Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 2.8 / 70-200mm OIS Certified by LEICA review

According provided by Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 2.8 / 70-200mm OIS lens (for cameras with Leica L mount) many thanks the store ProFotoSale, where you can find many new and used ones. lenses for different systems, including and similar lenses for Leica L mount.

Navigation

1. In short
2. History
3. All Panasonic LUMIX Lenses and Cameras for Leica L
4. Main Specifications
5. Assembly
6. Stabilizer
7. Focusing
8. Image quality
9. Sample photos on Panasonic Lumix S1R
10. My personal experience with the lens
11. Prices
12. Alternatives
13. Results
14. User Comments
15. Add your review or question on the lens

In this review, I will abbreviate the Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 2.8 / 70-200mm OIS lens - Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8. Please note that there is a similar lens, but with less aperture - Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 4 / 70-200mm OIS.

In short

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is a fast telephoto lens from the professional line of Panasonic LUMIX S PRO lenses for full-frame mirrorless cameras from Alliance Penasonic / Sigma / Leica with Leica L mount.

Most often Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is used in reportage and portrait photography. It is well suited for sports photography, street photography, wedding photography.

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is generally very good. Of the shortcomings, one can only clearly distinguish a large weight and high cost.

As of spring 2021, it has no other similar direct competitors. Alternatives for Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 can only be called 'simpler' Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 4 / 70-200mm OIS... or more expensive LEICA APO-VARIO-ELMARIT-SL 1:2.8-4/90-280.

It is strange that Sigma still (spring 2021) has not converted its Sigma 70-200 / 2.8 DG S OS (Sport) for Leica L. mount.

History

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 was submitted November 6, 2019 and is the second telephoto lens in the Panasonic LUMIX S PRO lineup. The first was Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 4 / 70-200mm OIS... presented a little earlier.

Exact list of Panasonic LUMIX S lenses (Leica L mount)

1. Panasonic Lumix S 18 mm 1:1.8 [September 2022, BHphotovideo]
2. Panasonic Lumix S 24 mm 1:1.8 [September 2021, BHphotovideo]
3. Panasonic Lumix S 26 mm 1:8 [May 2024, BHphotovideo]
4. Panasonic Lumix S 35 mm 1:1.8 [November 2021, BHphotovideo]
5. Panasonic Lumix S 50 mm 1:1.4 PRO CBL [February 2019, BHphotovideo]
6. Panasonic Lumix S 50 mm 1:1.8 [June 2021, BHphotovideo]
7. Panasonic Lumix S 85 mm 1:1.8 [November 2020, BHphotovideo]
8. Panasonic Lumix S 100 mm 1:2.8 MACRO [January 2024, BHphotovideo]
9. Panasonic Lumix S 14-28mm 1: 4-5.6 MACRO [January 2023, BHphotovideo]
10. Panasonic Lumix S 16-35mm 1:4 PRO CBL [November 2019, BHphotovideo]
11. Panasonic Lumix S 18-40mm 1:4.5-5.6 [2024, BHphotovideo]
12. Panasonic Lumix S 20-60mm 1: 3.5-5.6 [May 2020, BHphotovideo]
13. Panasonic Lumix S 24-70mm 1:2.8 PRO CBL [August 2019, BHphotovideo]
14. Panasonic Lumix S 24-105mm 1:4 MACRO Ois [February 2019, BHphotovideo]
15. Panasonic Lumix S 28-200mm 1: 4-7.1 MACRO Ois [February 2024, BHphotovideo]
16. Panasonic Lumix S 70-200mm 1:4 PRO CBL Ois [February 2019, BHphotovideo]
17. Panasonic Lumix S 70-200mm 1:2.8 PRO CBL Ois [November 2019, BHphotovideo]
18. Panasonic Lumix S 70-300mm 1: 4.5-5.6 MACRO Ois [February 2021, BHphotovideo]
19. The L mount alliance also includes Leica и Sigma

CBL (Ccertified By Leica), Ois (Optical Istomach Stabilizer), PRO ( PROprofessional), MACRO (macro shooting capability)

All of these lenses are wonderfully compatible with Panasonic LUMIX S full frame mirrorless cameras (exact and complete list):

1. Panasonic Lumix S1 [February 2019]
2. Panasonic Lumix S1R [February 2019]
3. Panasonic Lumix S1H [August 2019]
4. Panasonic Lumix S5 [September 2020]

A detailed list of Leica L and Sigma L lenses, as well as full-frame Leica and Sigma L-mount cameras can be found in my post 'Mirrorless fever. Discussion and system selection'.

