L-Mount Alliance Owners Thread

There are two versions of some Art lenses in L Mount, DG and DN. The DN ones work much better with the S5 as they are specifically made for mirrorless, the DG ones are essentially converted DSLR lenses. The 85mm 1.4 DN is really compact compared to the DG version.

I have the 35 and 85 DN for wedding use but if it wasn't for that I'd have Panasonic 1.8s in a heartbeat, the Sigma's are massive!

I received the 50mm 1.8 with the S5 and that's a lovely lens, the Panasonic lenses get great reviews and apparently are quicker/more reliable for AF than Sigma.
 
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Yep the smaller slower Sigma's are popular and very well regarded.
 
Thanks for your advice about live preview thing. Just had a go to see if I could get it to work. Cloud cover stops me getting a star trail, but at least I know what I'm doing now so some trial and error to follow.

Will watch a few videos on those smaller sigmas also.
 
ukaskew said:
How strange, just coming on here to check this thread and post a canal photo from this morning! A bit excessive but the Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art has joined the team, what a weapon!

Canal Walk by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

Canal Walk by Chris Harrison, on Flickr
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Some beautiful tones with these love them both. Yes a big surprise to see another canal picture as well :)
 
todders said:
Some beautiful tones with these love them both. Yes a big surprise to see another canal picture as well :)
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How are you finding the 24-105? I wish LensesforHire had L Mount gear (never going to happen!) as I'd find that lens useful on occasion, but probably not enough to justify a purchase, i.e. I'm off to London for the day on Monday and I'm trying to figure out what to take to keep weight down (currently thinking 20-60mm and 85mm 1.4)
 
ukaskew said:
How are you finding the 24-105? I wish LensesforHire had L Mount gear (never going to happen!) as I'd find that lens useful on occasion, but probably not enough to justify a purchase, i.e. I'm off to London for the day on Monday and I'm trying to figure out what to take to keep weight down (currently thinking 20-60mm and 85mm 1.4)
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It is a very sharp lens overall but it comes with some heft compared to the 20-60mm. i do find the additional length handy at times. i think for London the 20-60 will be perfect lens for your trip. The 85mm f1.4 will be great for picking out subjects from a distance along the south bank and for buskers at carnaby street.
 
For anybody that has missed a recent firmware update for the Panasonic 24-105 F4.0 it has been updated to version 1.2 from 1.1 and includes the following changes.
  1. Improved performance of the Image Stabilizer.
    - The correction performance of the Dual I.S.2 has been improved from 6.5 stops to 7.5 stops. *
    * When attached to DC-S1/DC-S1R/DC-S1H (as of November 9th, 2021)
    Based on the CIPA standard [Yaw/Pitch direction: focusing distance f=105mm.]
  2. Improved performance of the Image Stabilizer during video recording.
https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/index4.html#
 
Adamcski said:
Those are fab.

I've been trying to do a star trail but it's so cloudy all the time. How you get completely clear sky for each one of these is beyond me.
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Keep an eye on the astro forecast (Met Check is pretty good) and be ready and prepared to go out and get cold one evening :) I've only managed 3 or 4 evenings since the end of September, I've missed a few beautiful evenings because of life/family/kids/work. You don't actually need a completely clear evening, particularly if the moon isn't too bright. As long the cloud is thin or moving pretty quickly the gaps of cloud cover won't be noticeable.

I always have a battery or two charged and my backpack filled with gear just incase.

I wish I could have stayed in London longer and tried it out there (stars were coming out in my photos really well, surprisingly) but I needed to get home at a vaguely reasonable hour.
 
I had my stuff set up for two weeks lol

Finally just went out one night and tried it for two hours. You could see the star trails but behind the blanket of cloud. Can't wait to try again. In the next level of my photography course starting January, titled playing with light, I think we will be looking more at these sorts of things / images.
 
New L Mount owner as of this Friday coming. Bagged myself an incredible deal on Amazon on Cyber Monday - £1599 for the Panasonic S5, 20-60 AND the 50mm 1.8!

I think this camera, going by reviews and the brief play I had in Park Cameras, is a real sleeper, mainly because the reviews on YouTube are geared completely to YouTubers, who NEED perfect continuous AF in video more than anything - it’s like it’s become the be all and end all of camera functions when the reality is it’s just one part of what makes a camera great and this camera has every other aspect. In many ways, it’s as good as the even higher end stuff from Sony and Canon.

Chuffed to get out there at the weekend and shoot some stuff.
 
Yep it's a good one for sure. Pretty much the only main negative that comes up is video AF, but that's understandable I guess as it's a camera that is otherwise phenomenal for video, so most users use it for that.

I'm 100% stills and I've never 'clicked' with a new camera as well I have with this one. I've shot sooooooo much stuff in the 2 months I've had it and I've loved every second of it.
 
Just received my camera and lenses. All looks good and I’m excited to get underway but does anyone know if Amazon sell white box or if Panasonic lenses are white box in the uk? I was surprised to see the 50mm was a white box model and not in a branded Panasonic black box, like the camera and 20-60 kit. This is a combo you can buy as a configuration though so maybe that’s the norm? All looks new and I’m not bothered, especially for the price I paid, just curious
 
ukaskew said:
Yep it's a good one for sure. Pretty much the only main negative that comes up is video AF, but that's understandable I guess as it's a camera that is otherwise phenomenal for video, so most users use it for that.

