GH2 Lens Options

M

meltedspider

Member
Hi all, thanks for taking time your to read this. I have found myself in a little conundrum as to what lens kit would best complement the GH2. I have been informed that a good well-rounded lens kit would include the following lenses:
  • Panasonic Lumix Vario 7-14mm f/4.0
  • Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7
  • Panasonic 14-140mm kit lens
  • Zeiss Planar ZF.2 50mm f/1.4 with Novoflex adapter
I need a good well-rounded solution for shooting docs, music videos, short narratives, birthday parties, etc. Now here's the thing, from what I've seen online I really like the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95. So I have the option, with my budget to switch the Panny 20mm "pancake" for the Voigtlander but then I'd have to switch the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 with a cheaper alternative. So my questions are:
  1. Would it be better to have the 20mm pancake and 50mm Zeiss ZF.2 or the 25mm Voigtlander 0.95 and a cheaper (Canon or Nikon) 50mm?
  2. If you suggest I go for the Voigtlander, which 50mm should I go for that would cost $400 or less?
  3. Would this kit be a good all-round lens kit that will allow me to do what I do?
 
Let me offer my perspective.

I already had the Panasonic 14-42, 14-140, 20mm and I don't really dig them.

The 14-140 is the best of these because of the 10x zoom of course and while I don't like its image rendition on the wide end, the tele is quite pleasing.

I thought I was going to use more my 20mm because of the fast aperture and what not, my mistake, I really dislike this lens' image rendition, artificially sharp, soulless. And the focal length doesn't please me one bit in M43.

The other lens that I bought was the Olympus 14-54 2.8~3.5. I loved this lens! The optics in this are amazing, they have a crystal clear quality to it. The downside (ignoring the slight ramp in aperture) is that the zoom ring is servo. I really need a lens with a truly manual focus ring. The only reason I didn't sell my 14-54 is because of its optics.

I also bought a Sigma 105mm 2.8 Macro in 4/3 mount. While this lens is nice (nothing stellar, a little slightly fuzzy in 2.8, but great at 4) I don't have much use for macro. I plan on selling it to get a Rokinon 85mm 1.4.

As you can see I went through several lenses that did not fit my needs. The lens that I really enjoyed was the Tamron 17-50 2.8 that I bought recently. From wide-ish to tele with a constant aperture. I'm using it with a cheapo adapter but I'm getting the Novoflex soon.

So my plan now is to invest in Nikon glass, it usually has a more natural, less digital feel to it, it also covers classical sensor sizes like S35 or FF and Nikon mount is something of a standard today since RED cameras also use it (future proofing my investment).

Your tastes and needs may not be the same, but I'm just offering my perspective.

:thumbsup:
 
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