Reddit mentions of Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Summilux Lens

> I've looked at shots taken from the Fujifilm FinePix X100 and honestly, I find they are jaw dropping. But then I see similar shots from say a Canon EOS550D and I look at them, and they are nice, they are clear, but they just don't have that 'thing'. That I see in photos from a Fujifilm FinePix X100. I'm sure a newer DSLR has more 'flexibility' but that's not generally what I am looking for I think.
> Now I'm not talking about any 1 camera brand in particular. But I know for example that people who've owned rare and expensive cameras can agree. Some cameras just take shots that can make anything look incredible. I've never really seen that in a DSLR camera... the photos look detailed, clear and colour is well reproduced. But I feel like there's no 'essence' in the photos.
> Look at these shots from the Leica M7 for example:

You, my friend, are cursed. Before you even start taking photos you've realized that you can see the differences in how lenses render, and you know that to you the use of better lenses will make a difference in the satisfaction you feel when you get everything else right.

I have a few pieces of advice:

• For you, the lenses matter more than the bodies. You should be able to get a 16x20" print from any ("obsolete") 6 megapixel camera on the used market, but you need to buy into a system with the sort of lenses that you like.
  
• The Fuji line-up has some outstanding lenses. You will be happy with the prime lenses (those of only one focal length); you may be happy with the higher-end zooms.
  
• Other line-ups will work for you as well. If you buy a system made to mount third-party manual-focus lenses you will be really happy with old Leica lenses made for film cameras, though you won't like the prices (even used.) Contax RF lenses are nice as well, as are most Zeiss lenses. The Leica photo you linked above was shot with a Voigtlander lens, which is actually made by Cosina (if I remember correctly) - a high-end lens from a company with a rather low-end reputation at the time.
  
• I'd avoid DSLRs and look at mirrorless: Fuji (with their own lenses), Olympus/Panasonic with the higher-end primes (this one would be a good lens to start with, though used would be fine as well), or something comparable.
  
• Folks say photographers have affairs with cameras, but they marry lenses. This is correct. The number one thing you should be looking at is the quality and variety of lenses currently available. Promises don't matter as much as what you can get right now.
  
  If you wanted to go new the Fuji X-Pro-1 is available in kits with 35mm and 18mm lenses for cheap right now, because the X-Pro-2 has been announced. Any of the X-cameras will work for you, and if you can wait a few months you may find some really good deals out there. The Olympus OM-D is a very capable camera as well that can support some really good lenses. Lots and lots of good, usable cameras in the used market. Just make sure you're looking at the sorts of cameras that take the sorts of lenses you like.
  
  Don't get caught up in the megapixel debates. Full Frame > APC-C (Fuji) > m4/3 (Olympus/Panasonic) as far as objective performance is concerned, but people nowadays are really picking nits here. Wall prints from any of these systems aren't hard once you learn proper technique and the capabilities of your camera, but some lenses draw images in a very special way. If you can see that, and you value it, then that really limits the systems you'll likely be happy with.
  
  And that's a good thing.
  
  (Another thought: before you buy, or as you get discouraged, go a a site like Flickr and filter based on the equipment you're considering, or that you're not making perform to its max. See what photographers better than you can produce, and use that as inspiration. You'll find that all camera platforms are capable of outstanding results, but they all offer different trade-offs. The goal is to find the trade-offs that work best for your situation).
  
  Edit: Wow - thanks for the gold.
  

if both pictures and photos are important to you, I would probably go with the A7iii and pair it with a good all rounder lens like the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 referral links included throughout. If you want to save a little you could buy the sony 24-70 f4 it's not as fast or sharp, but it does have a little bit extra on the wide angle.

If pics are important but not overly so i'd also look at the pansonic G9 with the new firmware it's now extremely capable for video and better stabilised than the GH5. You could then buy a couple of lenses like the 12-35 f2.8 and the 25mm f1.4 and still have a load of budget for audio/lighting

That sounds good.
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Lumix-Micro-SUMMILUX-Aspherical/dp/B0055N2L22
This one would be perfect but it's a bit expensive. I might be able to find a used one.

> It's not so much the focusing aspect that has been tricky - it's more been understanding the interplay of settings on the camera vs the settings and focusing on the lens itself. I have ended up with the "flashing setting" on my camera screen, indicating I can't exposure properly at the settings I'm attempting.

You need to effectively learn how your camera works. Try r-photoclass.com, it'll get you up on the basics.

> Anyway, is there a good entry-level lens you'd recommend (maybe one with autofocus to help me minimize the number of new things I'm trying to learn) for establishing that good depth of field?

Depth of field can be influenced by a couple things, f-stop being one of them. A lower number for your f-stop (f1.4, f1.8, etc) will give you more of that blurry background than a higher number will (f5.6, f8, f11). Also, a generally longer focal length will give a more pleasing and less detailed background blur than a shorter focal length will, such as your Rokinon. Even better if you can get both.

