"Panasonic G series" Owners Thread

Hi all,

Used to be semi active here, and had many cameras over the years starting with a Nikon D90, then kids came along and needed something smaller. So my last and current camera was a GX80 with 15mm f1.7 and 12-60 f3.5/5.6

I’m thinking about getting back into my camera gear but without spending hours upon hours editing shots in lightroom like I used to. I moved all my photo catalogue over to Apple photos years ago.

Not wanting to part with the GX80 as I still want a fairly small setup but am thinking about changing lenses.

I’m contemplating selling both lenses and picking up a 12-60 f2.8/3.5 for my everyday lens and then possibly a 45-150 down the line if I need extra reach at any point. My photography is only every my wife, children and dog but that means I need good (ish) low light performance and decent autofocus.

I’m going to stick the slower 12-60 on over Christmas and see how I get on indoors with that slower lens, to see if I really want to upgrade to the 2.8 version.

Any thoughts on the faster lens?
Does what I’m planning make sense or should I just stick with what I have?
 
Hi Ben

It kinda makes sense to me. I'm a gx80 fan, got the 12-60 f3.5/5.6, plus 6 other lenses, I love that 12-60 kit lens, never been tempted to get the bigger heavier faster version. I don't do much low light stuff, and if I did I'd use a fast prime. Have you thought about 1 or 2 more fast primes, like the 25 f.1.7 good yet inexpensive?

That 45-150 is a little beaut, well worth getting.
 
Thanks - I was contemplating the 42.5 but I really need to play about with the focal lengths on the 12-60 to see what works best.

Ideally I don’t want to be changing lenses too often so was thinking about the faster 12-60 as a “do it all” lens
 
d00d said:
Hi Ben

It kinda makes sense to me. I'm a gx80 fan, got the 12-60 f3.5/5.6, plus 6 other lenses, I love that 12-60 kit lens, never been tempted to get the bigger heavier faster version. I don't do much low light stuff, and if I did I'd use a fast prime. Have you thought about 1 or 2 more fast primes, like the 25 f.1.7 good yet inexpensive?

That 45-150 is a little beaut, well worth getting.
Click to expand...
I agree, I have the 20 1.7 I use indoors mostly
 
jamin100 said:
Thanks - I was contemplating the 42.5 but I really need to play about with the focal lengths on the 12-60 to see what works best.

Ideally I don’t want to be changing lenses too often so was thinking about the faster 12-60 as a “do it all” lens
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Having owned both, the only benefit of the Leica version really is the maximum aperture, and it’s almost immediately f4. The IQ is very similar, certainly not noticeable in the real world.
 
Rather annoyingly I think I had. 45-150 which came with the camera years ago and sold it

I didn’t realise the 12-60f2.8 stepped down to f4 pretty quickly so you’re right it probably isn’t worth it.

My 15m f1.7 is actually DJI branded (from a drone) but I’m pretty sure it’s made by Panasonic and produces great results.

Might look at another prime then too :)
Thanks all
 
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jamin100 said:
Rather annoyingly I think I had. 45-150 which came with the camera years ago and sold it

I didn’t realise the 12-60f2.8 stepped down to f4 pretty quickly so you’re right it probably isn’t worth it.

My 15m f1.7 is actually DJI branded (from a drone) but I’m pretty sure it’s made by Panasonic and produces great results.

Might look at another prime then too :)
Thanks all
Click to expand...

A good partner for a 15mm might be something around the 40/45mm territory. I have the Oly 45mm f1.8.
 
There seems to be a considerable % in price difference between the Panasonic 42.5mm f1.7 and Oly 45mm f1.8

Is there that much difference in performance between the two ?
 
I’m thinking of going with

14mm Panasonic
45mm Olympus

to go with my 25mm Panasonic
 
See I’m now looking at picking up the 25 Panny and 45mm olly, but not sure if I need 15,25,45 and 12-60
 
gjhill said:
I’m thinking of going with

14mm Panasonic
45mm Olympus

to go with my 25mm Panasonic
Click to expand...

I have both those lenses. The 14mm f2.5 is perhaps often overlooked as it's only f2.5 but it is very compact and quick to focus.
 
Stephen L said:
Having owned both, the only benefit of the Leica version really is the maximum aperture, and it’s almost immediately f4. The IQ is very similar, certainly not noticeable in the real world.
Click to expand...

