My second lens... what to choose?

Rodrigo Cura said:

Hello everyone,

03 years ago I bought my Panasonic G7 with the standard Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH Power IOS lens. I am not a professional, but I am excited to use it for personal use such as leisure, travel and family portraits in birthdays and special occasions. After using it for a while, there are some aspects that bother me like the inability to take a selfie with my wife while traveling, the low light resolution, the inability to take pictures in small rooms that cover the whole scene (because this is not a wide angle). Other than that, we will soon be 03 with the arrival of a little princess in our family! Of course we will also be willing to take the best pictures of her (closes... maybe 50cm away?) and record videos as well. What lenses would you recommend?

Thanks! Really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Price range? Zoom or Prime?

I recommend the one you like the most. Whatever it may be. OR, get the 200mm f/2.8 and explore wildlife and birds in flight.

Firstly congratulations on your upcoming baby girl { she will change your life so much more than you imagine } I would go with a fast prime in your favourite focal length a long range zoom and a prime can be a great combo. Look through your best images and see what focal length they are shot at this will give you a good idea of how you like to shoot .

This free software will allow you to analyse your photos with ease

14~140 is an incredible lens especially of its lower price nowadays (you might, as I had, paid double of its current price back then).

A very versatile zoom range for most general shooting covering from general wide to telephoto, IQ not far from premium class lens, relatively small and highly portable, there is not many other option can really compare with it.

However, it is not wide enough as you noticed (24mm eq FoV of FF is more like a standard nowadays vs the older standard of 28mm). And the f/3.5ish is also not the best for darker shooting environment.

If just for wider coverage, might consider the 12~32 that is so cheap and small (not a burden to carry) for the closer indoor shooting. If for the lower lighting condition, a prime lens might be needed. 12~100 f/4 has great IQ, but cost a lot, heavy and large and only f/4...

Generally on budget wise there are the f/1.7 from Panny or f/1.8 from Oly. Unfortunately 12mm primes are very expensive. For that reason, I pick Panny Leica 15 f/1.7, a great lens at affordable cost but not as wide as needed. 20 f/1.7, cheaper, good IQ, but narrower than 15 and not good for AFC.

BTW, G6 is an adorable camera at its time but since its release, a lot improvement been made. 1~2 stops more usable high ISO, DUAL IS for more effective stabilisation (1~1.5 stops better than OIS), IBIS for steadier video shooting, better image engine for SOOC jpg, newer features (I can imagine 4K Pre Burst and Post Focus might benefit from following movement of kids?)... Might also worth to consider an upgrade of the body. Your 14~140 is DUAL IS2 supported for the latest IS of Panny.

--
Albert

8-18? Would really complement your current lens.

Cheers,

Rick

Rodrigo Cura said:

Hello everyone,

03 years ago I bought my Panasonic G7 with the standard Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH Power IOS lens. I am not a professional, but I am excited to use it for personal use such as leisure, travel and family portraits in birthdays and special occasions. After using it for a while, there are some aspects that bother me like the inability to take a selfie with my wife while traveling, the low light resolution, the inability to take pictures in small rooms that cover the whole scene (because this is not a wide angle). Other than that, we will soon be 03 with the arrival of a little princess in our family! Of course we will also be willing to take the best pictures of her (closes... maybe 50cm away?) and record videos as well. What lenses would you recommend?

Thanks! Really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Get the fastest 12 mm you can afford.

If you want a zoom go PL 8-18.

Rodrigo Cura said:

Hello everyone,

03 years ago I bought my Panasonic G7 with the standard Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH Power IOS lens. I am not a professional, but I am excited to use it for personal use such as leisure, travel and family portraits in birthdays and special occasions. After using it for a while, there are some aspects that bother me like the inability to take a selfie with my wife while traveling, the low light resolution, the inability to take pictures in small rooms that cover the whole scene (because this is not a wide angle). Other than that, we will soon be 03 with the arrival of a little princess in our family! Of course we will also be willing to take the best pictures of her (closes... maybe 50cm away?) and record videos as well. What lenses would you recommend?

Thanks! Really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, any lens wider than your 14mm is going to cost something terrible.

But, the good news is that buying a used Panasonic 20mm f1.7 will not set you back more than about $150 as a used lens.

This lens is about the biggest bargain in fast primes there is for your camera, and it works great on old camera bodies.





