Lumix S vs Lumix S Pro lenses

[Sohail]

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From what I understand the Pro designation is Leica certified. Are the Pro lenses noticeably better? Are the plans to produce more Pro lenses?

[Ivar B]

S Pro lenses are better built and appear more high end. My only direct experience is S Pro 1.4/50 vs. S 1.8/50, where Leica sells the latter rebranded. The 1.4 is an extremely high performing lens and better than the 1.8, but differences are not great and the 1.4 is much larger and heavier and much more costly. In many cases there is no "overlap" as there are no S Pro 35 and 85, for example. I don`t know if more S Pro lenses are coming, but several S lenses are supposedly in the pipeline. 

[Sohail]

11 hours ago, Ivar B said:

S Pro lenses are better built and appear more high end. My only direct experience is S Pro 1.4/50 vs. S 1.8/50, where Leica sells the latter rebranded. The 1.4 is an extremely high performing lens and better than the 1.8, but differences are not great and the 1.4 is much larger and heavier and much more costly. In many cases there is no "overlap" as there are no S Pro 35 and 85, for example. I don`t know if more S Pro lenses are coming, but several S lenses are supposedly in the pipeline. 

You say that several are in the pipeline? Do you know of any roadmap or rumours? It would be great to see an 85 1.4 Pro.

[Richardgb]

13 minutes ago, Sohail said:

You say that several are in the pipeline? Do you know of any roadmap or rumours? It would be great to see an 85 1.4 Pro.

Given the way that Sigma is producing some excellent lenses for L mount, I wonder if Panasonic will concentrate on its 'lower end' lenses, ostensibly suited for video work, rather than trying to needlessly compete with Sigma. If it's an 85mm f/1.4 you want, Sigma has just the job.

[Sohail]

8 hours ago, Richardgb said:

Given the way that Sigma is producing some excellent lenses for L mount, I wonder if Panasonic will concentrate on its 'lower end' lenses, ostensibly suited for video work, rather than trying to needlessly compete with Sigma. If it's an 85mm f/1.4 you want, Sigma has just the job.

Thanks! Yes, I'm aware of that. Looks good but I'm more interested in the Panny offerings.

[Ivar B]

10 hours ago, Sohail said:

You say that several are in the pipeline? Do you know of any roadmap or rumours? It would be great to see an 85 1.4 Pro.

A roadmap is published at regular intervals at l-rumors.com. What I believe I have read is that there will be a tele zoom. Looks like there are more S than S Pro lenses.

Panasonic S 1.8/85 is a very good lens but if you look for 1.4/85 I fully agree with Sohail that the Sigma 1.4/85 DG DN is the one to buy. Fantastic lens. If you buy second hand go for the DG DN and not DG as the DG DN is much more compact. 

[oculaii]

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I have both and I use them since their release.

The 50mm S Pro is extremely sharp everywhere, sharper wide open than every 50mm I used, inclding the 50mm GM f1.2 and the 50mm Summilux SL.
It has very nice bokeh and smooth OOF (the bokeh can sometimes look even deeper than a 50mm f1.4 lens but sadly with a kind of "vibrating" lines). It also has a very punchy rendering with great colors and sense of volume. The local contrast in the highlights is very good and gives a very clean look.
Futhermore, it has almost zero CA, keeps very good contrast even against bright lights and focus very fast with the S5II (it also focus very fast with the old gen S cameras but only in AF-S).
The Price, weight and size are huge compared to the 50mm S f1.8 though. Also the local contrast in the shadows is somewhat not as good as lenses like the SL 50mm Summilux or the 50mm Sony Zeiss f1.4. No lens is perfect.

The 50mm S is much smaller/lighter and very sharp. My copy is stellar and almost as good at f1.8 than my S Pro at f1.4. If you're only about sharpness wide open, the S Pro is not worth it in my opinion.
However, bokeh and OOF are really not as good, bokeh can look a bit busy depening of the subject distance, it can work great for head portraits and very good to 3/4 body portraits but don't expect too much. Also, while it has good contrast, the local contrast is not very high and the lens has not a great sense of volume either. It also has more CA than the S Pro.
Focus is very fast though, like the S Pro.

For my tastes, the 50mm S Pro is just the best 50mm I have ever used. Each time I look at my pictures taken with the S Pro, I blow away by the rendering.
With the 50mm S f1.8, well, not really ...

 

[Babylonia]

I only have one Pro-S lens.  The Panasonic 16-35mm/4.0

In general I am pleased with the optical quality.
However at corners there still is a noticeable amount of CA, and in some circumstances at highlight (blown out) contrast edges.
But can be corrected by post.

