Panasonic Lumix S Pro 50mm f/1.4 review

Less of a nifty fifty, more of an optical juggernaut

Panasonic Lumix S Pro 50mm f/1.4 review
(Image: © Future)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Panasonic’s new 50mm f/1.4 L-mount lens for its S-series cameras is a veritable feast of glass and high-end engineering but it’s frankly massive and weighs almost a kilogram. To put that into perspective, it’s more than three times heavier than directly competing SLR-mount lenses from Canon and Nikon, and almost the same weight as Panasonic’s 70-200mm f/4 L-mount telephoto zoom. Even so, after years of planning, the lens’s performance makes it well worth the wait, and the weight.

Pros

  • +

    Fabulous image quality

  • +

    Fast, virtually silent autofocus system

  • +

    Robust build quality

Cons

  • -

    Enormous for a 50mm prime

  • -

    Very weighty at almost a kilogram

  • -

    Massively expensive for a 50mm f/1.4 lens

Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.

We all know that a major advantage of mirrorless cameras over SLRs is that they’re more compact and lightweight. After all, they’re called ‘compact system cameras’ for a reason. It seems that nobody told Panasonic, however, as its full-frame mirrorless S1, S1R and S1H cameras are at least as big and heavy as competing SLRs, if not bigger.

• Read more: Best L-mount lenses

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.