There's just no reason this had to be as daft as it is. Nikon make a 26mm f/2.8 with autofocus that's practically the same size. The only real difference is cost, but I feel like Panasonic could have at least added _either_ autofocus or a non-fixed aperture and kept the price under £300. Unfortunately there's not really another pancake lens on L-mount yet, although the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 is probably the closest and that at least is a really good lens.
The Canon 28 f2.8 pancake is a terrific lens and I scooped mine up while it was on sale for only $179. Canon's EF and M pancakes were equally excellent. Not sure what Panasonic was thinking but it sure seems like they could have done much better had they wished to.
Gordon I agree with you that Panasonic should have waited for the 18-40 before releasing the S9. Then this 26mm lens would be a fun additional lens and not getting some of the harsh comments it has received. I think the image quality is not bad at all. But also feel Panasonic could have done just a bit more to make this lens a lot more versatile. But as you said, it's easy for us to say something like this as we don't have to consider things like income/revenue target and other behind the scene thing.
What's crazy is that the lens is naturally an f4, you have to just remove the thing in front covering up the lens making the aperture artificially smaller.
@@funnybeingme Is there something wrong with a lens being different? Someone out there will find a perfect use for it and that’s great for them. I don’t understand belittling variety. Panasonic is still making other lenses that will be basic and boring, but versatile.
Hey Gordon, I just wanted to say I really enjoy your content and the in-depth gear reviews you do. This might sound a bit critical, but I’ve been missing the more laid-back, story-driven reviews you used to do, like in the Cameralabs podcasts (I’ve probably watched/listened to those over 10 times!). It’s not about this particular lens review, but in general, it feels a bit more like you’re reading from a script rather than giving that natural, conversational style with a touch of humor that I loved so much. Just an observation, and I could be totally off base, but I thought I’d share!. Again, love your content
Thanks! And you're right, I am reading a script as it means no technical mistakes and I have a written version for my website archive. But I agree, it's not as fun or natural. I'd like to rethink my approach...
Worst lens ever, for 100$ more you can get a panasonic F1.8 prime or if you need something compact then the Sigma 45mm F2.8. This makes no sense price wise, if it was 80$ or a bundle then sure, but nothing more! Edit: I agree, if they made it a bit bigger with AF and variable aperture..etc even for more $ it would be totally ok. Thank you for the excellent and honest review, it is NOT something that should be recommended as fun at this cost.
I come to think of the Olympus "body cap" lenses 9mm F8 and 15mm F8, as well as the more unknown Fujinon XM-FL 24mm F8 for X-mount. All are fun but more close to toy lens than proper serious lenses (but can still deliver under certain coditions)
Say what you will, but I can't see a single redeeming value for this lens. Not even its light weight since there are other alternatives which are similar in weight and much more functional. This just seems like something destined to end up in landfills. 😟
Howdy! Might the hyperfocal distance be very deep inherently, since it is wide angle lens, and diaphragm is only f/8.. But dare I say, distance markings on manual 'only' lenses are a must! Good show!
I agree this launch and this lens were a big mess up. I wonder what these big companies are thinking when they do such huge mistakes. Not having a camera/lens kit ready to be sold before the summer season is likely a much better solution than launching a half baked product that will have reviewers underwhelmed and early adopters disappointed. How many potential buyers will buy the camera thinking that it looks pretty or have big expectations from a sales who will tell them that they will get better image quality than APS-C and then find the pictures disappointing? I certainly have one in my family, former pro photographer in the film era, 85yo, he bought a G7X Mark II with the hope that it could be his only camera as he couldn't carry a DSLR anymore to then sell it after telling me it was rubbish because of misplaced expectations and a lack of knowledge regarding digital image processing. Due to his age and despite being an amazing pro photographer, he is quite representative of the average consumer or average consumer aiming at becoming a skilled amateur. And to answer your question, does it deserve the hate, my answer would be yes it does ... it is silly, ridiculous and I would only take it if it was given for free and then again it would probably be used as often as my lensbaby fisheye I was given as a birthday gift and that would be just once for fun and then back in the box and years later sold on eBay.
I think that this lens is a perfect match for the S9, they both were stripped of very basic features, that are glaring in their absence. In trying to make both items small and light, they basically made them both drastically less useful, which is further compounded by how there are multiple better examples in camera bodies (S5II) or in lense choices (canon and nikon examples). So, while I think they could have done a much better job, I think their overall design direction was off base across the board.