Maybe my 12-60 kit lens was a dud, but at 100% my Leica 12-60 is noticeably sharper, I don't regret the upgrade. I also have the 25mm f1.7 and 42.5mm f1.7, both work very well on the GX80. I've bought and sold two 20mm f1.7 lenses over the years and often fancy another for how compact it makes the GX80. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the mentioned lenses, so long as the focal length works for you. Olympus 45mm doesn't have IS, if that makes any difference to you, but is often available for a bargain price compared to the Panasonic.
 
I have sold and rebought the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 but I do think people need to be aware of the plus and minus points with this lens. It is compact and light and the IQ is good but on the negative side of things it's relatively slow to focus, as far as I know you can't do continuous focus with it and on older bodies at least there was a strange issue of banding at higher ISO's. I saw this with my older cameras but I don't think I've seen it with my newer cameras so it's maybe something to research if anyone is thinking of using this lens in combination with higher ISO's.

I sold mine and replaced it with the IMHO much better Oly 17mm f1.8. I recently bought another as I wanted a compact lens to put on my tiny GM5.
 
I'm thinking of ditching my primes, seem like a good idea, but hardly ever use them.
So its going to be goodbye to the 25/1.4 and quite probably the 15/1.7 too.
Both fine lenses, but very underused by me, 9/1.7 is staying though.
 
jamin100 said:
Anyone know what the focus speed of the 45 f1.8 is like ?
Click to expand...

The Oly 45mm f1.8? If so... Hmm... I don't know how to quantify this so I'll just say that I think it's "fine." :D

It's certainly nothing like the Panasonic 20mm f1.7.
 
Sangoma said:
Even the relatively slow 20 1.7 is pretty much instant :)
Click to expand...

I think most lenses these days are pretty quick and even a slowcoach like the 20mm f1.7 is fast when refocusing at similar distances, it's big changes like going from close to distant subjects that could show a slower focus system up.
 
The Panasonic Leica 45mm f2.8 is slow ... maybe because it's a few years old.

mind you, The Oly 45mm f1.8, lots going cheap, must be pretty old.
 
Stephen L said:
Faster than manual focus, which is my benchmark
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You mean you can't manual focus in well under 1 second? You need more practice :)

Seriously, the longest measurement I have ever seen has been 0.8 second, and the normal longest time mentioned is about 0.5 second.
When the lens was first released, reviews called is focus speed fast.

Compared to some of the new Lumix lenses, whose focus speed is measured in 1/100s of a second, it is not as fast.

I don't use it for BIF or motor sport, or other very fast moving subjects.

Most times I am using it because of its low light ability. Under those conditions, a "faster focussing" lens is also likely to focus at less than its fastest speed, unless it is an expensive wide aperture prime.

Most of the time, the lens will be focussed near to the distance anyway. I can't think of a time when I have wanted to change focus from 20cm to infinity any faster than less than a second.

Considering its most likely use, the price, size, weight, optical quality, wide aperture and to me an ideal focal length, an increase of 0.4 second for focussing under the worst circumstance (that would rarely occur) doesn't influence its value to me.

Of course, it is always possible to find a situation when it might make a difference, but that will be limited to a very small number of people and how they see things.

I would say the best thing to do is to read all the reviews and test results you can find, and get a more balanced view, then decide :)
 
d00d said:
The Panasonic Leica 45mm f2.8 is slow ... maybe because it's a few years old.

mind you, The Oly 45mm f1.8, lots going cheap, must be pretty old.
Click to expand...

The Leica 45mm is a macro lens, so it has a longer focus range to move through.
 
CSB said:
The Leica 45mm is a macro lens, so it has a longer focus range to move through.
Click to expand...
yeah, good point. Of course I know it's for macro but I've tried using it for other things too, and it can't keep up, and now I know why. ;)
 
d00d said:
The Panasonic Leica 45mm f2.8 is slow ... maybe because it's a few years old.

mind you, The Oly 45mm f1.8, lots going cheap, must be pretty old.
Click to expand...
I think the Olympus 45mm is one of the lenses that often gets offered as a freebie with a new camera.
Panasonic do it with the 25/1.7 and they are often seen for sale cheaply too.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I think the Olympus 45mm is one of the lenses that often gets offered as a freebie with a new camera.
Panasonic do it with the 25/1.7 and they are often seen for sale cheaply too.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Olympus kept giving them away with the E-M5 iii so the market is flooded with them.
 
Snapsh0t said:
Yeah, Olympus kept giving them away with the E-M5 iii so the market is flooded with them.
Click to expand...
Fuji did it with the X-Pro1 except they gave two away (18 and 27) and the used price was trashed.
Fair few complaints from existing owners who bought their lenses and wanted to trade in/up
 
tijuana taxi said:
Fuji did it with the X-Pro1 except they gave two away (18 and 27) and the used price was trashed.
Fair few complaints from existing owners who bought their lenses and wanted to trade in/up
Click to expand...
I remember that. I bought the set, but the 27mm (I think) had to go back because the retracting mechanism was faulty. Ffordes gave me an immediate replacement.
 
