Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Lens Recommendation for Panasonic GH2

treehorn

treehorn

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 21, 2007
470
0
Based on

B&H has started pre-ordering and I'm curious what people think would be the best lens options. Everything I read mentions the 14mm pancake lens and the 100-300mm zoom lens as being a great combo. And everything I see for demo purposes is from one of those lenses (or the other pancake lens...the 20mm?)

I haven't found anything that has been mentions the 14-42mm Hybrid lens that usually comes with it, which is a bit odd since it seems to be the 'stock' lens that comes with the camera (at least on the ordering/pre-ordering sites I am finding). The other option I am finding when ordering the camera is the 100-300mm zoom, which makes me wonder if it is worth getting it with the zoom and getting the 14mm as an additional lens (as it seems like it would be a great travel lens). Is the 14-42mm lens worth getting? Or if one is going to do any sort of zooming, will one want to go past the 42mm point?

I haven't used an SLR since my old 35mm Minolta days and as I need a new digital camera (mine is at least 6 years old...probably closer to 8...) and could use the video features on the GH2, it's looking like a good fit.
 
Cliff3 said:
Hogan just posted a useful article reviewing the lenses available in the m4/3rds market: http://www.bythom.com/m43lenses.htm

(no personal experience from me - I am waiting for that market to shake out some more before I decide if it's useful to me or not)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the speedy reply! and for the useful link (although it doesn't include the newer lenses...but at least it has info on the 14-42...which I'm assuming is the 14-45mm on his list)
 
No sir the 14-42 is NOT the same as the 14-45. The 14-45 is definitely the better lens and it's a shame it's no longer the kit lens.

I have the GF1 myself and I use the 14mm pancake and the 20mm pancake lenses. They are both TINY lenses. They balance really well on the GF1 but I wonder if they would be too small on the GH2 (ironic huh?)

I think on the GH2 the 14-140 are perfectly matched and other zooms like the Original 14-45, 45-200, and the new 100-300 are really well matched.

Other lenses such as the amazing 7-14mm are worth considering of course as well.

I would like to pick up the GH2 myself to augment my 5DmkII video setup as it's really quite impressive!

I'm sure you'll enjoy the camera, it's definitely been interesting reading the reviews on it thus far.
 
Obsidian6 said:
No sir the 14-42 is NOT the same as the 14-45. The 14-45 is definitely the better lens and it's a shame it's no longer the kit lens.

I have the GF1 myself and I use the 14mm pancake and the 20mm pancake lenses. They are both TINY lenses. They balance really well on the GF1 but I wonder if they would be too small on the GH2 (ironic huh?)

I think on the GH2 the 14-140 are perfectly matched and other zooms like the Original 14-45, 45-200, and the new 100-300 are really well matched.

Other lenses such as the amazing 7-14mm are worth considering of course as well.

I would like to pick up the GH2 myself to augment my 5DmkII video setup as it's really quite impressive!

I'm sure you'll enjoy the camera, it's definitely been interesting reading the reviews on it thus far.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info and clarification. I'm going to get it with the 14-140 stock lens and the...have to see which pancake (I'm leaning towards the 20 as it seems more all-around useful for a 'going about town and don't want to carry a larger lens' option - especially for vacations).

Curious as to which you have found more useful (the 14 or the 20) and in what situations.

Can't wait until B&H gets them in so I can at least get my hands on one to make sure it fits nicely in hand...
 
+1 for the 14-140 and the 20. They make a very handy combo.

There are rumors that Panasonic and Olympus will be announcing a boatload of new lenses soon, hopefully at the CP+ conference next month, which may include a 12-60mm f/2.8-3.5 zoom and a 25mm f/1.4 from Panasonic. Also, Nikon will probably have a mirrorless offering this year, and Olympus will be updating its flagship PEN camera. If you're at all interested, it may be worth waiting, especially since GH2's seem to be in short supply.
 
El Cabong said:
+1 for the 14-140 and the 20. They make a very handy combo.

There are rumors that Panasonic and Olympus will be announcing a boatload of new lenses soon, hopefully at the CP+ conference next month, which may include a 12-60mm f/2.8-3.5 zoom and a 25mm f/1.4 from Panasonic. Also, Nikon will probably have a mirrorless offering this year, and Olympus will be updating its flagship PEN camera. If you're at all interested, it may be worth waiting, especially since GH2's seem to be in short supply.
Click to expand...

Ooh good to know...more things to research and obsess about (the Internet is more of a pusher than a helper lately). Especially since it doesn't look like the gh2 would be in my hands before then
 
flosseR said:
well, if you want to go exotic and want to turn some photographer's heads... the manual focus voigtländer 25mm f0.95 will do THAT trick :)
Click to expand...

That did cross my mind...whether the panasonic 20 was the way to go or splurge for the voigtländer as it's not that much more
 
i would opt for the 20mm f1.7 as it really is one of the best lenses of the m4/3 system right now. i would definitely choose that over the 14mm 2.5 if you are looking at the primes. you'll want the faster lens.
the Voigtländer is of course fantastic, but it is manual focus only and very hard to come by.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back