LUMIX S 40mm f2 vs. The Competition
I’m sure you’ve heard by now about this new full frame compact lens for LUMIX cameras the S 40mm f2. LUMIX maybe should have released this alongside the LUMIX S9 a couple of years back but hey, they’ve finally got round to delivering us a small native prime lens for this camera and honestly, it was well worth the wait.
Below you can see some example images I shot with this lens soon after receiving it and read on for pros, cons, and comparisons to other small L-Mount lenses…
THE PROS
Speed and Weight
Right onto the easy bit, the pros of this lens. The positives are its small, light, and best of all the AF is incredible. Like so sticky and quick and reliable.
Button
It also has a button on the side that can be set up to do basically whatever you want. I have set mine up to turn on Subject Detect… but between us the likelihood of me ever remembering to use the button is quite slim as not all of my lenses have it.
Focus Ring Control
You can also change the Focus Ring Control setting to linear for all those manual focus purists out there. One of my favourite things as well is, because it’s so light it actually improves the ergonomics of the S9. I’m finding I don’t need that Small Rig L Bracket anymore to shoot with all day.
THE CONS
No Lens Hood
Some of the cons are that there’s no lens hood which sucks for me living in rainy Ireland. Not a huge issue with the sun though as flaring is pretty minimal unless shooting directly into it at sunset. I’m sure there will be some third party hoods popping up if there haven’t already been.
Material
To keep it light, it’s made of plastic… a decent plastic but aesthetically it still looks like plastic.
Aperture Ring & Vignette
There’s no aperture ring which for some people is a must, and something I hate is vignetting and there is a slight vignette shot wide open with this lens, even with vignette compensation turned on but that’s to be expected when you venture into the depths of f2
THE COMPETITION
Cheaper Options
So there is competition from third party lens manufacturers. First the cheaper options, the SG-Image 35mm f2.2 & TTArtisan 40mm f2. Some people say if you’re on a tight budget then these are the lenses for you… personally I would stay away and save up for the real thing.
I haven’t had the best experience with these cheaper lenses with elements inside breaking, autofocus being incredibly unreliable. My thoughts are if you’ve gone to the effort to invest in a camera and take it out with you, find something nice to take a photograph of, lift your camera to capture it… the least you can expect from the lens is for it to actually achieve focus. With these two cheaper options… it’s hit or miss whether they will actually focus or not. See examples below shot with the TTArtisan 40mm f2…
Some people like these cheaper options, they’re just not for me. So that leaves the other small prime lens L-Mount offerings from SIGMA… you have the 35mm f2 and the 45mm f2.8 and I have them both.
SIGMA Lenses
So that leaves the SIGMA DG DN lenses. I have the 35mm f2 and the 45mm f2.8 and for me, they are just way cooler looking than the new LUMIX one. They’re metal, have metal lens hoods, and beautifully clicked aperture rings, and just gorgeous build quality as always with SIGMA.
The autofocus is super reliable with them, so no real complaints from me. I’ve shot weddings with them and maybe 95% of the photographs are in focus so no big issues there.
The SIGMA 35mm f2 and the 45mm f2.8 L-Mount lenses are pretty different in terms of character, the 45mm has no character except a little softness wide open and the 35mm is full of character, popping wide open and barrelling all the way through.
So how does this new LUMIX 40mm f2 compare to these two? I’d say being a native lens, the AF is even stickier and faster and a fraction more reliable than the SIGMAs. It maybe doesn’t look as cool on the front of your camera as the SIGMAs do, but it’s a lot lighter and sits right in the middle of their focal lengths.
Wide open the LUMIX 40mm f2 almost has a similar pop found with the SIGMA 35mm f2 but stopped down it’s as clean as the 45mm f2.8 so it’s essentially got the best of both!
I’ve actually used the SIGMA 35mm f2 for shooting my last like 10 or so YouTube videos. The only downside I’ve found shooting video with the SIGMAs is the focus breathing. A handful of times it’s actually ruined a shot. You probably know where this is going but another massive pro to the LUMIX 40mm f2 is (like all their other lenses in the S series) they’ve managed to control the focus breathing, so there is virtually none visible when shooting with this new lens. I think that’s incredible and a real bonus.
Conclusion
The new LUMIX 40mm f2 lens is the perfect companion to the S9. It’s a simple, small and humble lens that definitely out-performs its size. I get asked for camera recommendations all the time and when someone wants a camera for both video and photography my answer is nearly always the LUMIX S9. Now I’m going to include this lens with that, I hope LUMIX do start selling it as a package, they’d be stupid not to really.
Even though it’s perfect for the S9, it’s not only for the S9 if you know what I mean… it would be a great pairing for any of LUMIX’s full-frame line up.
Over the last month I’ve shot with the LUMIX 40mm f2 attached to my S1II on every single professional shoot. I’ve used it to shoot an engagement shoot, a wedding day, artist portraits, the opening weekend of a new vintage shop… everything… and I’ve have been incredibly happy with the results. See some below…
If you want to check out some more of my work captured with this lens make sure to follow me on Instagram @rossandhisjpegs
If you have any questions about this the new LUMIX S 40mm f2 get in touch and I’ll try my best to answer it. What do you think of this new small, native, prime lens from LUMIX? Let me know if you end up getting one… it gets a big thumbs up from me.
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