Lenses for Lumix G7

M4ketech wrote:

Hello,

I did pick second hand G7 dirty cheap without lens.

I shoot video with GoPro 5 and sometimes the plans is use G7 also. Almost always with tripod and with somewhat good lights.

I also travel outdoor and my plan is to take photos from these trips. That means there is not that much light available in evening so looking for some good lens for that. Sometimes objects are pretty far away and with the Nikon D5100 i found that between 40-55mm is pretty okay for my usage.

Plan was to get:

Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6

Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f/4-5.6 ASPH

Don't waste your time with those lenses, just get the 14-140mm f3.5-5.6 version II (weather sealed, updated focus motors).

I bought and sold them both, replaced with 14-140mm.

Or one way is to get Panasonic Lumix G 25mm f/1.7 ASPH + some lens for bigger lenght.

Any ideas?

For a couple of primes, I'd go with the 15mm f1.7 and 42.5mm f1.7. The 25mm f1.7 is another MEH lens.

For more reach, it depends on what you're preferred subjects are and budget. The 100-300mm is a solid choice (just add the Rösch Feinmechanik tripod collar for $100). http://roesch-feinmechanik.de/29701.html

Or (if you can afford it) the 50-200mm f2.8-4 + 1.4x teleconverter. A FANTASTIC combo!

I owned a G7 before a bought a G9.

I think the 25mm f/1.4  is pretty highly rated.  I have the original and I love it.

I also have the 42.5mm f/1.7, a cute little lens.  Relatively inexpensive.  Recommended as a portrait lens.

And of course the 15mm f/1.7 is also highly rated and useful for pictures of a table full of people, should that ever come up.

If you like extreme wide angle you are in luck, because Panasonic's new 9mm f/1.7 is out.  I have one, and I like it a lot - when you need wider than 14mm, 9mm will fill the need.

M4ketech wrote:

Now i started to calculate everything based on usage of my old D5100 kit lens.

Most of the times seems like i used focal length around 22-30 and some far away objects i used 50-54, so almost max of the kit lens.

I never needed zoom with Nikon D5100, maybe one reason is is that i never did get in that situtation when shooting because i did know that 55mm is max what i did have that time.

so for MFT 16-23mm and 38-41mm would be most used if the all scenarios would be same.

12-60mm + one prime with low aperture would be one pick... Maybe?

Yes!

To me that would be a very good start!

I started the same way tbh, a 12-60mm and something bright, I chose the 25mm for that, but any bright lens you feel comfortable with!

Your calculations about focal length look correct, so you should at least get what you expect!

40 to 55mm in your D5100 is 30-41mm in M43. So get the

Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm F2.8 II Power OIS

M4ketech wrote:

Also after watching couple YouTube videos more, Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 ASPH looks pretty damn good.

I've not used it myself

https://youtu.be/ZRQBX52mqH8 shot with 20mm, dunno if with mark 1 or 2.

good looking video!

https://youtu.be/DuHeo9I0VS0 has also nice footage at start.

this one also

Seems like dxomark has higher score for mark 1 over mark 2.

the 20mm has a few negatives, but plenty of positives, make sure you find out its negatives!

I do know its really sharp, and to my eye produces very nice colours more similar to the leica branded lenses, I got the leica 25mm instead, it focuses a bit faster than the 20mm, that was important to me.

M4ketech wrote:

Also after watching couple YouTube videos more, Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 ASPH looks pretty damn good.

https://youtu.be/ZRQBX52mqH8 shot with 20mm, dunno if with mark 1 or 2.

https://youtu.be/DuHeo9I0VS0 has also nice footage at start.

Seems like dxomark has higher score for mark 1 over mark 2.

The forum truth is that 20mm f/1.7 mk I and mk II  are the same lens, except for the cosmetics. Mk II might have better coatings, but this is pure speculation. At the time I got my 20mm f/1.7 mk II (second hand), the mk I was actually valued slightly higher than mk II.

If you need image stabilizer with wide angles, zooms are the way to go.

M4ketech wrote:

Based on tons of websites, reviews, compare videos, review videos etc.

I ended up buying second hand:

- Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 14-42 mm / F3,5-5,6 II ASPH (About 100€)

- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 ASPH (About 170€)

Nice!

I found most of the times (99%) using only 18-30mm with Nikon D5100 kit lens, so 14-23mm with G vario should fit perfect for most of the shots.

If i find myself needing more and more length, i would pick used

-Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f/4-5.6 ASPH

or some nice "Pro" lens. I checked used ones and this chart here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4161673

I think cheaper (smaller aperture) telephoto lenses make perfect sense for video, especially if the AF is not 100% reliable. Even at 300mm-equivalent focal lengths, you probably want to keep the shutter speed at around 1/50s, and this is easy to do at f/5.6 even at the golden hour (which is like 4 hours in Finland in midsummer + another about 4 hours for sunrise some hours later). For stills, faster apertures make much more sense.

I don't have 45-150mm myself, but I have read that it is on par with 45-175mm that I have and it is pretty sharp lens (I say this as an owner of PL 100-400mm).

I would pick 12-60 f/2.8-4 if price comes down and i need more focal length.

12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 is a good option, too and much cheaper (I have used both).

20mm is bit expensive, but i think it would fit to my usage perfect, if not i can alway sell it. I buy all the gear from MPB, since local markets in Finland are more expensive.

It's possible to get good deals in Finland from private sellers, but it requires some patience. Good place to search are digicamera.net forum and even the good-old huuto.net and of course tori.fi.

But i found stuff from MPB what i "need", like extra battery for Phantom 3 only for 48€ and filters for lenses, GoPro 7 dual battery charger (15€).

Total with shipping was 350€ and now all my gear has more stuff camera, drone and GoPro.

Combining many items to one shipping makes sense, as long as the seller is reliable.

Another vote for the latest, weather sealed version of the 14-140mm as it’s an excellent daylight lens.

For low light and night time use, you won’t go wrong with the 12-25mm f/2.8.