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3 Great Prime Lenses Under $800

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 04/02/2025
04/02/2025
4 Mins read
A Lumix S5 camera with a large lens sits on a surface, slightly blurred background.
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Last Updated on 04/02/2025 by Chris Gampat

We love prime lenses and we know that so many of you do too. They’re so simple since you pretty much just need to move closer or further while using a faster aperture. On top of that, the image quality is usually much better because they’re easier to design for. So we’re rounding up some of our favorite prime lenses under $800. Specifically, we’re talking about three of them. Dive into this with us!

This blog post is presented in partnership with LUMIX.

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 these Great Prime Lenses Under $800

Using the LUMIX S 35mm f1.8.
  • 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.
  • 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.

LUMIX S 50mm f1.8 L-Mount Lens

The LUMIX 50mm f1.8
The LUMIX S 50mm f1.8.

In our review, we concluded the following:

  • Beautiful image quality
  • Fast focus to get the first target
  • Weather sealing
  • Small size
  • Lightweight
  • Incredibly affordable for what it is
Person in white shirt balances on bollard, city street with traffic, hot dog stand, and buildings in background.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 50mm f1.8.
Man in a light blue shirt sitting outdoors, smiling with a blurred city background.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 50mm f1.8.
Hands in gloves holding fresh okra pods.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 50mm f1.8.
Person walking on a sidewalk at dusk, with elevated train tracks overhead and buildings lining the street.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 50mm f1.8.
Buy Now

LUMIX S 85mm f1.8 L-Mount Lens

A LUMIX Camera with a lens rests on an open book, revealing its intricate dials and buttons.
The LUMIX S 85mm f1.8.

In our review, we concluded the following:

Person in a red hoodie wearing glasses and a black mask with a smile graphic, standing outdoors.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 85mm f1.8.
Man in red shirt and cap walking a dog on a boardwalk by a river with cityscape in the background.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 85mm f1.8.
Man speaking at a podium outdoors with trees and a crowd in the background.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 85mm f1.8.
Buy Now

LUMIX S 35mm f1.8 L-Mount Lens

The LUMIX S 35mm f1.8.

In our review, we concluded:

  • Nicely sharp, with good bokeh
  • Minimal distortion
  • Easy to use
  • Weather-sealed
  • Compact and lightweight
  • Decent autofocus
Smartphone on a table illuminated by light, displaying a webpage with photos of a person outdoors and two people close together.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 35mm f1.8.
A row of large blue icicles hanging from a cliff surrounded by snow-covered evergreen trees.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 35mm f1.8.
Person feeding a black and white dog beside a checkered table with a cartoon pig illustration.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 35mm f1.8.
Chef seasoning a large roasted pig outdoors with fresh greens, surrounded by smoke and trees.
Sample image shot with the LUMIX S 35mm f1.8.
Buy Now

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.

best lenses lenses lumix Under $800
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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