Mechanically I like the push / pull focusing ring AF versus manual focusing.

Last year I did a fast comparison of the Pro-S 50mm/1.4 -and- Sigma 50mm/1.4 DNG | Art
The Pro-S 50mm definitely is better corrected for LoCA and high contrast CA in comparison to Sigma 50mm/1.4 DNG
As for sharpness (by the not real pixel peeping scientistic lens tests, but just same subjects), I think there is not a real difference.

But weight - size and price-wise, didn't bought the Panasonic Pro-S - but the Sigma 50mm/1.4
Later I bought the Sigma 35mm/F2.0 Contemporary and happy by these lenses. Specially I like the separate aperture ring.
-

[Sohail]

 

 

3 hours ago, oculaii said:

For my tastes, the 50mm S Pro is just the best 50mm I have ever used. Each time I look at my pictures taken with the S Pro, I blow away by the rendering.
With the 50mm S f1.8, well, not really ...

 

Please share some of your images!

Edited April 3, 2024 by Sohail

[Sohail]

I have the 90 APO Leoca SL. But the best lens I've owned in this focal range is a 2013 Panasonic Leica-certified lens for the micro-four third system: the Noctricon. 42.5/1.2 -- equivalent of 85mm in full frame terms. I'd love to see Panasonic design a full-frame version in L mount.

[Richardgb]

10 hours ago, oculaii said:

I have both and I use them since their release.

The 50mm S Pro is extremely sharp everywhere, sharper wide open than every 50mm I used, inclding the 50mm GM f1.2 and the 50mm Summilux SL.
It has very nice bokeh and smooth OOF (the bokeh can sometimes look even deeper than a 50mm f1.4 lens but sadly with a kind of "vibrating" lines). It also has a very punchy rendering with great colors and sense of volume. The local contrast in the highlights is very good and gives a very clean look.
Futhermore, it has almost zero CA, keeps very good contrast even against bright lights and focus very fast with the S5II (it also focus very fast with the old gen S cameras but only in AF-S).
The Price, weight and size are huge compared to the 50mm S f1.8 though. Also the local contrast in the shadows is somewhat not as good as lenses like the SL 50mm Summilux or the 50mm Sony Zeiss f1.4. No lens is perfect.

The 50mm S is much smaller/lighter and very sharp. My copy is stellar and almost as good at f1.8 than my S Pro at f1.4. If you're only about sharpness wide open, the S Pro is not worth it in my opinion.
However, bokeh and OOF are really not as good, bokeh can look a bit busy depening of the subject distance, it can work great for head portraits and very good to 3/4 body portraits but don't expect too much. Also, while it has good contrast, the local contrast is not very high and the lens has not a great sense of volume either. It also has more CA than the S Pro.
Focus is very fast though, like the S Pro.

For my tastes, the 50mm S Pro is just the best 50mm I have ever used. Each time I look at my pictures taken with the S Pro, I blow away by the rendering.
With the 50mm S f1.8, well, not really ...

 

 

8 hours ago, Babylonia said:

I only have one Pro-S lens.  The Panasonic 16-35mm/4.0

In general I am pleased with the optical quality.
However at corners there still is a noticeable amount of CA, and in some circumstances at highlight (blown out) contrast edges.
But can be corrected by post.

Mechanically I like the push / pull focusing ring AF versus manual focusing.

Last year I did a fast comparison of the Pro-S 50mm/1.4 -and- Sigma 50mm/1.4 DNG | Art
The Pro-S 50mm definitely is better corrected for LoCA and high contrast CA in comparison to Sigma 50mm/1.4 DNG
As for sharpness (by the not real pixel peeping scientistic lens tests, but just same subjects), I think there is not a real difference.

But weight - size and price-wise, didn't bought the Panasonic Pro-S - but the Sigma 50mm/1.4
Later I bought the Sigma 35mm/F2.0 Contemporary and happy by these lenses. Specially I like the separate aperture ring.
-

Although it's a digression from an 85/1.4, about a year ago I bought the Lumix S-Pro 50/1.4 but found, as others have said, its weight and bulk detracted from its excellent optical performance when it came to actual usability. The same, incidentally, goes for the S-Pro 70-200/2.8 which I acquired at the same time. After little use for several months on account of this, I sold them both. I'd still like a 50/1.4 , and the Sigma looks good (if not quite as good as the Lumix), but now the 50/1.2 is getting rave, even better, reviews than its 50/1.4 sibling. Likewise the recently-released Sigma 70-200/2.8 - lighter bit with excellent optical performance.

[oculaii]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:38 PM, Sohail said:

 

 

Please share some of your images!

Some of the S Pro :

 

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Edited April 7, 2024 by oculaii