The Panasonic Lumix S9 is something of a fashion icon in its own right, adored for its slimline dimensions and snazzy colorways (I’ll take the dark olive). But the appeal of the body beautiful is rather lost if you need to hang a big clunky lens off it. To keep everything in the right mix and match proportions, there’s already the Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3, which launched as the world’s smallest and lightest zoom lens, and the dinky little Panasonic Lumix S 40mm f/2 prime. Now there’s the new Panasonic Lumix S 20mm f/2.5, to literally widen your options.
So what exactly are your options with the new S 20mm lens? The wide-angle perspective is ideal for walkabout, street, and travel photography, as well as for landscapes, cityscapes and architectural interiors. With its fairly fast f/2.5 aperture, astrophotography is another possibility, so it’s already sounding like you might be covering a lot of ground with this lens. That’s why it’s so nice that the big viewing angle is shoehorned into such a small, lightweight build.
Available in black or silver, the new S 20mm prime looks the part on any color of Lumix S9 camera body, but its beauty is more than skin deep. The 20mm and 40mm primes and the 18-40mm zoom have virtually identical dimensions and weigh next to nothing, the S 20mm measuring a mere 69x41mm / 2.6x1.6in and weighing just 142g / 5oz. And proving that ultra-lightweight lenses don’t have to be flimsy, the S 20mm matches the design of the S 40mm in having a dust, splash and freeze-resistant construction complete with a weather-sealed metal rather than plastic mounting plate.
Another bonus is that both of the S20mm and S40mm lenses have the same handling characteristics, so swapping between them won’t throw any spanners in your creative flow. Despite being so small, they pack an AF/MF focus mode switch, customizable focus ring and a customizable function button. The last of these will often be used for AF-Lock but Panasonic’s new Crop Zoom feature is a tempting alternative.
I’d add vlogging and video content creation to the ‘can-do’ list of the lens. Its ultra-wide viewing angle is great for presenting to camera at arm’s length, making the most of the Lumix S9’s fully articulated screen.
On top of that, the lens has a really short minimum focus distance of 0.18m, just 7 inches as measured from the camera’s image sensor. It’s also designed to suppress focus breathing, adding to its video credentials. All in all, it looks a very versatile and highly desirable little lens, with an attractive price tag of $499 / £429 / AU$TBA.
Shipping is expected to start in October and the S 20mm is already destined to be one of best lenses for the Lumix S9.
