AF and manual focus lenses on Lumix S1 fan

[Qwerty]

Dpreview refugee. Alright lets talk L-mount shall we.

S1 owner with a couple of Panasonic and Sigma af lenses. Really loving what Sigma is doing with the DG DN line. Af faves that I have include the Lumix 70-200mm f4 which is amazing, the trusty 20-60mm, the tiny Sigma 45mm f2.8 and 24mm f3.5 Dg Dn primes and the incredible Sigma 105mm f2.8 Macro Dg Dn. Lusting after the Sigma 16-28mm f2.8 and Lumix 85mm f1.8 as lenses I want to get this year.

Also love using some Nikon F mount lenses on my S1. Got into manual lenses on digital bodies with adapter rings almost 20 years ago on fredmiranda.com when Guy Mancuso introduced us to the possibility. Favs on my S1 include my Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 in F mount, Nikon 85mm f1.8 AF-D, the cult classic Nikon 105mm f2.5 AIS and Nikon 180mm f2.8 ED AF.

Used to shoot medium format in the film days. Fav used to be the Mamiya RZ67 with its amazing revolving back shooting Kodachrome 120. But shot everything from 35mm to 4x5 view cameras.

Types of photography I enjoy the most include architecture, still-life and landscapes.

 

[dirk]

Hi Qwerty,

Really loving what Sigma is doing with the DG DN line

I totally agree. Especially the i-series. I bought almost all of them. These lenses are just crazy and the best thing what could happen to LMount.

Enjoy your time here and have fun with your hobby!

 

[dirk]

Lusting after the Sigma 16-28mm f2.8 and Lumix 85mm f1.8 as lenses I want to get this year.

The Sigma 16-28/2.8 is excellent. Paul just posted a comparison with the Lumix new 14-28 zoom here in this forum.

The Lumix 85/1.8 is also really good, but you might also look at the Sigma 90/2.8 DG DN i-series. I have both. Because of the huge difference in weight and size, I only use the Sigma 90.

 

[pdk42]

Welcome @Qwerty . I agree that the Panasonic S system, and L-mount in general, have a lot more going for them than most people realise. I think it was unfortunate that Panasonic launched their entry into the format with two such big, heavy, and expensive cameras; complemented with some equally big and expensive lenses, like the 50/1.4. I remember being comically shocked the first time I held an S1 with the 50 f1.4 - compared to my little Olympus EM1.2 it just felt like a huge irrelevance. Having Leica there too with similarly large and stratospherically-priced gear didn't help. I think the conclusion many people came to was that it was a big, expensive system aimed at pros. Covid arrived not long after of course and that certainly didn't help.

But things have changed a lot now. The S5 (and now S5ii) are really great cameras that are compact but still highly usable and of course the lens range is now vast with something for virtually everyone - you can buy large, heavy, fast, and very high quality lenses; or you can pickup much smaller and cheaper options that still perform very well. I think the system has advantages over the other FF mirrorless options like Sony E, Canon R, & Nikon Z. Sony bodies in my view don't handle well, Nikon is nice (esp in terms of lenses), but misses some obvious features like liveview zebras that are important to me, and Canon with its closed lens ecosystem means I'll be constrained to what Canon want to sell me.

So, Panasonic L-mount is working for me now. My own setup is this:

- S5. I bought a bargain used copy as rumours of the S5ii began to hit used prices, really just as a way to dip my toe in and try it. I love it! The sensor is superb at low light and at 24Mp is a great resolution for almost anything.

- S1R. I do mostly landscape so of course the 47Mp was hard to resist. I'm not 100% sure I'll keep it - the size/weight can sometimes be a chore. But I love the EVF and the general handling of the camera once I'm using it, rather than carrying it!

- Landscape lenses - Lumix 14-28, 24-105, 70-300. These are all nice lenses that are excellent performers. Sync IS with the 24-105 and 70-300 is I think almost as good as what I had with Olympus. Quite an achievement actually.

- Portrait lens - 50 f1.8. This is a really excellent short portrait lens. Not expensive but delivers excellent results.

- Fisheye - TTArtisan 11mm f2.8. I love fisheye lenses and this works very well on the S5 and S1R. Stopped down to f8, it's sharp corner to corner and gives some great extreme perspective opportunities.

- Legacy OM lenses - I have some old OM lenses that adapt well to the S cameras - 24/2.8, 50/1.8, 100/2.8, and a Tokina 70-200 zoom. They all perform very well, but the 100/2.8 makes a fantastic long portrait lens.

I also have a Sigma 16-28 f2.8 (a comparison of which against the Lumix 14-28 I posted yesterday here). But I think I'll be selling it soon (let me know if you're in the UK and want a bargain on a mint condition lens that has been comprehensively tested and approved!).

