Panasonic LUMIX S Series Camera Lens, 50mm F1.8 L-Mount Interchangeable Lens for Mirrorless Full Frame Digital Cameras, S-S50 Black

Overall, it's perfect for what it is. It's sharp, it focuses fast and it's not heavy.Sharpness wise it is as sharp, or sharper, as my other modern 1.8 primes.Leaving it on human detect auto focus on the S5, it will lock on the pupils. It's so much more consistent than my DSLRs. Sometimes it's a miss, but that's not a fault of the lens.Weight wise, it's a good balance. It's about the same as my decent DSLR primes but much heavier than the older DSLR primes. But that is expected as it's significantly sharper. On the S5 the balance is good (though I'm not a fan of the grip on that camera).It's not a perfect lens though. I wish it was physically smaller. Sigma DG DN lenses are shorter and smaller. Panasonic has designed their primes to be similar to each other so their consistency better integrates for video rigs. It is what it is.Because the lens uses an integrated lens profile, like most mirrorless lenses now, a number of features such as Chromatic Aberration, Distortion and Vignetting are corrected in the camera and can not be turned off. It's hard to say much on this.The lens hood is fine. It's surprisingly large. Like most modern lenses, flare isn't an issue.Bokeh is decent. It's not distracting. There are lenses with better bokeh out there, but you usually have to give something up to achieve that effect (you typically need spherical aberration).The rubber ribbed grip will eventually collect dust in the ridges. I have a few other lenses from other brands that have the same issue.In general a design 1.8 aperture represents a good balance. With higher resolution sensors I have myself moved away from 1.4 aperture lenses to 1.8 for general use. Independent of the make, 1.8 lenses is about as big, aperture wise, as you'd want to go with a modern prime these days before having to pay for it in weight, cost or sharpness. A few other brands have followed suit. That is not to say that 1.4+ lenses do not have their place. I myself keep some 1.4 lenses that I specifically use for their bokeh effects, but those are specific niche uses. A 1.4 lenses with the same sharpness as this lens would be significantly heavier, larger and expensive.As for price I got it on sale. At that price I think it is a good value. At the MSRP price, I'd recommend a careful look at the Sigma DG DN lenses (but stay away from the 45mm).

I recently added the Panasonic LUMIX S Series 50mm F1.8 L-Mount Interchangeable Lens to my photography gear, and I'm thoroughly impressed with its performance and quality.First and foremost, the image quality produced by this lens is outstanding. The 50mm focal length combined with the wide aperture of F1.8 allows for beautiful, creamy bokeh and excellent subject isolation. Whether I'm shooting portraits, street photography, or landscapes, the sharpness and clarity of the images never fail to impress.The build quality of the lens is top-notch. It feels sturdy and well-constructed, with weather-sealing that provides peace of mind when shooting in challenging conditions. The smooth focus ring and aperture control make it a joy to use, allowing for precise adjustments on the fly.One of the things I love most about this lens is its versatility. While it excels at capturing stunning portraits with gorgeous background blur, it's also capable of producing stunning results in various other shooting scenarios. From low-light situations to everyday snapshots, this lens delivers consistently excellent performance.Another highlight is the autofocus system, which is fast, accurate, and virtually silent. Whether I'm shooting stills or video, I can rely on the autofocus to track subjects smoothly and efficiently, ensuring that I never miss a crucial moment.Overall, the Panasonic LUMIX S Series 50mm F1.8 lens is a fantastic addition to any photographer's kit. It offers superb image quality, excellent build quality, and versatile performance at a very competitive price point. If you're in the market for a high-quality prime lens for your L-Mount camera, I highly recommend giving this one a try. You won't be disappointed!

The image quality of this lens is simply outstanding. The lens is quite sharp wide open, and renders out of focus backgrounds quite softly. Bokeh is quite creamy, and does not produce any harshness in your backgrounds. Other 50mm f/1.8 lenses (Save for the Nikkor S 50mm f/1.8) will produce swirly specular highlights, and will render their backgrounds in a busy manner.I would compare this lens to the Leica SL 50mm f/2 APO. Now, yes - These are not even in the same ball park in terms of micro contrast, sharpness and pop, nor will it give you a virtually undetectable lack of CA. What it will give you is smooth background rendering that no other 50mm f/1.8 can achieve. Having used the Nikkor S 50mm f/1.8 extensively, these two are quite similar in that they are the best 50mm f/1.8 lenses in existence, but the Panasonic edges it out with slightly smoother bokeh, while the Nikon has a slight advantage over the over contrast of your image.Canon and Sony's 50mm f/1.8 lenses aren't even in the same ballpark, and their affordable pricing reflects that. Though you are paying a premium for the Panasonic S 50mm f/1.8, it will certainly deliver above and beyond the $449 price you'll be paying for it. And while yes, there aren't that many options available in the L-Mount as of the posting of this review, this is the best bang for your buck, and best lens currently available.