The Lumix S 85mm F1.8

The Street Photography

Battle Concludes

This is the third in the series of testing three of Panasonic Lumix F1.8 series primes form street photography. Those three primes are:

Lumix S 35mm F1.8
Lumix S 50mm F1.8
Lumix S 85mm F1.8

This blog covers the the final lens tested, the Lumix S 85mm F1..8.

The Lens Basics

As mentioned in the blogs on the 35mm and 50mm, Panasonic in their Lumix F1.8 prime series has presented a unique set of lenses:

The F1.8 primes include an 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm which all share the same body and features. There has also been added an 100mm F2.8 which uses the same body design.
All these primes use the same filter thread of 67mm.
All these primes have around the same weight of 300 grams. This reduces setup work for videographers as all the primes in this series can be swapped out on a gimbal without having to rebalance the gimbal.
All of these primes share the same color profile and sharpness qualities.
A single auto focus on / off switch.
The size, weight, and build of the series creates a nice holding balance to the Lumix S5 Mark II. It makes the camera big enough to use in a comfortable way, but small enough for packing and holding all day.

The 85mm Focal Length

The focal length of 85mm is well known for portray work, but often is used in street photography to get a bit more reach out to the subject. When capturing people the 85mm will give that portrait look to your street photography. It will slim down your subject through compression. It is also useful for those wanting to get into street photography with a prime lens, but have a fear of being to close to people. Either way the 85mm focal length fills an unique stop in street photography.

The F1.8 Prime Series

I am very glad I stuck with the Panasonic for full frame and the L-Mount series of lenses. Every manufacturer takes risk introducing products. Panasonic took one of the larger risks of any major camera manufacturer and introduced a completely new full frame camera series in 2019. I love the color science used in the full frame cameras and the F1.8 prime series preserves those colors. This for me means very little color adjustment in portraits. I’m really excited to use this prime series with my DJI gimbal. If you have never balanced a gimbal, it can be a real pain when you switch lenses. Having a 18mm, 24mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 100mm all be the same size a weight is a win for video production.

Example Photos At Sensoji Temple

To wrap up this street photography comparison between the 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm lenses, I took the Lumix S 85mm F1.8 to Sensoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan. Welcome to documenting one of Tokyo busiest tourist spots which is a functioning temple.

The Prime Battle Concludes

So after comparing from the Lumix S F1.8 prime series the 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm, what is my choice for street photography? I have two options that are my picks for street photography:

The Lumix S 50mm F1.8; the documentary look of 50mm appeals to me. This lens is also the choice for low light scenes.
The Lumix S 24mm - 105mm macro zoom; This lens is my all around work horse for travel photography.

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