The L mount has been around for many years. And with Panasonic’s additions to the system, photographers can enjoy a plethora of optics to choose from. If you’re looking for only full frame cameras, then Panasonic Lumix S lenses are what you’re looking for. They often provide a great balance between optical performance, autofocus speed, and build quality. They all boast weather resistance and, on top of that, they all cover pretty much everything a photographer would need to do. So without further adieu, here’s our guide to Panasonic Lumix S lenses.
How to Use This Guide to Panasonic Lumix S Lenses
Here’s what you should know about using this guide to Panasonic Lumix S Lenses:
- This guide contains products we’ve reviewed. Specifically, it focuses on Panasonic Lumix s lenses. Lucky for you folks, we’ve reviewed the vast majority of Panasonic lenses and modern lenses in general. Depending on when you’re reading this, we’ve reviewed all of them and update this guide accordingly. Our Ethical Practices don’t allow us to feature products we haven’t fully reviewed.
- This guide is sponsored by Panasonic, who trusts us and understands we have a set of ethics when it comes to reviewing products. All the product images and sample images in this roundup were shot by Phoblographer staff. There are also links to our full reviews.
- Panasonic makes standard lenses and higher end glass. These higher end lenses are often designated with the Lumix S Pro moniker. The rest are just known as Panasonic Lumix S lenses.
- There are lenses in this list that work well with Panasonic’s autofocus features and many have continued to improve with firmware updates.
- These lenses are all for full frame cameras.
- Generally speaking, Panasonic lenses work better on Panasonic bodies than they do with others within the L-Mount Alliance. Part of this has to do with the motors being used.
- Everything we’ve chosen has weather-resistance. Weather resistance offers more than just shooting in the rain; it helps prevent dust from getting into your lens and camera. That means you don’t need to retouch sensor dust.
- These lenses are for full-frame Panasonic cameras, so they’ll also work on Leica and Sigma L-mount cameras too.
- With these lenses, you can pretty much do everything with the Leica L-mount. We should know; we own two of them.
Panasonic 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
Panasonic 24mm f1.8 Lumix S
- Sharp
- Beautiful colors
- Images require minimal editing when using film simulations
- Compact and lightweight
- Weather-resistant
- Versatile focal length
In our review, we state:
Images are sharp through the center of the frame with softer edges when shooting wide open. At f2.8, the sharpness is extended through most of the frame. And while the 24mm lens offers plenty of detail, it isn’t too sharp for portraits.
Panasonic 35mm f1.8 Lumix S
- Nicely sharp, with good bokeh
- Minimal distortion
- Easy to use
- Weather-sealed
- Compact and lightweight
- Decent autofocus
In our review, we state:
While this lens is plastic, Panasonic says it is dust and splash-resistant, as well as being rated for shooting 10 degrees below zero. I took this lens hiking in the snow to photograph ice caves and frozen waterfalls. The snow was falling hard enough to build up between the dials on the S5 body. But, I didn’t experience any issues shooting with the lens in the snowfall. I didn’t find any internal fogging or moisture.
Panasonic 50mm f1.8 Lumix S
- Beautiful image quality
- Fast focus to get the first target
- Weather sealing
- Small size
- Lightweight
- Incredibly affordable for what it is
In our review, we state:
The Panasonic 50mm f1.8 S is an incredible lens. It’s affordable, focuses quickly, has great image quality, is weather sealed, lightweight, and handy. Panasonic has taken the nifty 50 and really stepped it up. The rest of the industry should recognize this.
Panasonic 50mm f1.4 Lumix S Pro
- Very sharp
- Beautiful bokeh
- Nice colors
- Sharp images
- With Panasonic’s latest firmware updates, it focuses surprisingly quick
- Well built
- Super well weather sealed
In our review, we said:
Just look at this! It’s far different than the muted stuff Panasonic has put out in the past. Instead, it’s vivid and beautiful.
Panasonic 85mm f1.8 Lumix S
- Lightweight
- Fast focusing
- Weather sealing
- Incredibly affordable
- Sharp
In our review, we state:
In terms of image quality, the Panasonic 85mm f1.8 is fantastic. It’s a very affordable lens with good image quality. It’s very sharp and the bokeh is nice. But, while the colors will depend on the camera you’re using, the lens lacks character. Overall though, it’s the best of many worlds.