As to future lenses, I'd like a nice 35mm prime. I'm tempted to go for the Sigma 35/1.4 Art. I love the 35mm FOV and a fast f1.4 would give great OOF blur. But it's a big lens and the little Sigma 35mm f2 is probably a better option. Or there's the Panasonic 35/1.8 which is about the same price and looks pretty good too.

Lots of choice - which is really good.

I'm also really looking forward to the S1R/S1 replacement. I'm hoping for something with a high res sensor that's more like the S5ii in size. Fingers crossed - if so I'll definitely replace the S1R with it.

 

[dirk]

As to future lenses, I'd like a nice 35mm prime. I'm tempted to go for the Sigma 35/1.4 Art. I love the 35mm FOV and a fast f1.4 would give great OOF blur. But it's a big lens and the little Sigma 35mm f2 is probably a better option. Or there's the Panasonic 35/1.8 which is about the same price and looks pretty good too.

I have the Sigma 35/1.4 DG DN and the Sigam i-series 35/2.0 DG DN. Both are great lenses. We should talk about them later in the lens section.

I think the L-Mount system is the most undervalued systeme atm. The L-Mount system has now already well abover 60 native lenses from Leica, Panasonic and Sigma. See also the lens overview page at the top of the navigation bar. Or click here.

If they do it smart and continue to offer smaller bodies or even a rangefinder style body (please a cheap one), this system would be a homerun. For 90% of the people there are only very few lenses missing. I would love to have a smaller 50/2.0 with very good image quality. The Lumix 50/1.8 is to big for me, although very good. I sold it again. According to rumors, Sigma will announce a 50/2.0 soon.

I also would love to have a small, compact and light telezoom. Nothing fancy. Something for travel. To be able to pack it easy in a small Billingham Hadley. Something like 70-200/4.5-5.6 or 100-200/4.5-5.6. to keep it small. Then I would sell my Lumix 70-300 again. I always favour compactness over the last 3% improvements in image quality for my kind of images.

In case someone wants to have 2 systems to be able to make it even smaller, then the combination MFT and L-Mount is the perfect match.

 

[pdk42]

I also would love to have a small, compact and light telezoom. Nothing fancy. Something for travel. To be able to pack it easy in a small Billingham Hadley. Something like 70-200/4.5-5.6 or 100-200/4.5-5.6. to keep it small. Then I would sell my Lumix 70-300 again. I always favour compactness over the last 3% improvements in image quality for my kind of images.

If we're talking about new lenses in the system, then I agree that a 70-200 f5.6 or so would be great if it were smaller than the 70-300. Given that there are already two 70-200 options from Panasonic though, I can't see it happening. It's more likely that we'll get a 70-200 from Sigma.

What we do know will arrive though is a 24/28-200 superzoom. If this delivers the goods, then I'll get to replace the 70-300. For what I need, I just want to get to 200mm as compactly as possible without compromising IQ too heavily. A combo of the 14-28 + 24/28-200 would make a fantastic lightweight landscape kit.

In case someone wants to have 2 systems to be able to make it even smaller, then the combination MFT and L-Mount is the perfect match.

I've recently sold nearly all my MFT gear. I considered keeping the EM1.3 + 40-150/2.8 for action, but since I hardly ever shoot action, it seemed a bit of a luxury. I do still have a Pen-F though. With a few small primes, it's a great street camera; or with the 17/1.8 alone it's great for social occasions and such like. Much less imposing that the S5 plus the 50/1.8 say.

 

[dirk]

What we do know will arrive though is a 24/28-200 superzoom.

But how big and heavy will this be? This is a huge range from 24 or 28 to 200, no matter what the aperture is...

 

[pdk42]

But how big and heavy will this be? This is a huge range from 24 or 28 to 200, no matter what the aperture is...

The Nikon 24-200 is a role model I think. It's f4-6.3, so not exactly the fastest lens out there but it's relatively compact:

OTOH, it's not got great IQ (but sort of "OK"). Hopefully Panasonic can do a bit better.

 

[Quentinquirelino]

The Nikon 24-200 is a role model I think. It's f4-6.3, so not exactly the fastest lens out there but it's relatively compact:

OTOH, it's not got great IQ (but sort of "OK"). Hopefully Panasonic can do a bit better.

Could also be something like the Tamron 28-200 f2.8-5.6

 

[pdk42]

Could also be something like the Tamron 28-200 f2.8-5.6

Yeah, from what I've read the Tamron looks a bit better optically than the Nikon. If Panasonic could deliver something as good as the Tamron I'd be happy.

 

[Qwerty]

There used to be a real beauty tiny Nikon 75-150mm f3.5 back in the manual focus days. I would love something like that, or a compact 135mm f2.8.