GX80 12-60
Processed on my iPhone (cba with light room anymore)

Stanley
 

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Any advice on a 1.4 or 2.0 teleconverter for the Pana G80 and 100-300mm lens?
Cheapest way for me to extend my zoom range, if it's any good?
I think the 1.4 would give me 840mm FF equiv if I've done the maths right, does a 2.0 converter give 1200mm?

Oh hang on a minute - you can't get a teleconverter for the 100-300mm ?
 
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Crotal Bell said:
Any advice on a 1.4 or 2.0 teleconverter for the Pana G80 and 100-300mm lens?
Cheapest way for me to extend my zoom range, if it's any good?
I think the 1.4 would give me 840mm FF equiv if I've done the maths right, does a 2.0 converter give 1200mm?

Oh hang on a minute - you can't get a teleconverter for the 100-300mm ?
Click to expand...



No, the converters don't work properly with the 100-300 or 100-400.

Also, they do introduce some quality loss, and are very expensive so you don't save that much compared to trading up.

You will also lose OIS instead of gaining the dual OIS of using the 100-400

At this time of year I often prefer the 100-300, so for me I wouldn't want to trade up :)

All things in, the converters are not worth considering.
 
Sangoma said:
No, the converters don't work properly with the 100-300 or 100-400.

Also, they do introduce some quality loss, and are very expensive so you don't save that much compared to trading up.

You will also lose OIS instead of gaining the dual OIS of using the 100-400

At this time of year I often prefer the 100-300, so for me I wouldn't want to trade up :)

All things in, the converters are not worth considering.
Click to expand...
If they did work there is one more disadvantage to think about.
You lose a stop of light for each 1X so with a 2X the min aperture at 300 would be f/11.
 
tijuana taxi said:
If they did work there is one more disadvantage to think about.
You lose a stop of light for each 1X so with a 2X the min aperture at 300 would be f/11.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is one of the main reasons they don't work properly, prevents the auto focus working in anything but bright light. (used to be a problem on Canon as well when I used a converter with some lenses)
 
Ooops... Just put my money where my mouth is and ordered a G9 :) I've long said that when used prices dip below £400 I'd get one, and finally they have. £381 for a G9 described as excellent condition and low (<8000 mechanical shutter count). Not boxed, but free postage and six months warranty. This is from Park Cameras, from whom I've bought before several times (GX80, D700) so fingers-crossed! Had been thinking about getting a brand spanking new one, but for this price I thought why not? Hopefully be here soon and then I will post some pretty pictures :)
 
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delb0y said:
Ooops... Just put my money where my mouth is and ordered a G9 :) I've long said that when used prices dip below £400 I'd get one, and finally they have. £381 for a G9 described as excellent condition and low (<8000 mechanical shutter count). Not boxed, but free postage and six months warranty. This is from Park Cameras, from whom I've bought before several times (GX80, D700) so fingers-crossed! Had been thinking about getting a brand spanking new one, but for this price I thought why not? Hopefully be here soon and then I will post some pretty pictures :)
Click to expand...
Good buy, you'll enjoy it :)
 
delb0y said:
Ooops... Just put my money where my mouth is and ordered a G9 :) I've long said that when used prices dip below £400 I'd get one, and finally they have. £381 for a G9 described as excellent condition and low (<8000 mechanical shutter count). Not boxed, but free postage and six months warranty. This is from Park Cameras, from whom I've bought before several times (GX80, D700) so fingers-crossed! Had been thinking about getting a brand spanking new one, but for this price I thought why not? Hopefully be here soon and then I will post some pretty pictures :)
Click to expand...
That's a bargain, a lot of camera for the money. Enjoy!
 
delb0y said:
Ooops... Just put my money where my mouth is and ordered a G9 :) I've long said that when used prices dip below £400 I'd get one, and finally they have. £381 for a G9 described as excellent condition and low (<8000 mechanical shutter count). Not boxed, but free postage and six months warranty. This is from Park Cameras, from whom I've bought before several times (GX80, D700) so fingers-crossed! Had been thinking about getting a brand spanking new one, but for this price I thought why not? Hopefully be here soon and then I will post some pretty pictures :)
Click to expand...
That is cheap, in fact lowest I have heard of.
Can't really go wrong at that price, enjoy.
 
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