The problem overall is that all the camera companies were counting on the Olympics to move a lot of camera stock in general. Panasonic probably thought that the S9 in particular was going to benefit from this. But they needed to bring it out at a "very low" price, while in terms of building one, it was not going to be a really cheap camera. So they thought this "almost free" lens would help them move a lot of units while the body prices was still at its highest. Mostly, the Olympics' camera sales are done (and whatever equipment that was sold is now being used). At this point the camera companies are looking at what they learned and thinking about the Winter/Spring markets.
But the S9 is clearly not a sport camera at all, who in the omypics is buying this camera? especially with this prime as kit lens??? The problem of the S9 is that it is confused as much as confusing. A photo first 'retro' camera without shutter but good video options and features, but no audio monitoring and a cold shoe, without EVF but with fully articulated screen and oversimplified lens but overly complex "film simulations" system (the luts system). Too complex for amateurs, too stripped down for pros, with too much compromised in either the photo or video side. Price could make it appealing for and entry level FF but value is not great compared to S5. Feels very frustrating.
@@showdaKOs Well, I could disagree with your opinion about what is a "sport camera", but it isn't important. If you were a mainly someone going on a holiday and picked up an Olympic Tour package, you might be more interested in a general "holiday" camera, with maybe, an accessory to give you extra sport photos. So you buy an S9 as a general holiday camera, with a pancake lens for some tourist pics, and maybe a small telephoto to take a few sports pics. A camera salesman might recommend maybe a 135 or 200 or a zoom in that range. You might pick off some high-jump pics with a kit like that. Nothing that a real sports photog would necessarily feel is wonderful, but something to prove you were there. For anything else, well you still have your phone anyway. Compared to a handful of Pros standing on the sidelines, there are literally hundreds and thousands in the stands. And a lot of them want to take home a picture that they took.
@@vidthreenorth4007 A small telephoto? In FF? Some are kind of small but still, in L mount not a lot of options, even less if you make it less than 1K. And to go on a soap bar like the S9? With electronic shutter only? Okay, some few people might go that route but I don't see this happening most of the time if it is not recommended to them. And I don't see a lot of people knowing photography recommending that. If you just want small package for holiday photos+smallest zoom, go m4/3. If you want good look SOOC and/or good looking/retro camera but a little bigger package, go Fuji. And both will be cheaper for better specs. If you want retro but FF, go Nikon Zf (more expensive but less limiting). If you want good choice of lenses and cheap, go Sony A7c or ZV-E1. Canon could be considered too, R7 if you wanna go APSC... All of those options could give you better pancakes than this f8, that you can't use out of bright sunlight and that you constanly have to focus with. Meaning you need at least another prime or a general purpose zoom for it (more money spent). If you want Panasonic anyway, go S5 instead of S9, for a couple hundreds dollars more theoretically, but in fact, 150$ less on B&H right now, and then you can skip the f8 lens. I know that it a good modern camera and having it would be okay. Bbut I think that whatever way you look at it, other options are always better in some aspect, except if you're really into luts, especially with this lens. Maybe when the price come down in promotions and there's other lenses for it...
@@vidthreenorth4007 You might be developmentally disabled if you think that the Olympic games have anything to do with entry level camera sales. You're living in some type of weird fantasy and should either get out in the real world, or seek help.
It’s just down to price. The old Olympus Bodycap Lens was a 15/8 for $60, and a later 9mm fisheye for $100. They’re kind of beloved lenses, because they’re nearly free and even tinier than this. This is $200, which is mostly into “real lens price” range. Canon users can get a new with warranty RF Nifty Fifty for this price, Fuji users the XC 35/2. There’s nothing wrong with toy lenses, the goofy little things can be fun. But you have to charge a toy-price. If this was $80, love it. Maybe it actually would have been better as an f/11, maybe a wider focal length to get the size down even more.
the lens makes sense in my opinion, many street photographers set the aperture to f8 and use zone focusing (distance markings as you said would have been better), but the camera is too stripped down, I really don't like it, for example in the portrait taken by your friend if it had a flash it would have been better and a low iso would have been chosen, and lack of the viewfinder....as for me I am looking forward to the viltrox 28mm pancake for Sony, if the quality is at least as good as this it'll be great....
