Lumix 100mm f2.8 — More Than Just Macro
The new for 2024 Lumix L mount 100mm f2.8 macro lens (full frame!) is an absolute beaut. It is groundbreaking in a number of ways, which I’m sure a lot of other reviews will cover, but I thought it might be helpful to take it for a spin in a scenario outside of its macro capabilities. Let’s see how it did!
Benefits of the Lumix 100mm f2.8 macro
If you own any other Lumix 1.8 prime, this will be right at home in that set. They’re all designed to be almost identical in size and weight. This has many benefits (and one struggle — it’s hard to tell them apart in your bag!) If you balance any of these lenses on a gimbal, you can interchange them without any re-balancing.
They all take the same filter threads too. It’s a beautiful, under-rated set of lenses that people are seriously sleeping on.
I shot these images at Manchester Academy with the 100mm f2.8 on the Lumix S5ii
Lumix 100mm f2.8 for portraits
Being a bit of a cheapskate at heart, I really value lenses that can serve multiple purposes. The Lumix 100mm f2.8 is a great example of this. While macro is of course the primary purpose, it makes for a superb portrait and live concert lens.
The auto focus works like a charm, more or less like any other lens in this line-up, and the images are super sharp and detailed. 100mm is a pretty good focal length for larger concerts too.
The lens is also much smaller than any other full frame macro lens I’ve used. It feels like a standard lens, looks like a standard lens, and performs like one too.
Lumix 100mm f2.8 focus breathing
Focus breathing is an often over-looked phenomenon. It isn’t sexy like snappy auto focus, or silky bokeh, but in practical, real-world use, it is so important to keep focus breathing to a minimum.
This is important for video, but especially important for macro photography. If you want to focus-stack your images to get the most detail possible, then keeping focus breathing to a minimum is worth its weight in gold.
The Lumix 100mm f2.8 macro lens has the least amount of focus breathing when compared to all its competitors. It’s also the smallest lens of all its competitors. It also finds focus faster than all its competitors! It’s also really well priced! Lumix have knocked it out of the park with this lens.
These leaps and bounds in specs are a bit technical, and they’re just not the sexiest things to talk about. I truly hope people see the amazing achievements Lumix have made with this macro lens. They didn’t just aim to be competitive; they aimed to smash all the competition entirely.
Is the Lumix 100mm f2.8 macro lens right for you?
As always on this blog (see: cheapskate) I like to have at least two or more scenarios for a piece of kit before I make the jump. I think that is great advice here, unless of course you’re a dedicated macro shooter. If macro is all you do, you cannot go wrong with this lens. It’s super and has excelled in many ways over similarly priced competitors.
When you also consider that the Lumix S5ii can now do high-res mode both on tripod and handheld, AND has focus stacking automation, this would be a superb macro setup.
What interests me most about this lens personally, however, is just how delightful it is for everything else too. Video is sharp and pleasing, with very minimal focus breathing. And hopefully the images in this blog can showcase how easy and pleasing it is for concert photography and portraiture too.
I also love that it is small. I see macro personally as a “just in case” sort of lens, and that’s made all the more appealing when the lens is so portable you can just throw it in your day bag.
If you’re collecting the fabulous Lumix f1.8 primes, then this would be a brilliant, versatile addition to your setup.
All in all, this is an incredibly strong new release from Lumix. I had a wonderful time testing it out, and I think it’ll be a “must buy” for a lot of users.
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