If you own the Panasonic Lumix G85, you know that a good lens setup is essential for any mirrorless camera. The popularity of the G85 hasn’t waned even though it’s been on the market for quite some time. The comparatively low price tag belies the impressive variety of features.
Finding the correct lens can be a difficult endeavor. We’re about to provide you with the knowledge you’ll need to select the best micro four-thirds lenses for the Panasonic Lumix G85 mirrorless camera. You must choose the one that best meets your needs!
Our Top Picks of 2024
1. Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7
Panasonic 42.5mm is the lens to get if you want to paint a portrait. It is small, lightweight, and durable. The optical performance is just outstanding, giving stunning images with exceptional sharpness. It has a basic design, with no markings on the lens body other than the focal range and lens hood alignment dots. The front of the lens body is detachable, and you can attach the lens hood in its place. Unsurprisingly, the lens can cram so much functionality into such a small package. It’s quite adaptable and easy to carry around.
It’s suitable for proxy photography thanks to its 31cm focusing distance. The inclusion of an aspherical element in the optical design aids in the reduction of spherical aberrations and distortions. This feature results in increased sharpness and a more accurate depiction. The large F1.7 aperture lets in a lot of light, creating a beautiful bokeh effect that blurs the background. The rounded seven-blade diaphragm gives a smooth out-of-focus look while shooting photographs and films with a narrow depth of field, further cementing its role as a versatile portrait tool.
The focusing performance is smooth, quiet, and responsive, making it easy to use and compliment the optical features. But, after a few returns, the vignetting becomes fairly noticeable. It also includes built-in optical stabilization and silent autofocus. This lens is a real contender if you want to shoot portraits with your Lumix G85.
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2. Panasonic 45-200mm f/4-5.6
The Panasonic 45mm to 200mm F4.0 lens covers a wide range of focal lengths. It’d be excellent for people looking for a low-cost all-in-one lens. The compact, lightweight design makes it ideal for those who travel frequently. The built-in optical image stabilization is a fantastic feature that reduces camera shake. The autofocus function is quick, quiet, and internal, so the front does not shift while zooming in.
The lens gives the best results when used below 100mm. But mixed telephoto results come when used above 200mm, where softness occurs. You might notice slight chromatic aberration when using the lens wide open at 45-60mm. The lens can produce high-quality photos with exceptional detail and clarity. The lens is versatile and produces professional photos. A sophisticated optical design reduces Color fringing and chromatic aberrations. It integrates three components with extra-low dispersion, resulting in greater clarity and sharpness. The lens’ overall reach is further aided by this design.
The lens’s physical build is also splash and dustproof, making it ideal for use in harsh settings. This lens doesn’t have a constant aperture, as the most aperture falls as the focal length grows. But it would be more expensive otherwise, so some will be content with the tradeoff. This lens isn’t suitable for advanced photographers, but it’s a great entry-level option for novices and mid-level amateurs.
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3. Olympus 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3
This versatile lens is ideal for the vast majority of shooting situations. Because of its splash-proof and dustproof design, this is one of the best lenses on the market today. It offers the widest zoom range of any mirrorless interchangeable lens (24-400mm equivalent). It includes everything from wide-angle to super-telephoto. It also provides superb image quality as well as unrivaled system agility.
The sophisticated optical design contains a range of aspherical, low dispersion, and high refractive index elements to generate a well-corrected picture. This lens is notable for its close focusing distance of 8.7 inches, despite its wide reach. This lens provides silky smooth, lightning-quick, and silent focusing for still photography and videography.
When working in brightly lit areas, a ZERO coating on the lens helps cut lens flare and ghosting, resulting in better contrast and color accuracy. There is slight distortion at the telephoto end, and the sharpness diminishes at 200 mm. The lens is adequate for traditional photography and everyday use. This lens will let you photograph everything from wide landscapes and architecture to wildlife and sports.
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4. Panasonic Lumix Pro 12-35mm F2.8
Countless consumers have praised the Panasonic 12-35mm F2.8 as a “must-have” for any Lumix G85 user. It’s the greatest zoom lens, especially if you dabble in filmmaking. It has a focal length range of 24-70mm on a full-frame camera. It’s a fantastic choice if you travel a lot and want to capture the landscape and inside photos without carrying extra lenses.