IMO this is a misstep by Panasonic. When rumours of it emerged, IMO it was a great opportunity to release to the market a new product type, of making a body cap lens provides a useful alternative to body caps and ensures that one always has a lens to shoot with even if it’s mf only and relatively slow. It ended up being a bit larger than anticipated, priced much higher, and IMO poorly marketed. If it was priced around the $30 range, made to be about 1/3 smaller, and marketed as a solution to take advantage of the dead function that the body cap has always occupied, it could be interesting. IMO a third party manufacturer should attempt this and launch it for multiple mounts. Just as PD changed the camera strap, this could change the body cap. IMO go with a design that allows a cap to be screwed off to reveal the lens underneath made with strong scratch resistant glass. This gives users a choice if they want to use the whole body cap lens as a whole or without the cover and just go with the lens. The screw threads could also potentially double as a way to attach filters. Have proper markings on the lens, and at least offer fixed interval aperture settings (E.g. f8, f11, f16). Electronic contacts nice to have but not vital if it’s a way to bring down cost and size
@@mbismbismb Vor Videos it is common to use shutter times of approximately half the time per image, e.g. 1/50s for 25 images/second footage. The reason is, that the abesence of motion blur cases video of moving subjects to look "jiity". So basically you sacrifice image details for a more natural look.
The Olympus m4/3 bodycap lenses had a fair price, Panasonic 14 and 15mm m4/3 lenses had fully working electronics (AF/Aperture/focus ring) This thing however is too expensive for a bodycap, and too basic compared to other AF pancake lenses. We probably will not get an official statement from Panasonic about why, but the new 18-40 from panasonic looked like the perfect lens to launch with the S9, but it didnt.
Where I live (Sweden) there was an offer to get this lens cheaper when pre-ordering the S9, you couldn't even get it for free. Now you can buy it for ~280€ which I think is ridiculous, I would hardly even accept it if someone paid me to use it. I think Panasonic failed with both the S9 and this lens.
This is just stupid when you compare it to the Nikon 28 which has a variable aperture and, drum roll, autofocus. And the price is roughly the same and the size… I don’t know. For less than USD 100, yeah, maybe.
brilliant video Gordon! The whole S9 thing was a head scratching event, but thanks for doing a great review on that lens. I am not into the the Panasonic/Lumix ecosystem, but always interested in seeing truncated lens for cameras! Thanks for sharing!
It’s just a bad IDEA for a product. There are things far more practical that aren’t much heavier etc as we all know. And once something is manual, it’s competing with every lens from history too… I love all the 1.8 primes and the 24-70 especially, but this is just weird
The issue is that in 10 years, hipsters will flock to this lens n body. They're already eating up someone's basement digicam and when those all break/wear out they'll scoop up these ok cameras. It's almost like the non tech innovated companies are just good enough to stay in business. But ofc like you mentioned, we don't know what these companies are doing behind the scenes.
Let's call it honestly... it was cynical move on Panny's part to dupe amateur buyers going for an aesthetic. Can't tell me they couldn't have come up with an f/2.8 or f/4 pancake though... this highlights the limitations of a big FF sensor in a point-and-shoot-ish camera body.
Why the hate?! Since Canon makes a not much more expensive 28mm F2.8 with Autofokus that is quite good for it's price. This thing is pure money making, milking customers of the S9 with a Small Lens that most of them don't know how to use.
That's a real shame. I own the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake for the M43. It's basic and cheap (I bought it directly from Panasonic for a bit over £100) but very lightweight, has autofocus (albeit slow), has lens cover and filter thread too. Best value for the £ and I am quite please with it. On this other hand, this 26mm doesn't make any sense. I would urge Panasonic to recall it.
I would have considered buying the S9 if this lens wasn’t so silly. Come on F8??? There’s no way they couldn’t have made a 26mm F4 at the very least at almost same size. Like the Canon 28mm f2.8.
