Are there any cheap landscape lenses for a GH4?

Hi all,

I just got a GH4 and I am looking to get my first lens for it. I want a lens that it's good for landscapes and video, but isn't too wide do I can also do done video. I am fine with used lenses, and my budget is MAX $140 US, but I would prefer cheaper.

If there aren't any lenses that fit that category and price, then I'd love a good starter lens recommendation.

Thank you!

I'm not really an expert in landscape photography per-se, but you aren't going to find a whole lot besides kit lenses for under $140.

You can check some places like Keh, Adorama, B&H for used stuff.

For instance: https://www.keh.com/shop/lenses/micro-four-thirds.html

Looks like you could nab a Olympus 14-42 mk ii to get you started.  I absolute *hate* the 14-42 mk i and might suggest you try to nab that Panasonic 12-32 that is at $144.  The wider 12mm focal length and higher quality of that lens should serve you pretty well.

Look to mpb.com

They have the old 14-45 for $124 excellent, $134 like new. It is good optically but has Mega-OIS rather than Power-OIS.

14-45

The 12-32 is not that much more... and is wider and much more compact

12-32

It all depends on what you mean by "not too wide". A "normal" lens (c.50mm) is reckoned to be one which gives a similar field of vision to the human eye, so I will go with that.

The Panasonic 25mm f1.7 lens fits that bill because with m4/3 you double the lens focal length to get the equivalent in 35mm ("full frame") terms. That's because the diagonal of the m4/3 sensor is 1/2 the diagonal of an FF sensor. You should be able to get that lens for the sort of amount you mentioned.

The older Panasonic 20mm f1.7 is also available now at a good price, especially used, and is an m4/3 classic due to its small size, sharpness and contrasty rendering. It can be good for landscapes. Its weakness is slightly slower autofocus compared to the more recent 25mm f1.7 - and complete lack of continuous AF capability. It is still usable for video if you don't mind using single AF or manual focusing.

Both of the above are prime lenses, meaning they have a fixed focal length. They will give you the best value in terms of light gathering ability - zoom lenses are nearly always more limited in that regard, with a typical kit zoom starting at f3.5 or f4 as its widest aperture at the minimum focal length. If you're willing to forgo that for their greater flexibility, there are several zooms you could acquire quite cheaply in the 14-45mm zoom range.  The Panasonic 14-45mm f3.5-f5.6. is one example that should be available used for the money.

Bear in mind to that the GH4 uses a considerable crop in 4K video, so you will need a wider lens in 4K to get the same field of view as a still photograph.

To sum up, one of the prime lenses will give you the best value in terms of image quality, particularly in low light. Against that, you will be restricted to a single focal length and will have to "zoom with your feet". A kit zoom will give you much more flexibility for framing and should give decent results in good light.

The most consistently sharp lenses are going to be primes and pretty expensive at that. Still, it seems to me that if you stop down even a cheaper zoom you can get some really sharpness with it and shooting landscapes you're probably going for deep depth of field anyway.

I've shot a lot with a really cheap old 14-45mm Pansonic kit zoom and even landscapes with lots of detail seemed to work OK with it.

KaviDey wrote:

Hi all,

I just got a GH4 and I am looking to get my first lens for it. I want a lens that it's good for landscapes and video, but isn't too wide do I can also do done video. I am fine with used lenses, and my budget is MAX $140 US, but I would prefer cheaper.

If there aren't any lenses that fit that category and price, then I'd love a good starter lens recommendation.

Thank you!

If you can stretch the budget a little bit (or wait a little longer and save) you can find the Panasonic 12-60 kit lens for under $200. There is one on fredmiranda for $185 and on ~$200 on ebay.

As others have mentioned, the 12-32 is a great start lens and tiny!

JLWPhoto wrote:

KaviDey wrote:

Hi all,

I just got a GH4 and I am looking to get my first lens for it. I want a lens that it's good for landscapes and video, but isn't too wide do I can also do done video. I am fine with used lenses, and my budget is MAX $140 US, but I would prefer cheaper.

If there aren't any lenses that fit that category and price, then I'd love a good starter lens recommendation.

Thank you!

If you can stretch the budget a little bit (or wait a little longer and save) you can find the Panasonic 12-60 kit lens for under $200. There is one on fredmiranda for $185 and on ~$200 on ebay.

Damn... I might go with that. I have one of those and felt like I was getting a good deal with the used one I got for $250, but they may have come down in price since I got mine.  It's not the fastest zoom, but is well built and seems to be optically better than the kit zoom that I had before. I like it because it foes down to 12mm (and the 60mm can be useful as well) and has a really close focusing distance.

As others have mentioned, the 12-32 is a great start lens and tiny!

KaviDey wrote:

Hi all,

I just got a GH4 and I am looking to get my first lens for it. I want a lens that it's good for landscapes and video, but isn't too wide do I can also do done video. I am fine with used lenses, and my budget is MAX $140 US, but I would prefer cheaper.

If there aren't any lenses that fit that category and price, then I'd love a good starter lens recommendation.

Thank you!

I presume you want a decent zoom range. If you can stretch your budget a bit, the Panasonic 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 fits your bill (should be around $200 used) and is weather sealed also.

Or you can find a Panasonic 14-42 II. Make sure you get the newer II version, the original one is rated quite poorly. The old 14-45mm also gets good ratings although the OIS is older.