Does the L Mount have a lot of lenses? Yes! And they also have some of the best third-party support around. That’s why if you’re getting a LUMIX S5II, you’re happy to know that the brand has lots of excellent glass available to them. Even better, we’ve tested the wide majority of them here on our site. So if you’re looking for the best lenses for the LUMIX S5II, you’ve come to the right place!
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.
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How We Test and Choose the Best Lenses for the LUMIX S5II
- 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.
Our Choice for The Best Lenses for the LUMIX S5II: Panasonic 24-70mm f2.8 LUMIX S PRO
The Panasonic 24-70mm f2.8 LUMIX S Pro is an incredible lens overall. Truly, this is the lens that we think can do anything for the system — even over the 24-105mm. Professional photographers will thoroughly enjoy the image quality and the build quality. Perhaps even more so, they’ll like the feel of how beefy it is. This lens boasts weather resistance, reliable autofocus for working needs, and overall good balance with the LUMIX S5II.
Why It’s Great
- 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.
You Might Love These Other Choices for the Best Lenses for the LUMIX S5II
Our personal favorite lenses for the LUMIX S5II are the 85mm and 50mm f1.8. But that’s because of the fact that we like really blurry backgrounds, light weight, a small size, and we just like primes. Most folks buy a camera to get a zoom lens though. Recognizing this, we’re recommending a few zoom lenses that we think you’ll like.
Panasonic 16-35mm f4 LUMIX S Pro
Why It’s Great
- 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 50mm f1.4 LUMIX S Pro
Why It’s Great
- 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 that Panasonic has put out in the past. Instead, it’s vivid and beautiful.
Panasonic 70-200mm f2.8 LUMIX S PRO
Why It’s Great
- 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.
What to Know About The Best Lenses for the LUMIX S5II
- 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 professional photographers using the Panasonic LUMIX S5II if you’re looking for Panasonic’s highest end lenses when it comes to performance. And trust us, we think you’ll love the build quality, size, and the overall performance. These lenses are often designated with the LUMIX S Pro moniker.
- There are lenses in this list that work well with Panasonic’s autofocus features and many have continued to improve with firmware updates.
- When considering the best lenses for professional photographers using the Panasonic LUMIX S5II, 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.
- Everything we’ve chosen are lenses with weather-resistance. Weather resistance has more use 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 out 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.
- Basically, treat these like you’re using a higher-end lens. They give that level of performance for a bargain.
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?
- Can you live without the best quality?
- 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.