If Oly could make the TINY 17mm 2.8 pancake with AF, all aperture, filter ring… Panasonic could have done better than this 😮 The Fuji 27mm 2.8 AF or TTartisan is also very good *and* compact
There's just no reason this had to be as daft as it is. Nikon make a 26mm f/2.8 with autofocus that's practically the same size. The only real difference is cost, but I feel like Panasonic could have at least added _either_ autofocus or a non-fixed aperture and kept the price under £300. Unfortunately there's not really another pancake lens on L-mount yet, although the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 is probably the closest and that at least is a really good lens.
Was about to say the exact thing with Nikon 😂👍👍👍
Now imagine if Nikon would make something S9 sized, with a correctly tilting rear display.
canon also has the rf 28mm 2.8 which is about this size as well, and its even a really good lens optically surprisingly
I'm guessing none of these commenters have watched the video yet as all of these points were made specifically in the video with comparison pictures
@@falxonPSN exactly!
The Canon 28 f2.8 pancake is a terrific lens and I scooped mine up while it was on sale for only $179. Canon's EF and M pancakes were equally excellent. Not sure what Panasonic was thinking but it sure seems like they could have done much better had they wished to.
Yeah i have efm 22mm f 2 stm much brighter much sharper and AF
The lack of filter threads is actually the thing that makes it just feel like an insult.
Gordon I agree with you that Panasonic should have waited for the 18-40 before releasing the S9. Then this 26mm lens would be a fun additional lens and not getting some of the harsh comments it has received. I think the image quality is not bad at all. But also feel Panasonic could have done just a bit more to make this lens a lot more versatile.
But as you said, it's easy for us to say something like this as we don't have to consider things like income/revenue target and other behind the scene thing.
The f8 aperture is just too dark. Plus, no auto focus? Nah, this is a waste of resources.
What's crazy is that the lens is naturally an f4, you have to just remove the thing in front covering up the lens making the aperture artificially smaller.
@@Carthodonreally? I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere.
This would turn your Fullframe camera body into a PnS camera
And it seems overpriced for what it is currently priced at £219 on Amazon in the UK.
A prime f8 lens... c'mon...
Great for street! Most photography is done with a deeper depth of field
@@justinburley8659 Lots of street photographers clamoring for this lens for sure. 😉
@@funnybeingme Is there something wrong with a lens being different? Someone out there will find a perfect use for it and that’s great for them.
I don’t understand belittling variety. Panasonic is still making other lenses that will be basic and boring, but versatile.
@@justinburley8659 The lens isn't "different", it's worthless. What is wrong with you, are you a chat bot or just developmentally disabled?
Hey Gordon, I just wanted to say I really enjoy your content and the in-depth gear reviews you do. This might sound a bit critical, but I’ve been missing the more laid-back, story-driven reviews you used to do, like in the Cameralabs podcasts (I’ve probably watched/listened to those over 10 times!). It’s not about this particular lens review, but in general, it feels a bit more like you’re reading from a script rather than giving that natural, conversational style with a touch of humor that I loved so much. Just an observation, and I could be totally off base, but I thought I’d share!. Again, love your content
Thanks! And you're right, I am reading a script as it means no technical mistakes and I have a written version for my website archive. But I agree, it's not as fun or natural. I'd like to rethink my approach...
Using an LTM-L adapter a lens like the 50-F/2 Jupiter 8 is very compact, fast and fun.
Pany should've made a new GX camera. There are so many small AF lenses.
This lens should be $30.
Cheap and cheerful
just saying, viltrox is about to release 28mm F4.5 FE for 100-150 USD about the same size
Worst lens ever, for 100$ more you can get a panasonic F1.8 prime or if you need something compact then the Sigma 45mm F2.8. This makes no sense price wise, if it was 80$ or a bundle then sure, but nothing more! Edit: I agree, if they made it a bit bigger with AF and variable aperture..etc even for more $ it would be totally ok. Thank you for the excellent and honest review, it is NOT something that should be recommended as fun at this cost.
I suspect Panasonic rushed this lens to get product photos of S9 that looks compact.
I really want a pancake for L-mount that isn't this 😭
I come to think of the Olympus "body cap" lenses 9mm F8 and 15mm F8, as well as the more unknown Fujinon XM-FL 24mm F8 for X-mount. All are fun but more close to toy lens than proper serious lenses (but can still deliver under certain coditions)
Say what you will, but I can't see a single redeeming value for this lens. Not even its light weight since there are other alternatives which are similar in weight and much more functional. This just seems like something destined to end up in landfills. 😟
Howdy!