The best all around wide and fast lens I own is the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro, which costs about $500 used and nearly twice that brand new.

But for a cheap, fast prime the 20mm Panasonic is hard to beat.



--
Humansville is a town in the Missouri Ozarks

Let’s think about 2 situations:

1) USD300 to 600: prime;

2) Up to USD800 zoom;

Does these price range make sense to what we get in the marketplace? Of course the best cost x benefit relation, the better... but I am aiming into a long lasting lenses... so...

thanks

Rodrigo Cura said:

Let’s think about 2 situations:

1) USD300 to 600: prime;

2) Up to USD800 zoom;

Does these price range make sense to what we get in the marketplace? Of course the best cost x benefit relation, the better... but I am aiming into a long lasting lenses... so...

thanks

Click to expand...

I don't understand what you are trying to say. Whats your budget?

Humansvillian said:

Rodrigo Cura said:

Hello everyone,

03 years ago I bought my Panasonic G7 with the standard Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH Power IOS lens. I am not a professional, but I am excited to use it for personal use such as leisure, travel and family portraits in birthdays and special occasions. After using it for a while, there are some aspects that bother me like the inability to take a selfie with my wife while traveling, the low light resolution, the inability to take pictures in small rooms that cover the whole scene (because this is not a wide angle). Other than that, we will soon be 03 with the arrival of a little princess in our family! Of course we will also be willing to take the best pictures of her (closes... maybe 50cm away?) and record videos as well. What lenses would you recommend?

Thanks! Really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, any lens wider than your 14mm is going to cost something terrible.

But, the good news is that buying a used Panasonic 20mm f1.7 will not set you back more than about $150 as a used lens.

This lens is about the biggest bargain in fast primes there is for your camera, and it works great on old camera bodies.

The best all around wide and fast lens I own is the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro, which costs about $500 used and nearly twice that brand new.

But for a cheap, fast prime the 20mm Panasonic is hard to beat.

Click to expand...

OP, don't buy the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 for video. It's not suited for video. Focus is slow and loud. You need something wider anyway.

Rodrigo Cura said:

Let’s think about 2 situations:

1) USD300 to 600: prime;

2) Up to USD800 zoom;

Does these price range make sense to what we get in the marketplace? Of course the best cost x benefit relation, the better... but I am aiming into a long lasting lenses... so...

thanks

Click to expand...

If you can stretch the budget.

Reason: The flexibility of a zoom lens, 10mm start should be wide enough for most closer range indoor shooting, f/1.7 be bright enough for a lot of low light shooting, and great DoF control as well...

Or upgrade to G95 & 12-60 (PL version for better low light shooting, or non PL version that is used similar to your 14-140), or the older G85 to save cost (nearly 50% of G95)... It will upgrade both of your G6 altogether.

I’ve taken video with my 20mm Panny But it’s noisy.

So is my 25mm Panny f1.7 although not as noisy.

My Olympus 17mm f1.8 is an excellent video lens, but for what they cost you would be close to the Olympus 12-40 Pro f2.8 as a used lens.

There’s a reason an Oly 12-40 Pro costs close to $1,000 as a new lens—they are worth every cent.

But a good used copy or gray market 12-40 Pro is around five hundred.

Then you could have a cheap, fast, sharp Panny 20mm prime too.

The PL 15mm F/1.7 is the perfect lens for your needs. Small fast can take those selfies being wide enough and light .

The more I think about it you would be better served with an lx10. Faster lens always available and compliments your g7 14-140.

If you want to use the same battery as the gxy get the lx100 (but there is no flippy screen.}

If the budget allows, I would seriously consider the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8 zoom.

You can get the Original or the II for a pretty reasonable price, and at 12mm f/2.8, you'll get significantly more light for selfies, be a bit wider (16% or so?) and be able to focus in as close as 25cm or so. Then at 35mm f/2.8 you will be able to render some out of focus backgrounds fairly easily for better portraits as your daughter grows!

great picture quality, better light, and fixed aperture are all good!

From a dad of 4 daughters, they're awesome! You wont believe the adventures you are getting ready for!

Rodrigo Cura said:

Let’s think about 2 situations:

1) USD300 to 600: prime;

2) Up to USD800 zoom;

Does these price range make sense to what we get in the marketplace? Of course the best cost x benefit relation, the better... but I am aiming into a long lasting lenses... so...

thanks

Click to expand...

