Experienced photographers love prime lenses for so many reasons. First off, there’s the whole obsession that many have with nice looking bokeh. But then there’s also the fact that they can make photography so easy. Often, you just have to walk up to the subject and at the right distance, you’ll get a photograph that you’ll fall in love with pretty easily. And right now, we know that lots of photographers are switching over the LUMIX. So let us be your guide! Here are the best prime lenses for the LUMIX S1RII.
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 Prime 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
LUMIX, which is part of Panasonic, is no stranger to innovations and thinking ahead. Their f1.8 prime lenses all share a 67mm filter thread — so that means you can share your mist and glimmerglass filters between all your lenses easily. Plus, they’re all roughly around the same size. Additionally, they’re weather resistant, fast to focus (especially their 100mm f2.8 Macro) and small.
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 Prime Lenses For the LUMIX S1RII
Here are the prime lenses we think that every photographer will want. They appeal to a variety of needs and genres.
LUMIX S 100mm F2.8 MACRO
We’re choosing this lens for a whole bunch of reasons. First off, this is one of the most innovative prime lenses on the market. No one has made a 100mm f2.8 macro lens for full-frame cameras that’s this small, lightweight, weather resistant, and fast to focus. Indeed, this is a winner all across the board. You’re probably thinking that they made sacrifices somewhere you get to that point. But that’s not the case. You can see even more in our full review.
LUMIX S PRO 50mm F1.4
This lens is the OG when it comes to image quality. When LUMIX was developing it, they were comparing it to the older standard of Zeiss Otus lenses in terms of sharpness. And overall, they did a great job and even outdid Zeiss. The 50mm f1.4 has autofocus, weather ressitance, and beautiful image quality. Not only that, but it autofocuses surprisingly quick.
In our review, we’ve got photos to back all this up.
LUMIX S 35mm F1.8
I can’t write a long enough love letter to this lens. It’s my most-used LUMIX lens that’s pretty much glued to both my LUMIX and Leica cameras. If you’re a fan of the 35mm focal length, then you’ll understand why I love this lens. But then you also have to consider how small, lightweight, weather-resistant, and fast to focus it is. It’s my reliable creative partner in various ways and I can’t get over it. In our review, we stated how incredible it was. And in many of our camera reviews that came after the review of this lens, it’s made an appearance.
Honestly, I’d say this is the best lens on this lens.
LUMIX S 18mm F1.8
Looking back at our review of the 18mm f1.8, we’re in awe of how beautiful many of the images are. This lens is wide, highly capable, fast to focus, weather resistant, and LUMIX even found a way to keep the front element down to 67mm for filters. There’s a unique and really special beauty to the images it can make. And when you combine that with the real LUT, you’ll probably feel the same way.
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.