Might the hyperfocal distance be very deep inherently, since it is wide angle lens, and diaphragm is only f/8..
But dare I say, distance markings on manual 'only' lenses are a must!
Good show!
in Canada this lens costs 299.99 + 13% tax extra , it was not included with S9 purchase here.
This seems like a body cap that can take photos in a pinch
I agree this launch and this lens were a big mess up. I wonder what these big companies are thinking when they do such huge mistakes. Not having a camera/lens kit ready to be sold before the summer season is likely a much better solution than launching a half baked product that will have reviewers underwhelmed and early adopters disappointed. How many potential buyers will buy the camera thinking that it looks pretty or have big expectations from a sales who will tell them that they will get better image quality than APS-C and then find the pictures disappointing? I certainly have one in my family, former pro photographer in the film era, 85yo, he bought a G7X Mark II with the hope that it could be his only camera as he couldn't carry a DSLR anymore to then sell it after telling me it was rubbish because of misplaced expectations and a lack of knowledge regarding digital image processing. Due to his age and despite being an amazing pro photographer, he is quite representative of the average consumer or average consumer aiming at becoming a skilled amateur.
And to answer your question, does it deserve the hate, my answer would be yes it does ... it is silly, ridiculous and I would only take it if it was given for free and then again it would probably be used as often as my lensbaby fisheye I was given as a birthday gift and that would be just once for fun and then back in the box and years later sold on eBay.
This lens shouldn't exist.
I think that this lens is a perfect match for the S9, they both were stripped of very basic features, that are glaring in their absence. In trying to make both items small and light, they basically made them both drastically less useful, which is further compounded by how there are multiple better examples in camera bodies (S5II) or in lense choices (canon and nikon examples).
So, while I think they could have done a much better job, I think their overall design direction was off base across the board.
The problem overall is that all the camera companies were counting on the Olympics to move a lot of camera stock in general. Panasonic probably thought that the S9 in particular was going to benefit from this. But they needed to bring it out at a "very low" price, while in terms of building one, it was not going to be a really cheap camera. So they thought this "almost free" lens would help them move a lot of units while the body prices was still at its highest. Mostly, the Olympics' camera sales are done (and whatever equipment that was sold is now being used). At this point the camera companies are looking at what they learned and thinking about the Winter/Spring markets.
But the S9 is clearly not a sport camera at all, who in the omypics is buying this camera? especially with this prime as kit lens???
The problem of the S9 is that it is confused as much as confusing. A photo first 'retro' camera without shutter but good video options and features, but no audio monitoring and a cold shoe, without EVF but with fully articulated screen and oversimplified lens but overly complex "film simulations" system (the luts system).
Too complex for amateurs, too stripped down for pros, with too much compromised in either the photo or video side.
Price could make it appealing for and entry level FF but value is not great compared to S5.
Feels very frustrating.
@@showdaKOs Well, I could disagree with your opinion about what is a "sport camera", but it isn't important. If you were a mainly someone going on a holiday and picked up an Olympic Tour package, you might be more interested in a general "holiday" camera, with maybe, an accessory to give you extra sport photos. So you buy an S9 as a general holiday camera, with a pancake lens for some tourist pics, and maybe a small telephoto to take a few sports pics. A camera salesman might recommend maybe a 135 or 200 or a zoom in that range. You might pick off some high-jump pics with a kit like that. Nothing that a real sports photog would necessarily feel is wonderful, but something to prove you were there. For anything else, well you still have your phone anyway. Compared to a handful of Pros standing on the sidelines, there are literally hundreds and thousands in the stands. And a lot of them want to take home a picture that they took.
@@vidthreenorth4007 A small telephoto? In FF? Some are kind of small but still, in L mount not a lot of options, even less if you make it less than 1K. And to go on a soap bar like the S9? With electronic shutter only?
Okay, some few people might go that route but I don't see this happening most of the time if it is not recommended to them. And I don't see a lot of people knowing photography recommending that.
If you just want small package for holiday photos+smallest zoom, go m4/3.
If you want good look SOOC and/or good looking/retro camera but a little bigger package, go Fuji.
And both will be cheaper for better specs.