Panasonic 16-35mm f4 Lumix S Pro
- Small
- Amazingly lightweight for an L mount lens
- Sharp optics
- Weather sealing
- Nice feeling in the hand
- Focuses very fast!
In our review, we said:
I really, really like the colors from the Panasonic 16-35mm f4 PRO. I still think Panasonic has lenses with even better tint though. However, for small documentary-style setups, cityscapes, or landscapes, you’ll be happy. As stated earlier, we really like the look of the images with L Monochrome D enabled.
Panasonic LUMIX S 20-60mm F3.5-5.6
- Lightweight
- Nice colors
- Fast to focus
- Fun to use
- Weather sealed
In our review, we state:
Lucky for you, the Panasonic LUMIX S 20-60mm f3.5-5.6 is weather sealed. So when you buy the lens as a kit with the camera, you’ll get maximum build quality. That’s refreshing. It’s nice to know you can take it out anywhere. We’ve taken this lens out into the rain, and it survived. But besides the weather sealing, the lens is nice and compact. The balance for the camera body is also quite good. At times, it feels like you’re holding a 35mm or a 50mm prime lens. But then you turn the zoom ring, and that changes.
Panasonic Lumix S 24-105mm f4 Macro OIS
- 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
In our review, we state:
The bokeh from the Panasonic Lumix S 24-105mm f4 Macro OIS is gorgeous. On the longer end of the lens, it looks creamy while the shorter end doesn’t offer as much of the beautiful, out of focus area that so many people start internet arguments about. It still looks better than what some phone will try to render, and the muted color tone shows you precisely what you’re getting. This lends itself more to the photographer needing to work on the file in post-production. If you’re shooting in RAW, then that’s fine.
Panasonic 24-70mm f2.8 Lumix S PRO
- Very sharp
- Beautiful bokeh
- Close focusing
- Weather sealed
- Very fast and usable autofocus
In our review, we state:
Because the Panasonic 24-70mm f2.8 LUMIX Pro has 11 aperture blades, the bokeh is going to be gorgeous. That’s one of my favorite things about this lens. Portrait photographers and photojournalists who use it will be happy with the bokeh it delivers. They’ll be able to tell stories more effectively if they can get their subjects perfectly in focus.
Panasonic 70-200mm f2.8 Lumix S PRO
- Excellent stabilization to seven stops
- Weather-sealed
- Lots of controls
- Beautiful color and bokeh
In our review, we state:
Points of light create nice, rounded bokeh balls at the center that, as expected, elongate towards the edges. Telephoto lenses will make the background appear closer. At 200mm, you can make those nice bokeh balls appear larger and much more obvious.
Panasonic 70-200mm f4 OIS Lumix S Pro
- 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
In our review, we state:
The Panasonic 70-200mm f4 OIS Lumix S Pro exhibits image quality I really like. I prefer the 50mm f1.4 more, but I’m not sure who wouldn’t. For the type of work the Panasonic 70-200mm f4 OIS Lumix S Pro is designed for, I’m impressed. Not only is it sharp, but the bokeh is very creamy. Additionally, the colors are true to life.
Panasonic 70-300mm f4.5-5.6
- Lightweight
- Weather-sealed
- Very sharp
- Gorgeous colors
- Great ‘Macro’ ability
- Fast, silent autofocusing
- Reasonably priced at $1,249.99
In our review, we state:
The macro mode on this telephoto lens is great. We have seen telephoto lenses with macro capabilities before, and they haven’t always impressed. However, with this lens, you can get very close to your subjects at 300mm. The results are impressive. The image above was at 300mm. No editing, no cropping, just straight out of the camera. This will open up many creative doors. Overall, the Panasonic 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 is easy to use. Just attach it to your camera, and away you go.
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 that we’ve fully reviewed. 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.
This piece is presented in partnership with Panasonic Lumix. We’ve independently and ethically reviewed all the products in this post already without sponsorship. And we worked with them to recommend a few key gems to you.