Leica Advice and input for building a L-mount lens kit

[AManandHisCamera]

Hey everyone of this wonderful forum which I’ve stalked for countless hours trying to piece together the information I need in order to make decisions and am now writing this incredibly horrible run-on sentence that would make my grade school english teacher cry . I’m currently in the process of a big gear adjustment where I’ve shifted into the Panasonic L mount with a S5 IIX. I’m coming into this after a fair break from doing this kind of work and I previously use to be in the Fuji X system and previous to that Canon. I’m currently a hybrid shooter of stills and video where the split is around 65/35 in favour of stills. I have for decades been a stills only shooter and video is relatively new to me (albeit I’ll claim that I’m getting close to being able to call myself decent on the video side of things now), hence, drumroll for the super obvious reason I’m here and looking for advice is relating to the video aspect of all this and putting together my lens kit.

My work for the most part involves boring corporate type stuff, the occasional events shoots (you guessed it weddings) (although doing more and more events lately with a gimbal) and my more meat and potatoes at the moment being real estate photography along with some architecture work sprinkled in. I was so sure I had my lens kit mapped out for my new Panasonic L mount system here until this whole issue from left field came into focus (which was out of focus) about focus breathing (ha ha, bad joke alert, I’m trying to entertain you the reader as these posts are dime a dozen from people asking for help). My plan was to pretty heavily invest into the L mount Sigma glass for my work and personal shooting. But I’ve seen so much chatter about just how much better the Panasonic glass is when it comes to focus breathing I’ve been all over the map trying to rack my brain re-trying to put together a lens kit now. Noteworthy is that the Panasonic prime glass does not have aperture rings on them which the Sigma’s do.

From those of you that have made is this far in reading my post and have the experience to provide advice I would very much appreciate some right about now because I’ve certainly entered over-think territory here. If I’m hybrid shooting stills and video should the Sigma glass still be on the table here or am I strictly looking at getting only Panasonic glass? Or should I circle back and maybe consider some inexpensive manual focus glass instead. Any recommendations for specific lenses would also be appreciated (especially on the ultra wide side for real estate photography hybrid work) (I keep thinking the Sigma 16-28mm is an amazing value proposition when it comes to that but again on the video side of things I’m not sure).

Thanks to all that take the time to read this and reply it’s very much appreciated.

 

[pdk42]

I'd love to help, but despite having dabbled with a lot of L-mount lenses, the dabbling has always been for stills - I have no interest, or competence, in video.

But FWIW, here's a bit of guidance:

1) For events and general use, I guess you'll be looking at a general purpose wide/normal zoom, and there are lots to chose from there:

• Panasonic 24-105 f4 - a really very decent lens with a good range, OIS, and semi-macro capabilities.
• Panasonic 24-70 f2.8 - excellent optical performance but a bit heavy on both the wallet and the shoulders.
• Sigma 24-70 f2.8 ii - probably the pick of the 2x-70 f2.8 bunch at the moment.
• Sigma 28-70 f2.8 - a lighter, cheaper alternative to the 24-70 f2.8 lenses. Still excellent optical performance.
• Sigma 28-105 f2.8 - new kid on the block. Great range and f2.8. Early reviews are excellent.

My choice is the 24-105, but I mostly shoot landscape so I don't need f2.8 but do want 24mm at the wide end and as much reach as I can get.

2) For real-estate, I guess an UWA zoom is the way go-to - and again, there are also a lot of choices:

• The best in terms of IQ (but probably the biggest and most expensive, aside from the Leica options) is the Sigma 14-24 f2.8. Stellar.
• The Panasonic 16-35 and 14-28 are both good performers (and not much between them despite a big price difference).
• The Sigma 16-28 f2.8 is excellent and is reasonably priced.

My choice is the Panasonic 14-28, but I'm mulling over the Sigma 14-24 to replace it.

3) For people shots (corporate stuff?), I guess a decent portrait prime is sensible. Again, lots of choice:

• Sigma i-Series 50mm, 65mm, and 90mm are all excellent. Superb IQ and great build quality.
• Panasonic 50mm and 85mm are both very good, if lagging a little in build quality compared to the iSeries.
• Panasonic 100mm f2.8 macro - a decent portrait lens as well as a macro.
• Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro - a stellar performer optically, but focussing is a bit slow.

My choice is the Panasonic 50mm f1.8. It's a relatively cheap lens with great performance. I also have the Sigma 105mm macro for proper macro work.


I hope that helps. There is really so much choice now in L-mount, I can't imagine that you'd not find something that suits you.

 

[AManandHisCamera]

@pdk42 thank you for taking the time to reply. It’s very appreciated and I think I’m now finding my way towards a better mapped out lens kit for myself. I’m sure some of it won’t be perfect and I’ll have to make adjustments on the fly as my use dictates what works for me exactly (but I’m hoping this effort will at-least mitigate some of the purchase-sell and repeat routine with camera gear). For anyone intrigued what it’s looking like: Panasonic 14-28mm F4-5.6, Panasonic 18mm F1.8, Sigma 28-45mm F1.8, Sigma 65mm F2, Panasonic 100mm F2.8 (possibly Panasonic 85mm F1.8 instead of the 100mm as the price difference is near double but lets see, I do like the compression that extra 15mm offers even if it is minimal compared to an 85mm)