If you want retro but FF, go Nikon Zf (more expensive but less limiting). If you want good choice of lenses and cheap, go Sony A7c or ZV-E1. Canon could be considered too, R7 if you wanna go APSC...
All of those options could give you better pancakes than this f8, that you can't use out of bright sunlight and that you constanly have to focus with. Meaning you need at least another prime or a general purpose zoom for it (more money spent).
If you want Panasonic anyway, go S5 instead of S9, for a couple hundreds dollars more theoretically, but in fact, 150$ less on B&H right now, and then you can skip the f8 lens.
I know that it a good modern camera and having it would be okay. Bbut I think that whatever way you look at it, other options are always better in some aspect, except if you're really into luts, especially with this lens.
Maybe when the price come down in promotions and there's other lenses for it...
@@vidthreenorth4007 You might be developmentally disabled if you think that the Olympic games have anything to do with entry level camera sales. You're living in some type of weird fantasy and should either get out in the real world, or seek help.
It’s just down to price. The old Olympus Bodycap Lens was a 15/8 for $60, and a later 9mm fisheye for $100. They’re kind of beloved lenses, because they’re nearly free and even tinier than this. This is $200, which is mostly into “real lens price” range. Canon users can get a new with warranty RF Nifty Fifty for this price, Fuji users the XC 35/2.
There’s nothing wrong with toy lenses, the goofy little things can be fun. But you have to charge a toy-price. If this was $80, love it. Maybe it actually would have been better as an f/11, maybe a wider focal length to get the size down even more.
Coming out with a smaller camera but with only one pancake lens option with no autofocus that only opens to f/8 is a horrible idea
the lens makes sense in my opinion, many street photographers set the aperture to f8 and use zone focusing (distance markings as you said would have been better), but the camera is too stripped down, I really don't like it, for example in the portrait taken by your friend if it had a flash it would have been better and a low iso would have been chosen, and lack of the viewfinder....as for me I am looking forward to the viltrox 28mm pancake for Sony, if the quality is at least as good as this it'll be great....
So what about this lens makes sense!? Keep your illiterate third world opinions to yourself.
IMO this is a misstep by Panasonic. When rumours of it emerged, IMO it was a great opportunity to release to the market a new product type, of making a body cap lens provides a useful alternative to body caps and ensures that one always has a lens to shoot with even if it’s mf only and relatively slow.
It ended up being a bit larger than anticipated, priced much higher, and IMO poorly marketed.
If it was priced around the $30 range, made to be about 1/3 smaller, and marketed as a solution to take advantage of the dead function that the body cap has always occupied, it could be interesting.
IMO a third party manufacturer should attempt this and launch it for multiple mounts. Just as PD changed the camera strap, this could change the body cap. IMO go with a design that allows a cap to be screwed off to reveal the lens underneath made with strong scratch resistant glass. This gives users a choice if they want to use the whole body cap lens as a whole or without the cover and just go with the lens. The screw threads could also potentially double as a way to attach filters. Have proper markings on the lens, and at least offer fixed interval aperture settings (E.g. f8, f11, f16). Electronic contacts nice to have but not vital if it’s a way to bring down cost and size
Those sigma i series probably be useful like the 45 or 24mm
i feel like they really could've put autofocus inside it
doesnt even need to be all that good at f8, would've made it much more useful/compelling
Perhaps a Nikon E-Series manual focus would be more compact. and pretty decent quality.
F.8 why need ND filter? How many stops of light u would like to cut?
For video On a sunny day, f8 and 1/50 still to bright at 100iso
@@cameralabs 1/50s? Shooting waterfalls?
@@mbismbismb Vor Videos it is common to use shutter times of approximately half the time per image, e.g. 1/50s for 25 images/second footage. The reason is, that the abesence of motion blur cases video of moving subjects to look "jiity".
So basically you sacrifice image details for a more natural look.
The Olympus m4/3 bodycap lenses had a fair price, Panasonic 14 and 15mm m4/3 lenses had fully working electronics (AF/Aperture/focus ring) This thing however is too expensive for a bodycap, and too basic compared to other AF pancake lenses. We probably will not get an official statement from Panasonic about why, but the new 18-40 from panasonic looked like the perfect lens to launch with the S9, but it didnt.
if they change to 26mm but F2.8 would be great and sell like a bananas.
I use the fuji 18-55 at f8 all the time.