Lower-budget: Olympus 25mm f1.8
Higher-budget: Panasonic 25mm f1.4 Summilux
Highest-budget: Olympus 75mm f1.8

> Go with a Panasonic 50mm f/1.4. On a micro four-thirds camera this is equivalent to a 50mm for a full frame.

I think you mean the 25mm/1.4? A 50mm lens is equivalent to a 100mm lens on a full frame camera.

That said, /u/Calidoobie, at [$597.99, the 25/1.4 is a pretty expensive lens] (https://www.amazon.com/PANASONIC-SUMMILUX-MIRRORLESS-THIRDS-H-X025/dp/B0055N2L22//ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=battleforthew-20).

Hard to make recommendations, though, without knowing the answer to a few questions (e.g., What's your budget? Do you need autofocus? Do you need power zoom?)

I would have recommend the GF1 with 20mm f1.7 lens.

It is the reason for this: http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/dont-be-ugly-by-accident/

Photos taken by a Panasonic camera were by far the most attractive. This is because they sold the camera with a prime lens as the "kit lens" (the first lens you get with the camera).

Prime lenses usually have a smaller f-number, which means they have a larger physical aperture.

The largeness of your aperture is directly proportional to what is in focus. The larger the aperture... the less stuff is in focus. Which is what you want in the photos that you described.

You can still buy a Panasonic or Olympus camera, and throw on the 20mm f1.7 lens, but none of their new cameras does not come pre-packaged with that lens anymore, and I don't think they're making any more GF1s.

The new kit lens is a 14mm f2.5 lens, which is still good, but won't have as blurry a background.

You can also get a compact camera to do it... but it will be more fiddly for you to do. (Whereas with the Lumix GF1 setup, almost all your photos will have that nice blurred background, without any fuss).

This is the successor to the GF1 - the GX1. It is the camera that I use to take photos like this.

The lens that you want is the 20mm f1.7 - The price fluctuates, but the cheapest you'll find it is for $300 used. It is a very popular lens because it is small, sharp, and fast (it lets light more light in).

If you can't find a cheap 20mm f1.7, the Leica 25mm f1.4 would be even better, and for not much more money. Leica is the Porsche of cameras. They're expensive, well made, and you don't see them on the street. (Nikon and Canon would be more like ford and toyota)

If you don't plan on processing your photos on your computer, Olympus Pens are better to use. They have better in-camera JPG processing. (I process my photos on my computer, so in-body processing does not matter to me)

There are wide variety of olympus micro four thirds cameras, from the cheapest interchangeable lens camera on the market - the E-PL1 ($270) to the semi-professional OMD EM-5 ($1300). I say semi-professional because it is not supported by professional services. (Canon and Nikon let you pay money for a service to get your lenses repaired faster and have loaner cameras etc. if you break your camera just before a job)

I recommend you get the E-PL1 with the kit zoom, and a 20mm f1.7 lens, or 25mm f1.4 lens. It is good to spend more money on your lenses than on your body, because after a few years, the body gets old and superseded by newer ones, but the lenses will always be good to use on your new cameras and can often be sold for close to the price you bought them for. The 20mm f1.7 lens was $300 a few years ago when it first came out, and it is still that price on the second hand market.

TL;DR, the features you're looking for is a large mm and low f-number. (25mm is better than 20mm AND f1.4 is better than f1.7).

Compact cameras are usually about 8mm f3.5

You could also get a canon or nikon dslr and throw on a 50mm f1.8 (costs about $120 for this lens)

The Panny 12-35 f2.8 is by far my most used lens, and it compliments your friend's 35-100 f2.8 nicely.

I also have the Panasonic 25mm f1.4 which is a great lens - there's no OIS, which is a downside for a lot of people but if you have a steady hand or a tripod you're ok. I use this a lot on weddings. You could by the 25mm f1.7 for sightly less.

The next lense I'll be buying is the Voightlander 10.5mm f0.95 - it's pricey but a fast wide lens is something I've been looking for for awhile on the m43 system. Voightlander has a variety of f0.95 prime lenses compatable with your sytem - I think a 25, 35, 50 and 80mm IIRC. Had I not alreaday had those focal lengths covered I may have picked one of those up too.

for only $80ish bucks this 9mm BLC (body lens cap) fisheye lens is awesome. Lot of people overlooking it. It's locked at f7 but that's not an issue since I am ususally shooting with it during the day or timelapsing with it in low light with a slowshutter (great for wedding or even timelapses - like this one of mine). I keep it on my camera instead of normal lens caps.

Similar I'd recommend looking into some older lenses and using an adapter. To cover my longer focal lengths I use an older Zeis 50mm f1.4 prime from my analog photography days - it's effectly 110mm with the crop factor.

For extremely cheap ($10-$50 bucks on ebay) you can buy c mount tv lenses. Almost all are f1.4 and have a real milky dream like look to them. They can be cool - check this video out for an example HERE. 16mm lenses can be converted aswell but they'll be way more money.


