Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 Lens: Compact Wide-Angle Review

The Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 is a compact wide-angle prime lens designed for L-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras. With its bright f/1.8 aperture, compact size, and excellent optical performance, this versatile lens is suitable for various situations including landscape photography, vlogging, and everyday shooting. In this review, we’ll take a detailed look at the design, performance, and real-world experience of the Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 lens.

📊 Detailed Specifications of the Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 Lens

🎨 Design and Build Quality

The Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 lens is a compact wide-angle prime for the L-mount system. It’s part of Panasonic’s f/1.8 series, sharing the same design philosophy.

Size and Weight

• Lens dimensions: 73.6mm x 82.0mm (diameter x length)
• Weight: Approx. 310g

This lens is among the lightest full-frame 24mm f/1.8 lenses available. It pairs particularly well with compact bodies like the Panasonic S5 and remains comfortable during extended shooting sessions.

Build Quality

The lens is constructed from high-quality plastic and metal materials, giving an overall solid feel. It features dust, splash, and freeze-resistant design, allowing confident use in various shooting conditions.

Design Features

• 67mm filter thread: Shares filter size with other Panasonic f/1.8 series lenses for excellent compatibility
• Focus ring: Features a smooth-operating wide focus ring
• Compact design: Slightly smaller than the Panasonic 20-60mm kit lens, offering excellent portability

📸 Optical Performance

The Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 lens delivers excellent optical performance despite its compact size.

Sharpness

• Center: Excellent sharpness even at f/1.8. Improves further at f/2.8, with minimal improvements beyond
• Corners: Somewhat soft at f/1.8, but improves significantly at f/2.8. Excellent corner sharpness from f/4 onwards

Chromatic Aberration

Chromatic aberration control is excellent. It’s barely noticeable in most real-world shooting situations, with minimal color fringing even in high-contrast scenarios.

Distortion

With lens profile corrections applied, distortion is virtually non-existent. Without corrections, there’s slight distortion that’s easily correctable in software.

Vignetting

• f/1.8: Noticeable vignetting
• f/2.8: Significantly improved
• f/4 and beyond: Minimal vignetting

Compared to 20-60mm or 24-105mm zoom lenses, the 24mm f/1.8 shows the least vignetting at f/4.

Bokeh

Despite being a wide-angle lens, the bright f/1.8 aperture allows for attractive background blur. The bokeh quality is smooth and natural, creating an overall pleasing effect.

Flare and Ghosting Control

Flare and ghosting control is exceptional. Even when shooting directly into the sun, minimal flare occurs with almost no loss of contrast. This performance rivals that of more expensive premium lenses.

🎥 Video Performance

The Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 lens includes several video-optimized features, making it an attractive option for video creators.

AF Performance

• Fast and accurate autofocus
• Very quiet AF operation minimizing unwanted noise during video recording
• Excellent face detection and tracking performance

Focus Breathing

Focus breathing is very well controlled. Minimal angle of view changes occur even with large focus distance changes, maintaining video stability.

Manual Focus Options

• Supports both linear and non-linear manual focus modes
• Focus ring rotation angle adjustable through camera settings

Vlogging and Self-Recording

The 24mm wide-angle and bright f/1.8 aperture are ideal for vlogging and self-recording. The wide angle captures plenty of background while the bright aperture enables excellent low-light performance.

🔍 Real-World Experience

Landscape Photography

The 24mm wide-angle is perfect for capturing expansive landscapes. Stopping down to f/8-f/11 provides excellent sharpness across the entire frame, ideal for detailed landscape photos.

Everyday Snapshots

The compact size and light weight make it excellent for everyday snapshot photography. The bright f/1.8 aperture performs well in low light conditions and can create natural background blur.

Video Production

Quiet AF operation and minimal focus breathing make it highly suitable for video production. Particularly useful for vlogging and travel video creation.

Close-up Photography

With a minimum focus distance of 0.24m and maximum magnification of 0.15x, the lens enables quasi-macro level close-up photography. Useful for capturing details of flowers or small objects.

💡 Key Features Summary

1. Compact and lightweight design (approx. 310g)
2. Bright f/1.8 aperture
3. Excellent optical performance
4. Effective flare and ghosting control
5. Minimal focus breathing
6. Quiet and fast AF performance
7. Dust, splash, and freeze resistant design
8. 67mm filter size (matching other f/1.8 series lenses)

🔧 Pros and Cons Analysis

Pros

• Compact size and lightweight design
• Excellent optical performance
• Bright f/1.8 aperture
• Effective flare control
• Video-optimized features

Cons

• No optical image stabilization
• Slightly soft corners at f/1.8
• Higher price compared to some competitors

📊 Comparison with Competitors

The Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 lens has several distinctive features compared to its competitors.

Compared to Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM

• Sony offers brighter aperture (f/1.4 vs f/1.8)
• Panasonic is lighter and more compact (310g vs 445g)
• Sony is more expensive (approximately $500 difference)

Compared to Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG DN Art

• Sigma offers brighter aperture (f/1.4 vs f/1.8)
• Panasonic is lighter and more compact (310g vs 520g)
• Sigma is less expensive (approximately $100 difference)

Compared to Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S

• Similar weight and size
• Comparable optical performance
• Nikon is slightly more expensive

Compared to Canon RF 24mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM

• Canon is lighter (270g vs 310g)
• Canon includes optical image stabilization
• Canon offers closer minimum focus distance and higher maximum magnification
• Canon is less expensive (approximately $300 difference)

📸 Recommended Users

1. Landscape photographers: 24mm wide-angle and excellent optical performance ideal for landscapes
2. Vloggers and YouTubers: Wide angle and video-optimized features useful for content creation
3. Travel photographers: Compact size and versatile performance great for travel
4. Everyday photographers: Light weight and f/1.8 aperture suitable for various situations
5. L-mount system users: High-performance prime lens complementing existing zoom lenses

🛒 Purchase Considerations

1. Camera System: Suitable for L-mount camera users
2. Intended Use: Useful for situations requiring wide-angle perspective
3. Budget: Mid to high-range price point
4. Portability: Ideal for users prioritizing light weight
5. Video Recording: Recommended for users emphasizing video features

🎯 Conclusion

The Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 lens offers L-mount users an attractive wide-angle prime option with its compact size, excellent optical performance, and video-optimized features. It’s particularly versatile for landscapes, vlogging, and everyday photography.

While the relatively high price compared to some competitors and lack of optical image stabilization might be considered drawbacks, the overall performance and user experience provide excellent value for the price.

For L-mount system photographers and videographers seeking a compact, high-performance wide-angle lens, the Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 is highly recommended. Its excellent optical performance and versatility make it a reliable tool for creative work.

We hope this review has helped increase your understanding of the Panasonic Lumix S 24mm f/1.8 lens and aided in your purchase decision. If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. Happy shooting!