First - buy used of you can to stretch your dollars.

Second - I would recommend any of the following:

Panasonic Leica 12-60 f2.8-4. This has been a very versatile lens for me taking pictures of my little on or traveling

Panasonic 8-18 f/2.8-4. A more recent purchase for me and has already seen a lot of use. Most think of as landscape lens but I have used it for some great tight quarters group shots

Sigma 56 f1.4. an absolutely incredible portrait lens. A little long on the focal length but works well for children.

You may also want to consider the discontinued 14mm f/2.5 for a bargain or the Panasonic 15mm. The sigma 16mm is also amazing but very large in comparison.

Buying those above should keep you in your price range and you may be able to get two (56 and 14) for that range

Rodrigo Cura said:

Hello everyone,

03 years ago I bought my Panasonic G7 with the standard Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH Power IOS lens. I am not a professional, but I am excited to use it for personal use such as leisure, travel and family portraits in birthdays and special occasions. After using it for a while, there are some aspects that bother me like the inability to take a selfie with my wife while traveling, the low light resolution, the inability to take pictures in small rooms that cover the whole scene (because this is not a wide angle). Other than that, we will soon be 03 with the arrival of a little princess in our family! Of course we will also be willing to take the best pictures of her (closes... maybe 50cm away?) and record videos as well. What lenses would you recommend?

Thanks! Really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

It sounds like you need a wide angle zoom, available choices are.

Panasonic 7-14mm f4

Olympus 7-14mm f2.8

Panasonic 8-18mm f2.8-f4

Olympus 9-18 f4-5.6 and the cheapest amongst these lenses.

Any of these lenses will compliment what you already have, not replace them, they will cover the whole scene in rooms, low light will be better on the fixed aperture lenses, there are primes that will give you better low light resolution, but will not allow you to shoot a a scene in a room.

Check out a few video reviews to get a feel of what these lenses can do




--
Mike.
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure."

For a wider lens for interiors or selfies, the Panasonic 7-14/4 is a great choice if you can afford it. It picks up where your current lens stops and then can cover up to 4x the area. In fact 7mm is as wide as you can get in a m43 lens.

For low light, you will need a prime lens. The Panasonic 25/1.7 will do the job at low cost but it's not a wide angle...it's what used to be called a "normal" lens. There are many other options for high speed lenses but they will all cost a lot more, especially the wide angle options.

I'd avoid any of the pro lenses unless you have a large budget (I'm guessing no) and would avoid the 12-32 zoom just to get 12mm. While the 7-14 is more expensive, the wider angle is worth it.

To sum up, my recommendation is the 7-14/4 and the 25/1.7.

Calmario said:

The PL 15mm F/1.7 is the perfect lens for your needs. Small fast can take those selfies being wide enough and light .

Click to expand...

15 mm is wide enough for selfies, and it focuses close enough. But that's not the main thing. It's hard to beat a cell phone's back camera for selfies. You won't be taking as many selfies now with the kid.

It is also a small lens, so sometimes, you will leave the house only with this lens on the camera. The rig becomes so much easier to carry. You will appreciate that more when you're carrying diapers, wipes and formula everywhere with you.

The main thing is that it is properly fast, and with no optical compromises like you'd have in a zoom. Not like these f/2.8 and f/4 zooms others are talking about. it is 2-3 stops faster than your current lens. The difference that makes in indoor shots without flash is amazing.

This will not eat up your full budget, so I will recommend a couple other items to add:

• A good quality table-top tripod, like Bogen. This is the right tool for selfies, as you won't have that stretched arm look or your head being bigger than everyone else's. Set the countdown timer and have it take three shots at the end. When traveling, this tripod will allow you to brace the camera against railings and columns for lower light shots. ($70 here )
• A simple ultra wide angle lens. With these lenses, autofocus tends not to be as much of an issue, so you can save some money here with either the Olympus f/8 Body Cap Fisheye (which there is ALWAYS room for in your bag) or the Rokinon manual focus fisheye. Aperture priority or manual only, and manual focus, but you don't really need to focus this lens except for the first time, since DoF is so great. ($200 or less)

You can probably afford all three of these items in your budget, esp. if you get the 15/1.7 and Rokinon fisheye used.