Main technical characteristics of Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 2.8 / 70-200mm OIS:

Review Instance Name	Near the front lens: LUMIX S PRO 1: 2.8 / 70-200mm OIS Ø82 On the case: LUMIX S PRO 1: 2.8 / 70-200mm + Panasonic L mount + Certified by LEICA + S From the bayonet side: Made in China + serial number + some other number
Basic properties	L mount - Leica L mount S PRO - a line of professional lenses Dual drive autofocus (linear + stepping) UED (Ultra low Dispersion) - ultra low dispersion elements ED (Extra low Dispersion) - extra low dispersion elements ASPH (aspherical) - aspherical elements IF (Internal focusing) - internal focusing Internal zoom Focus Distance Limiter Three AF ​​lock buttons Fear Clutch - AF / MF focus mode switch Ois (Optical Istomach Stabilizer) - optical image stabilization Two modes of operation of the stabilizer Certified by LEICA - certified by Leica Protected enclosure Tripod foot (removable) F / 2.8 over the entire range of focal lengths Instructions
Front Filter Diameter	82 mm, metal thread for filters
Focal length	70-200 mm
Zoom ratio	2.86 X (usually just talking about XNUMXx zoom)
Designed by	for digital mirrorless full-frame cameras from Alliance Penasonic / Sigma / Leica
Number of aperture blades	11 rounded petals
Tags	a scale with a focusing distance in meters and feet, there are labels for values ​​of 10, 4, 2.2, 1.5, 1.2, 0.95 meters and an infinity mark focal lengths for 70, 100, 135, 200 mm bayonet mount mark tripod foot mark
Diaphragm	from f / 2.8 over the entire range of focal lengths to f / 22
MDF (minimum focusing distance)	95 centimeters, maximum magnification ratio 1: 4.77 available at 200 mm (0.21 X)
The weight	1570 grams without tripod foot 1920 with tripod foot, hood and covers (measured)
Optical design	22 elements in 17 groups. The scheme includes: 2 UED (Ultra-low Dispersion) - ultra-low dispersion elements 3 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) - extra-low dispersion elements 1 ASPH (Aspherical) - aspherical elements The image of the optical circuit is clickable.
Lens hood	Panasonic S-E70200 (supplied)
Transportation	With a special cover
Manufacturer country	Made in China (inscription on the bayonet side)
Period	From 6 November 2019
Price	Look at E-Catalog

One of the implicit advantages of 1: 2.8 telephoto lenses is that they can be used with teleconverters without too much trouble. When using a 2x teleconverter, the Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 lens turns into '140-400 / 5.6'. For these purposes, there are two teleconverters Panasonic DMW-STC14 1.4x and Panasonic DMW-STC20 2.0x.

Assembly

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is manufactured in China. The build quality is at a very high level.

The lens has dustproof, splash-proof and cold-proof... The lens barrel has a variety of seals, including a bayonet seal.

The focusing and zoom rings are rubberized, large and comfortable.

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 uses a large professional 82mm filter. The same diameter is used by the lens Panasonic Lumix S PRO 1: 2.8 / 24-70mm.

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 uses a large plastic hood, the S-E70200, which automatically locks into the grooves located near the front lens element. The hood has a button for removing it from the lens. The hood can be installed in the opposite direction for transportation. In this position, access to the focusing ring is lost.

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is equipped with a convenient detachable Arca Swiss design tripod foot. The foot can rotate freely around the lens.

On the foot and body of Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 there are marks for quick setting of the horizontal or vertical position of the lens and camera.

Stabilizer

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 has an OIS (Optical Image Stabilizer) function. I have not found anywhere how many stops the gimbal can compensate on its own (without simultaneously working with the gimbal in the camera).

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 supports the Dual IS and Dual IS 2.0 functions, which allow the lens built-in stabilizer and the camera built-in stabilizer to operate simultaneously. In Dual IS 2.0 mode with Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8, compensation can be achieved by 7 steps by shutter speed... In numerical terms, this means that you can shoot at shutter speeds 128 times slower (!) Than required by a lens without a stabilizer.

There is a dedicated switch on the lens to enable / disable the stabilizer. The stabilizer can operate in two modes:

• 'MODE 1' Suitable for most scenes and avoids camera shake
• In 'MODE 2' tracking camera movement to create panoramas

I was able to take pictures of stationary subjects without blur and hard effort at 200 mm focal length and 1/30 of a second. The stabilizer works fine.