Exactly!
might as well just be using your phone.
@@evrythingis1 Is this something you are very sure of?
@@jan-martinulvag1962 Have you ever compared the difference?
Where I live (Sweden) there was an offer to get this lens cheaper when pre-ordering the S9, you couldn't even get it for free. Now you can buy it for ~280€ which I think is ridiculous, I would hardly even accept it if someone paid me to use it. I think Panasonic failed with both the S9 and this lens.
This is just stupid when you compare it to the Nikon 28 which has a variable aperture and, drum roll, autofocus. And the price is roughly the same and the size… I don’t know. For less than USD 100, yeah, maybe.
brilliant video Gordon! The whole S9 thing was a head scratching event, but thanks for doing a great review on that lens. I am not into the the Panasonic/Lumix ecosystem, but always interested in seeing truncated lens for cameras! Thanks for sharing!
Something like Nikon 40mm f 2 would be perfect
A 28mm f2.8 AF pancake would have been SO much better.
Such large area , why they don’t just have a piece of cardboard and puncture a pin hole ,
I think the S9 should have had a small sensor.
I'd like an m43 version
It’s just a bad IDEA for a product. There are things far more practical that aren’t much heavier etc as we all know.
And once something is manual, it’s competing with every lens from history too… I love all the 1.8 primes and the 24-70 especially, but this is just weird
The issue is that in 10 years, hipsters will flock to this lens n body. They're already eating up someone's basement digicam and when those all break/wear out they'll scoop up these ok cameras. It's almost like the non tech innovated companies are just good enough to stay in business. But ofc like you mentioned, we don't know what these companies are doing behind the scenes.
Let's call it honestly... it was cynical move on Panny's part to dupe amateur buyers going for an aesthetic. Can't tell me they couldn't have come up with an f/2.8 or f/4 pancake though... this highlights the limitations of a big FF sensor in a point-and-shoot-ish camera body.
Reminds me of those body cap lenses and worth about as much.
Why the hate?! Since Canon makes a not much more expensive 28mm F2.8 with Autofokus that is quite good for it's price.
This thing is pure money making, milking customers of the S9 with a Small Lens that most of them don't know how to use.
Future landfill..😂
I will admit to having a somewhat unnatural desire to try this lens.
Well you are f8 haus!
That's a real shame. I own the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake for the M43. It's basic and cheap (I bought it directly from Panasonic for a bit over £100) but very lightweight, has autofocus (albeit slow), has lens cover and filter thread too. Best value for the £ and I am quite please with it. On this other hand, this 26mm doesn't make any sense. I would urge Panasonic to recall it.
This lens with AF would be a neat addition as a daily carry around kind of camera
I would have considered buying the S9 if this lens wasn’t so silly. Come on F8??? There’s no way they couldn’t have made a 26mm F4 at the very least at almost same size. Like the Canon 28mm f2.8.
If Oly could make the TINY 17mm 2.8 pancake with AF, all aperture, filter ring… Panasonic could have done better than this 😮
The Fuji 27mm 2.8 AF or TTartisan is also very good *and* compact
A 200$ fun option... Yeah right. No thanks
For some reason, with this lens, I find myself remembering the Kodak 126 Instamatic... Yeah, it takes pictures, but really, it's junk.
I'd buy this for $26.80.
And yet Panasonic is asking $200. If it were $20, maybe.
This lens is a complete failure
The one thing that I hate about it is that is a 26 and not a 28, don't know why but Panasonic seems to hate 28mm
Not just Panasonic, it feels like the forgotten focal length!
This is kinda like putting your trousers on before your under pants. No real benefit.
Tell that to Superman!
For free = fun. For 200 bucks = joke.
ridiculous lens. it has put me off buying more l-mount gear if this is how they're going to treat their customers.
It's only one lens, not representative of an entire strategy
Even my pancake efm 22mm f2.0 is brighter and has AF and sharper than this
It's a piece of junk. Just say it.
This is way overpriced. AstroHori or some low dollar Chinese optical outfit has an L mount similar. I was stupid enough to buy one.
This lens is just garbage
Crazy useless lens. Feels that Panasonic is just laughing at us...Thanks Gordon for the complete review !
THAT TYPE OF CRAP PRESERVED TO CANON WTF PANASONIC