops of image stabilization, weather-sealing, controls, nice color and bokeh, and reliability. In our review, we spent quite a bit of time talking about the bokeh balls and how really beautiful they are especially on the longer side of this lens. If you shoot portraits or events, this is the lens you’ll need to get.
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.