The stabilizer should be turned off when shooting with a tripod.

The stabilizer works silently.

Focusing

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 focuses thanks to two focusing motors: one linear, the other stepping.

The motor is very quiet during autofocus. It is stated that focusing is very sensitive, it can perform up to 480 shots per second.

Auto Focus Speed ​​- high... It should be remembered that all Panasonic S cameras use contrast focusing (albeit with DFD technology), which can negatively affect the smoothness of focusing during video shooting (excessive micro-jerking of focusing may be present).

Important: During the work I faced a serious problem - about 70-80% of the obtained photos had serious focusing errors (strong back or front focus). I assume that the reason for this is precisely the method (algorithms, principles and technology) of focusing on the camera. Panasonic Lumix S1Rwhere I tested this lens. Perhaps I have set something wrong or have chosen the wrong or not optimal focus mode / method.

During focusing, the front and rear lenses remain stationary, as the lens uses internal focus.

The front and rear lenses remain stationary while zooming - the lens has internal zoom. Thus, during focusing and changing the focal length, only the internal parts of the lens move. You can easily use any filters, for example polarizing or gradient.

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 has a distance scale in meters and feet. There is no depth of field scale, as well as marks for working in the infrared spectrum.

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 has an additional switch, which is a focusing distance limiter.

• In the 'Full' position, automatic focusing is available over the entire range of distances - from ∞ to 0.95 m.
• At the '5m-∞' position, auto focus is available from 5 meters to ∞.
• At the '0.95-5m' position, autofocus is available from 95cm to 5m.

Note that during manual focus, the limiter does not work.

During auto focus, the focus ring remains stationary. In manual focus mode, the ring rotates approximately 135 degrees, when the extreme positions are reached, it does not rest, but continues to slide, without affecting the focusing. Sighting manually is quite comfortable.

The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 has a dedicated focus mode switch (Fear Clutch). The switch is interesting enough, but not very convenient. To switch between focusing modes, simply pull the focusing ring towards the mount or front lens.Such a switch is often used in Tokina lenses, for example, in Tokina SD 24-70 F2.8 (IF) FX AT-X PRO Aspherical... But I want to point out that other modern lenses have more familiar focus mode switches that allow for continuous manual focus control. Full-time manual focus control during autofocus is not available with this lens.

The lens barrel has 3 dedicated buttonsauto focus momentarily stops and locks when pressed. These buttons can be reprogrammed for many other functions.

Focus Features:

1. Present very weak 'Focus Breathing' effect (changing the angle of view during focusing). The lens is optimized for video shooting.
2. The lens has a scale with focusing distance in meters and feet. Values ​​are only available for the infinity mark, 10, 4, 2.2, 1.5, 1.2 and 0.95 meters. In fact, this scale is useless. The scale is visible only in manual focus mode. In autofocus mode, it is covered by the focusing ring.
3. The lens does not have a hard infinity mechanical stop for fast and accurate aiming at infinity in all operating temperatures.
4. Focus Shift (shift focus, changing the focus distance due to iris) is missing.
5. Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is close to parfocal lenses, which do not knock out focusing when changing the focal length.

Image quality

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 generally shows good and sometimes excellent optical qualities. It practically does not suffer from a noticeable drop in sharpness at the far end (by 200 mm) and weakly loses its resolution at the corners and edges of the frame. That being said, well corrected chromatic aberration.

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is not afraid of back and side light. Has low vignetting and low distortion. It is quite difficult to find fault with something seriously. Bokeh may not be to everyone's taste.

Modern Panasonic cameras and state-of-the-art software can easily and automatically correct distortion and vignetting. Many cameras are able to automatically correct some of the chromatic aberrations.

Sample photos on Panasonic Lumix S1R

The gallery below shows photos without processing, on-camera JPEG from the camera Panasonic Lumix S1R (47 MP full-frame sensor). Basic picture control mode, without any additional enhancement settings. It was a very cloudy day. Many good photos were lost due to severe focusing errors. Perhaps I was stupid somewhere and incorrectly set the focusing method. Most of the photos are taken with auto focus and eye / face focus.

JPEG source pictures at this link (60+ photos, gallery on Google Drive, watch out, photos with focus errors). Original RAW images (Panasonic '.RW2 ′) at this link (15+ files, gallery on Google Drive).

