LUMIX L-mount cameras give photographers a wealth of options to create fantastic images when they’re traveling. But more importantly, they’re both lightweight and weather-resistant. In fact, all of their lenses boast this feature. So why wouldn’t you want to travel with LUMIX? To help you out, we’re rounding up the best LUMIX lenses for travel photography. Take a look!
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. 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 blog post is presented in partnership with LUMIX.
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How We Test and Choose the Best LUMIX Lenses for Travel Photography
- 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 Lumix Lens for Travel Photography: lUMIX 20-60mm f3.5-5.6
As one of LUMIX’s kit lenses, the 20-60mm f3.5-5.6 surely is a convenient focal length as it goes pretty darned wide and long enough into the normal range that photographers will be satisfied with the results. On top of this, it’s weather resistant, fast to focus, and lightweight. Even with an f3.5 aperture, it can still help you shoot photos without camera shake in low light. That’s partially thanks to the excellent image stabilization in LUMIX cameras.
Tech Specs
| Angle of View | 94° to 40° |
| Aperture Blades | 9, Rounded |
| Aspherical Elements | 2 |
| Autofocus | Autofocus |
| Brand | Panasonic |
| Diameter | 3.1″ |
| Extra Low-Dispersion Elements | 3 |
| Filter Size | 67.0mm |
| Focal Length | 20.0-60.0 |
| Groups/Elements | 9/11 |
| Hood Included | Yes |
| Image Stabilization | No |
| Item Type | Lens |
| Length | 3.4″ |
| Low Dispersion Elements | 3 |
| Maximum Aperture | f/3.5 |
| Maximum Magnification | 0.43x |
| Mfr. Part Number | S-R2060 |
| Minimum Aperture | 22.0 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 0.5’ |
| Mount | L Mount |
| Weight | 0.8 lb. |
What We Think
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 very refreshing. It’s nice to know you can take it out anywhere.
Buy Now: Adorama / Amazon / Lensrentals
Three Other Great Options for the Best Lumix Lens for Travel Photography
Lots of photographers buy a real camera for the zoom capabilities. But some of us really only want very good prime lenses. And for that reason, we’re recommending a few other lenses that we also think could be considered the best LUMIX lens for travel photography depending on the type of photographer you are.
lUMIX 35mm f1.8
Tech Specs
| 35mm-Equivalent Focal Length | 22x |
| Angle of View | 63° |
| Aperture Blades | 9, Rounded |
| Aspherical Elements | 3 |
| Autofocus | Autofocus |
| Brand | Panasonic |
| Dimensions | ø x L: 2.9 × 3.2″ |
| Extra Low-Dispersion Elements | 3 |
| Filter Size | 67.0mm |
| Focal Length | 35.0-35.0 |
| Groups/Elements | 9/11 |
| Hood Included | Yes |
| Image Stabilization | No |
| Item Type | Lens |
| Lens Type | Wide Angle |
| Max Aperture | 1.8 |
| Mfr. Model Number | S-S35 |
| Minimum Aperture | 22.0 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 0.8’ |
| Mount | L Mount |
| Weight | 0.7 lb. |
What We Think
In our review, we state:
The minimal design also makes the Panasonic 35mm f1.8 S easy to use. Just mount and shoot. This lens is plenty simple enough for beginners, though more advanced users will also appreciate the simplicity. Because the design and filter size is the same on the 85mm, 50mm, and 24mm in the same series, the family of primes will also be simple to swap between.
Buy Now: Adorama / Amazon / Lensrentals
LUMIX 50mm f1.8
Tech Specs
| 35mm-Equivalent Focal Length | 50mm |
| Angle of View | 47° |
| Aperture Blades | 9, Rounded |
| Autofocus | Autofocus |
| Brand | Panasonic |
| Compatibility | Full Frame |
| Diameter | 2.9″ |
| Extra Low-Dispersion Elements | 1 |
| Filter Size | 67.0mm |
| Fluorite Elements | 22 |
| Focal Length | 50.0-50.0 |
| Groups/Elements | 8/9 |
| Hood Included | Yes |
| Image Stabilization | No |
| Item Type | Lens |
| Length | 3.0″ |
| Lens Type | Normal Range and Normal Range |
| Max Aperture | 1.8 |
| Maximum Magnification | 0.14x |
| Mfr. Model Number | S-S50 |
| Minimum Aperture | 22.0 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 1.5feet |
| Mount | L Mount |
| Ultra High-Refractive Index Elements | 1 |
| Weight | 0.7 lb. |
What We Think
In our review we state:
Of course, this is a nifty 50. So it’s easy to use. Put the Panasonic 50mm f1.8 S on any L-mount camera, and it should perform very well. There’s a focusing switch on one side. So, make sure you don’t accidentally hit this. But in all my time using the lens, that didn’t happen.
Buy Now: Adorama / Amazon / Lensrentals
LUMIX 18mm f1.8
Tech Specs
| Angle of View | 29° |
| Aperture Blades | 9, Rounded |
| Autofocus | Autofocus |
| Brand | Panasonic |
| Diameter | 2.9″ |
| Extra Low-Dispersion Elements | 2 |
| Filter Size | 67.0mm |
| Focal Length | 85.0-85.0 |
| Format | Full-Frame |
| Groups/Elements | 8/9 |
| Hood Included | Yes |
| Image Stabilization | No |
| Item Type | Lens |
| Length | 3.2″ |
| Max Aperture | 1.8 |
| Maximum Magnification | 0.13x |
| Mfr. Model Number | S-S85 |
| Minimum Aperture | 22.0 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 2.6’ |
| Mount | L Mount |
| Weight | 0.8 lb. |
What We Think
In our review, we state:
The Panasonic 18mm f1.8 is in a pretty special place. It’s a small, lightweight lens with full weather resistance, and it focuses incredibly fast. Beyond that, it delivered images that I wouldn’t have imagined otherwise.
Buy Now: Amazon / Lensrentals
Using This Guide to the best LUMIX lenses for travel photography
If you’re considering purchasing anything from this list of the best LUMIX lenses for travel photography, know the following:
- All the product images and sample photos in these roundups are shot by our staff. In fact, we don’t talk about products at length in roundups like this unless we’ve done full reviews of them. But you can surely know that we’ve done all the research ourselves.
- This list of the best LUMIX lenses for travel photography includes a lot of options for a variety of photographers. We didn’t necessarily feel the need for a longer portrait focal length because a few of the lenses are more than good enough for most needs when it comes to shooting that subject matter. But otherwise, we were focusing on small, lightweight, rugged, and high-performance.
- If you shoot portraits, consider the 50mm, 20-60mm, or 35mm.
- If you shoot landscapes, try out the 20-60mm or the 18mm.
- Truly, you could create a whole kit for your Panasonic full-frame camera by buying all these lenses and therefore being all set.
- All the best LUMIX lenses for travel photography are weather-resistant. In fact, LUMIX has built that feature into all their Lumix S lenses. It means that they’ll last that much longer because they’re so much more durable while being lightweight.
- All of these lenses work well with any L-mount camera.
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.