All my suggestions by the first two are fully manual lenses. That's not everyone's thing sometimes FYI, but I feel like those people are more from the photography side of things. I basically shoot the same stuff you do from the sounds of it - concerts, music vids, commercial stuff, weddings. etc.

1. Theoretically, with the right lens, since yours are interchangable.
   
   
2. It depends on what lens you're using, if you got the standard 14-42mm lens that most of the kits come with, that has a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at 14mm, which is not great, but not bad. Not enough to take very low-light photos like this.
   
   
3. You'll need a new lens, if so. You can use Panasonic and Olympus lenses, but Panasonic ones are a usually a better choice for Panasonic cameras since Panasonic relies on the lenses to do stabilization, while Olympus relies on the bodies to do stabilization. As such, Panasonic lenses have stabilization, while Olympus do not.
   
   You'll want to look for a Panasonic lens with a large aperture, and low focal length (<=50mm, f/2 or lower). A good candidate is the Panasonic Leica 25mm. On your camera, it would have an equivalent 50mm focal length, with an f/1.4 aperture. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you have too much choice for low focal length, high-aperture lenses, so that Panasonic is probably your best bet.

If you want a nice shallow DOF similar to the 35mm range you'll be wanting to look at the Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7 as the closest equivalent (30mm).

If you want 50mm, go for the Leica 25mm f/1.4.

The thing is that the GH5 has the 5 Axis IBIS like the GX85 / G85 series which means you can get some good footage on these lenses which have no stabilization on them.

If you want a full duty zoom go for the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 II as the original version does have issues with aperture flickering while zooming.

The Leica lenses are notably sharp and provide a great amount of bokeh given how hard it is to get shallow depth of field on MFT.

I used a Leica lens -- this one ... I really like it. Works great at night, and in low light. Daytime is excellent as long as there is some cloud coverage. When I shot this, I wasn't too lucky, so I had an ND filter on for most of the shots.

Hi /u/PERSEZ,

The [$399 Oly 25mm f1.8] (http://amzn.to/1w68R1u) is a great walking-around lens. It is less expensive than the [$598 Leica 25mm f1.4] (http://amzn.to/1w7xSLI), but still not cheap.

The [$199 Sigma 19mm f2.8] (http://amzn.to/1yBw67W) is another option. A little wider and slower, shooters are doing good work with it on the GH3, as seen here:

http://vimeo.com/56749236

...and here (HDR effect added in post):

http://vimeo.com/76030718

Again, hope this is helpful!

Bill

I just sold my DSLR gear to transition to M43 for size and convenience.

I picked up an Oly OMD-EM5 on the used market for a great deal. I think I will have up to $1200 remaining to spend on lenses (or keep). I'm considering the Panasonic 25mm 1.4 and Olympus 12-40mm 2.8.

I'll be doing general all around shooting. Nothing specific.

Does it seem like a solid starting point or should I look into different lenses?

Is there a 'holy trinity' of lenses that are considered the best? As you can tell, I'm one of those noobs that like really nice lenses that surpass my skills.

Can somebody point out the differences between this lens and this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055N2L22/ref=psdc_173565_t3_B014RD6RC0

And why that one is so much more expensive?

> Panasonic 25mm f1.7.

Do you own this lens? I do. I don't recommend it...

I honestly disagree about recommending this lens for use with a GH5. It is the cheapest, most plasticky-awful lens that I own. I honestly regret getting it, even though it has certainly paid for itself. When I put it on my GH3, it is just "OK" IMHO. When I put it on my Super 35, it looks like what it costs; cheap. Swap out for a higher quality lens and it looks much, much better. If you want a "nifty fifty" equivalent in MFT, buy the more expensive one that's f1.4: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055N2L22/

I have an Olympus E-pl5 micro 4/3rds camera and am looking to get a new lens. I want to be able to shoot landscapes better, as well as photos in the dark, but in the end I'm just a hobbyist, so I want a lens that is well rounded for nearly any kind of shot. I was recommended 2 different lenses but have no idea which to get. Which one would you recommend?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055N2L22/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1PM6TGVB8IECO&coliid=I1SKPLFC83CZLP

or


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJS830Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1PM6TGVB8IECO&coliid=ISYX6WLR39DYP&psc=1

The panny 12-35:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-H-HS12035-LUMIX-12-35mm-Series/dp/B00843ERMW

Its pricy, but really nice (from my limited use). Also take a look at this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Lumix-Micro-SUMMILUX-Aspherical/dp/B0055N2L22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412097703&sr=8-1&keywords=25+f1.4

OK, I now see the lens in this image is a Panasonic Lumix Leica lens with a smaller thread, no doubt set up to perfectly fit this rectangular Leica lens hood which (which I now think this is), but there's something about this lens hood that I like, as I'll be shooting video, and I'd love to get one to fit my Panasonic Lumix G V Vario 12-35 lens attached to my soon to be acquired GH3.

how high quality are you willing to go? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055N2L22/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=27BYN772RZYMD&coliid=I21VNTSC2T7MYT ;) lol thinking about putting that on my amazon card in a few months.