 

My experience

As well as Panasonic 24-70 / 2.8The Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 should be a workhorse for many professionals. I really love lenses of the 70-200 / 2.8 class and am glad that Panasonic was able to release such an interesting solution.

When the lens Sigma 70-200 / 2.8 DG S OS (Sport) with a price tag of 1400 dollars will be converted to Leica L, it will be a very serious competitor for the Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8. But the Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 costs about $ 2600.

It seems to me that the inscriptions 'Made in China' and 'Certified by LEICA' are incompatible and should not be present on the lens barrel at the same time.

In general, with Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 and Panasonic S1R you can touch the magic of Leica. Camera at Panasonic S1Rmost likely uses a sensor (matrix) from Leica Q2, and the lens is also created together with Leica. True, sometimes the bokeh of the lens resembles the 'cotton wool' that can be traced in old similar lenses from Sigma.

The focusing accuracy left many questions, but these questions should rather be addressed to the camera. Panasonic Lumix S1Rwhere I tested this lens.

Alternatives

Below is a list of all fast class 70-200 / 2.8 lenses with built-in image stabilizer:

Canon (Canon EF / EF-S / RF)

1. Canon Zoom Lens EF 70-200mm 1: 2.8 L IS USM
2. Canon Zoom Lens EF 70-200mm 1: 2.8 L IS II USM
3. Canon Zoom Lens EF 70-200mm 1: 2.8 L IS III USM
4. Canon Lens RF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM

Nikon (Nikon F, Z)

1. Nikon ED AF-S VR-Nikkor 70-200mm 1: 2.8G Vibration Reduction SWM IF (black or silver version)
2. Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1: 2.8GII ED N VR Nano Crystal Coat SWM IF
3. Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1: 2.8E FL ED N VR Nano Crystal Coat SWM IF + its modification 'Nikon 100th Anniversary Edition'
4. Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm 1: 2.8 VR S

Sony (Sony E)

1. Sony FE 2.8 / 70-200 GM OSS
2. Sony FE 2.8 / 70-200 G GM OSS II, 2021

Sigma (for different mounts)

1. Sigma 70-200mm 1: 2.8 APO DG HSM EX OS (Optical Stabilizer) (for Canon EF / EF-S, Nikon F, Sony / Minolta A, Sigma SA, Pentax K, no longer available for Pentax)
2. Sigma 70-200mm 1: 2.8 DG OS HSM S | Sport (for Canon EF / EF-S, Nikon F, Sigma SA)

Tamron (for different mounts)

1. Tamron USD DI SP 70-200mm F / 2.8 VC Ultrasonic Silent Drive A009 (for Canon EF / EF-S, Nikon F and Sony / Minolta A)
2. Tamron SP 70-200mm f / 2.8 Di VC USD G2 A025 (for Canon EF / EF-S, Nikon F)
3. Tamron 70-180mm F / 2.8 Di III VXD Model A056 (Sony FE only)

Panasonic

1. Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 1: 2.8 / 70-200mm OIS (Leica L, Fall 2019)

Prices

Prices for Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 can look at E-Katalog.

Results

Panasonic 70-200 / 2.8 is a very high quality solution for professionals.

10 main advantages

1. high-quality assembly, protected case
2. detachable tripod foot, Arca Swiss design
3. built-in image stabilizer (supports Dual IS 2.0)
4. dual focus motor, very fast focusing
5. internal focusing, internal zoom
6. focusing distance limiter, three focus lock buttons
7. many special optical elements in the optical scheme
8. professional lens LUMIX S PRO
9. eleven aperture blades
10. good optical performance

10 main disadvantages

1. high cost (for example, Tamron 70-180mm F / 2.8 Di III VXD Model A056 costs almost 3 times cheaper)
2. difficult to find on sale (more a problem of the countries of the former CIS)
3. heavy weight: 1920 grams fully loaded (for example, the same Tamron 70-180mm F / 2.8 Di III VXD Model A056 weighs 2 times less)
4. large diameter of light filters by 82 mm
5. not the most convenient switch of focusing modes, intuitively incomprehensible
6. no constant manual focus control
7. there is no front rubber protective bumper (there is, for example, in Nikon 70-200 / 2.8 VR1)
8. poor autofocus accuracy and general poor focusing behavior (more a problem with Panasonic S1 / S5 series cameras)
9. minor optical imperfections inherent in such lenses
10. he doesn’t make coffee (I don’t know what to write in the tenth paragraph)

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Material prepared Arkady Shapoval.