I'm 100% stills and I've never 'clicked' with a new camera as well I have with this one. I've shot sooooooo much stuff in the 2 months I've had it and I've loved every second of it.
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Yeah and I think the “bad” aurofocus is massively overblown. Single point is actually one of the fastest out there and continuous works absolutely fine unless you are someone sitting in your bedroom unboxing a product. If I’m behind the camera for anything professional there’s no way I’d use continuous AF anyway, I wanna be the master of my decisions
 
Adamsk1 said:
Just received my camera and lenses. All looks good and I’m excited to get underway but does anyone know if Amazon sell white box or if Panasonic lenses are white box in the uk? I was surprised to see the 50mm was a white box model and not in a branded Panasonic black box, like the camera and 20-60 kit. This is a combo you can buy as a configuration though so maybe that’s the norm? All looks new and I’m not bothered, especially for the price I paid, just curious
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My 50mm came in a white box as well, there are a lot of them about and some of the retailers even list them as being white box versions of the lens.
 
Adamsk1 said:
Just received my camera and lenses. All looks good and I’m excited to get underway but does anyone know if Amazon sell white box or if Panasonic lenses are white box in the uk? I was surprised to see the 50mm was a white box model and not in a branded Panasonic black box, like the camera and 20-60 kit. This is a combo you can buy as a configuration though so maybe that’s the norm? All looks new and I’m not bothered, especially for the price I paid, just curious
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Yep it's the official way it is sold when in the promotional bundle, I had my S5s from two different retailers and both the 50mm lenses came in the white box. It's just a way to stop retailers splitting the promotional kits and selling the 50mm lenses separately for far more money.
 
Yeah what I thought. Thanks for confirming both! Just took a couple of pics around the house and maaaaaan that 50mm is a great lens! The 20-60 is also very versatile but I do a lot of video so I’ll need something with a fixed aperture across the range at some point.

What lenses do we all have currently? There seems to be a few around the £300-500 range then a bloody steep incline from there!
 
I'm getting an 85 and 35 initially. After that probably a dedicated macro lens. It's a great bit of kit. I take my M50 mkii and m lenses to my photography course then come home and go out with the S5.

I did wonder about white box ones as wex seem to sell them at the same price as normal ones...

I'm still trying to learn about the options and some of the new metal sigma lenses seem good also. Think I will stick with the Panasonic ones though.
 
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The 1.8 Panasonic lenses seem to be universally loved and apparently, slightly better for AF-C than Sigma glass, so you can't really go wrong with them.

With Sigma glass you're best off with any that have a DN designation as those are specifically designed for mirrorless. The older HSM Art lenses are DSLR lenses with essentially an adaptor built in.
 
Sigma 85mm f1.4 DN is exceptional. Probably the best overall 85mm lens I've owned.
It isn't actually much bigger than Panasonic 85/1.8 by looks of it but it's fair bit heavier.
 
nandbytes said:
Sigma 85mm f1.4 DN is exceptional. Probably the best overall 85mm lens I've owned.
It isn't actually much bigger than Panasonic 85/1.8 by looks of it but it's fair bit heavier.
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Yep I was shocked when it arrived, having owned the original 85mm HSM Art before, it's incredibly compact.

Of course I immediately offset that by buying the 35mm 1.2!
 
ukaskew said:
Yep I was shocked when it arrived, having owned the original 85mm HSM Art before, it's incredibly compact.

Of course I immediately offset that by buying the 35mm 1.2!
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Yeah that thing is a beast. I am still incredibly tempted but the 35GM is just so small and light to give up
 
So the Sigma lenses I want to be looking at are the DG DN ones and the DG DN Art ones? Not the DG HSM ones, correct?

Any of the DG DN contemporary / art ones

Think I may just stick with Panasonic at least I know which ones to buy then lol
 
Adamcski said:
So the Sigma lenses I want to be looking at are the DG DN ones and the DG DN Art ones? Not the DG HSM ones, correct?

Any of the DG DN contemporary / art ones

Think I may just stick with Panasonic at least I know which ones to buy then lol
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Yes, basically. If it says DN that's one of the newer mirrorless lenses. To be honest though, the Panasonic 1.8 lenses are probably the way to go anyway unless you really, really need f1.4 or faster.
 
Also, I entered a Sigma UK competition a while back, basically a 'send us your best piccie with one of our lenses' competition. I won, with this, shot with my S5!

Goodwood 78MM by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

I won the new Sigma 18-50mm 2.8, which isn't any use to me (crop sensor lens), but I can at least sell it and put it towards the 24-105mm :)
 
Well done

I may pop to wex Thursday and grab a 85 mm and possibly a 35 mm 1.8 as I think they will do me as a novice, hobby photographer. Not sure I need the 1.4/1.2 when it's mainly just fun stuff and I don't earn money from anything.
 
Everyone raves about the 85mm 1.8 so I'm sure you'll love it.
 
The 85mm 1.8 is my next lens. 20-60, 50 and 85 will make a good flexible set of lenses for most situations. Eventually I’ll save for one of the bigger zooms with fixed aperture
 
A couple of very similar photos of the same subject, taken moments apart. The first with the Panasonic 50mm f1.8 and the second with a vintage 135mm Carl Zeiss Jena. The Jena holds up well for it's age, but the Panasonic 50mm is way ahead both for sharpness and colour IMO.

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P1010289 edited (Large).jpg
 
Adamcski said:
Well I only got the one lens for now, so went with the 50 mm 1.8 as figured it may be more flexible than the 85 mm. I also picked up a Godox TT685 for it (not sure if that's a good one) but it was cheaper at Wex than Amazon
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I have that Godox for my S5 too, works great!
 
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