Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S Review: The Constant Companion Lens

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I shot the images for this review back in January, and decided that I’d purposely take a longer time to sit with this lens. Indeed, the Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S is kind of an odd one. Most brands usually go for a high end f2.8 or constant aperture lens of some sort. But they also only make it a 12-24mm lens. In this case, Panasonic went all the way to 28mm. They didn’t make it a constant f4 lens either that could compete with their 16-35mm in some ways. At the beginning of this year, I was going through a very hard time. And as I look back at these images, I realize that I still found beauty around me despite how dark things were internally. This lens helped me feel a bit more liberated from typical camera reviews. And looking back now, I’m thankful that I did this.

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The Big Picture: Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S Review Conclusions

The Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S is a great lens for anyone that want to travel or shoot wide areas but needs a bit more reach than 24mm the longer end. It’s also weather resistant, lightweight, and fast to focus. To be frank, there’s very little to not like about it. The only thing I wish it had more of is a constant aperture. But that’s just my nitpicking.

The Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S receives four out of five stars.

Pros

• Lightweight
• Good image quality
• Close focusing abilities
• Not that pricey at all
• Weather resistance
• Fast focusing performance

Cons

• I kind of wish it were a constant aperture lens instead. That would be truly something more innovative.

Who Should Buy the Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S?

Get the Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S if you’re a travel photographer of some sort or need to shoot a lot of wide places.

Gear Used

The Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S we used was tested with the S5 II. Both are long-term loaner units. But we also used several lens filters to get the effects in our images combined with Real Time LUT.

Hardware

Panasonic lenses all feel very similar. Unlike Tamron that incorporates metal into the build of some of their lenses, there isn’t much differentiaion between the higher end and lower end options. This is something that pretty much every Japanese lens manufacturer does though. With this in mind, the Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S feels alright. If anything, it’s more utilitarian than an ergonomic experience.

What’s nice about this lens is the weather resistance. Most of their Lumix S lineup has weather resistance.

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This is why we’ve created a Photography Care Program in partnership with Full-Frame Insurance. Now, photographers across the United States looking for extra security can get various protections to cover their craft. The Photography Care Program provides peace of mind; now you’ll know you can bounce back from a photoshoot gone awry, on-site or inside. We’re making it super easy to get it done, too! Better yet, there is coverage outside of the US and Canada when the photographer is traveling for short periods of time for business.

We’re able to do this through our partnership with Full-Frame Insurance, a company specializing in Small Business Insurance. Are you a Freelance Photographer? We’ll cover you. What about a freelance multi-media journalist? We’ve got you. The Photography Care Program will protect you.

Ease of Use

There isn’t really a whole lot of thought or worry involved with the Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S. You attach it to the camera, point, focus, and shoot. This means that anyone that’s brand new to photography will be able to pick it up easily. Because the s5 II has such great image stabilization, you can handhold this lens for a long time and still get photos with little to no camera shake. It’s truly a liberating experience in many ways.

Focusing

Wide angle lenses typically have the easiest time getting autofocus achieved because they have the deepest depth of field. And the Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S is no exception here. With the S5 II, we were able to achieve autofocus precision and accuracy most of the time. I can’t see people doing a lot of fast-moving work with a lens like this. And in some situations, that might be the only thing that is difficult to get perfectly and totally sharp. But Panasonic’s system embraces what some might call flaws in the form of creative blur and such.

Image Quality

At the wider end, photographers should expect to see some distortion around the corners. But as you zoom into the 28mm end, it will be pretty much totally gone. Personally speaking, the distortion doesn’t bother me and I think that it can add a fun and organic element to the images that’s otherwise often taken away these days.

Let’s Talk Art

The S5 II has some of the absolute best image stabilization I’ve ever seen in a camera. So with a wide-angle lens like this, I decided to try long exposures of the scenes around me as things moved. It turned into something that was a lot of fun.

Extra Image Samples

The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency with our audience since day one. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, many folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the lens can do. So, we have a section in our Extra Image Samples area to show edited and unedited photos. From this, you can decide for yourself.

Unedited

Edited

Tech Specs

These specs are taken from the Lensrentals listing:

Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S Review: The Constant Companion Lens

The Panasonic 14-28mm f4-5.6 Lumix S is a great lens for anyone that want to travel or shoot wide areas but needs a bit more reach than 24mm the longer end. It's also weather resistant, lightweight, and fast to focus. To be frank, there's very little to not like about it. The only thing I wish it had more of is a constant aperture. But that's just my nitpicking.

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