Panasonic’s lenses for L-mount fill in gaps that other glass just can’t. They make affordable lenses with weather resistance, good image quality, and great performance. And if you want to use Panasonic for portrait photography, you have all the tools you need. Here are the best lenses for portrait photography with the Panasonic S5.
How to Use This Guide to the Best Lenses for Portrait Photography With the Panasonic S5
Here’s what you should know about using this guide to the best lenses for portrait photography with the Panasonic S5:
- This guide contains products we’ve reviewed. Lucky for you, we’ve reviewed the vast majority of Panasonic lenses and modern lenses in general. Our Ethical Practices don’t allow us to feature products we haven’t fully reviewed. So when we say these are the best lenses for portrait photography with the Panasonic S5, we truly mean it.
- This guide is sponsored by Panasonic, who trusts us and understands that 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 fuller reviews.
- These are the best lenses for portrait photography with the Panasonic S5 if you’re looking for prime lenses. We think you’ll love the bokeh, build quality, and overall performance.
- The lenses in this list work well with Panasonic’s autofocus features and many have continued to improve with firmware updates.
- When considering the best lenses for portrait photography with the Panasonic S5, remember that this is full-frame, otherwise known as Lumix S. So, unlike Micro Four Thirds, the focal length is exactly what it is.
- 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.
- The lenses we’ve chosen all have weather-resistance. Weather resistance has more benefit than just the ability to shoot in the rain. It helps prevent dust from getting into your lens and camera. That means you don’t need to retouch your images later.
- These lenses are for full-frame Panasonic cameras, so they’ll also work on Leica and Sigma L-mount cameras.
- With these lenses, you can pretty much do everything with the Leica L-mount. We should know as we own two of them.
- Basically, treat these like you’re using a higher-end lens. They give that level of performance for a bargain.
Panasonic 50mm f1.4 Lumix S Pro
- Very sharp
- Beautiful bokeh
- Nice colors
- Sharp images
- With Panasonicâs latest firmware updates, it focuses surprisingly quick
- Well built
- Super well weather sealed
In our review, we said:
Just look at this! Itâs far different than the muted stuff that Panasonic has put out in the past…Itâs vivid and beautiful.
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. Itâs 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 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. Itâs an affordable lens with good image quality. Itâs very sharp and the bokeh is nice…Itâs the best of many worlds.
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’s 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’s body. But, I didnât experience any issues shooting in the snowfall. I didnât find any internal fogging or moisture.
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. Thatâs one of my favorite things about this lens. Portrait photographers and photojournalists who use it will be happy with the bokeh it delivers. Theyâll 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 7 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.
The Phoblographerâs various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldnât get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldnât get photography advice from someone who doesnât touch the product. We only recommend gear that weâve fully reviewed. If youâre wondering why your favorite product didnât make the cut, thereâs a chance itâs on another list. If we havenât reviewed it, we wonât 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. Weâve 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.