A constant maximum aperture of f/2.8 ensures consistent performance throughout the zoom range. This feature is helpful when working in difficult lighting conditions. This feature also allows for better control over the amount of depth captured in the image. Even while capturing video, the autofocus feature is quick, silent, and seamless. With dual image stabilization, you can capture high-quality video that doesn’t wobble. A Nano Surface Coating on the lens decreases ghosting and flare.
The small depth of field enables this lens to capture soft bokeh. This feature makes it excellent for shooting interview videos, events where getting near is difficult, and as a general walk-around lens. It’s splash-proof, dustproof, and freezeproof, making it ideal for shooting outside. That means you can shoot in almost any weather and still be creative. It’s not overly hefty for a zoom lens, and the image quality is excellent. However, it’s not the most convenient lens to use in low light.
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5. The Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro Zoom Lens
The Olympus 12-40mm F2.8 will be an excellent choice if you want the best lens for Lumix G85. This lens is adaptable and matches a variety of photographic styles. The focal range of this wide-angle zoom lens makes it perfect for landscapes, sports, night photography, and more. It’s also a good choice for portraiture, given the fixed f/2.8 aperture at 40mm.
Its small, lightweight design makes it perfect for including on your packing list if you travel frequently. The autofocus feature is rapid. Switching between auto and manual focus is a breeze, thanks to the sliding focus ring. A lens capable of photographing everything from night photography to sports and action photography to wedding photography —sometimes all at once. If you want the most adjustable lens, it’s difficult to find a flaw with this lens.
The main disadvantage is that it is a bit pricey. It is an excellent high-quality all-purpose lens that can meet 95% of your photographic needs. Overall, the Olympus 12-40mm F2.8 is the ideal Panasonic Lumix G85 lens for both novice and experienced photographers.
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Choosing the Best Lenses for Panasonic Lumix G85: A Buying Guide
Upgrading to an interchangeable lens camera brings up a world of creative possibilities. It also necessitates some key considerations. The choice of lens is one of the most important. There are a few crucial aspects to consider when selecting the best lens for a Lumix G85.
1. Type Of Photography
Which lens you should buy is primarily determined by the type of photography you enjoy or anticipate frequently doing. The right lens will make creating high-quality photographs and improving your photography skills much easier. If you’re unsure what type of photography you want to do yet, you could go with a more versatile lens that allows you to experiment, or you could go with a less expensive lens to afford more than one.
2. Lens Mounts
The lens mount is the most important detail to consider when buying a new camera lens. A DSLR or mirrorless camera’s brand and mount decide which lenses it can use. If you have a G-series camera, you must use Micro Four Thirds lenses, and an S-series camera must use L-mount lenses.
3. Focal Length
The larger the focal length, the further away you can capture a crisp image of something. Longer focal lengths are ideal for capturing distant shots, such as wildlife photography. The stated shorter focal length is the shortest distance at which the lens can focus. As a result, the ideal focal length for your lens depends on the photography you wish to pursue. Macro photography, for example, necessitates a very short focal length.
4. Zoom or prime lens?
Prime lenses are lenses with fixed focal lengths. They typically offer the best quality results because all the optics within optimize at a specific focal length. On the other hand, Zoom lenses are quite popular due to their utility. With a ring twist on the barrel, you may vary the focal length. Furthermore, because of recent developments in optical engineering, the difference in image quality between a sharp zoom lens and a prime lens is fairly modest.
5. Aperture
The aperture is essentially a measurement of how much light the lens lets into the sensor. The f/ number determines the aperture of a lens; the narrower the aperture, the higher this value will be. A wide aperture is anything less than f/2.8, allowing less light in, and a narrow aperture is anything greater than f/2.8, allowing more light in. A wide aperture is great for low-light situations and creates those lovely blurring backgrounds you see in many portrait photographs. Landscape photography benefits from narrower apertures.
6. Image Stabilization
The Panasonic G85’s integrated image stabilization is one of its best features. It’s one of the reasons why it’s still so popular. However, image stabilization is still included in many lenses for the G85. Having dual image stabilization is a plus, especially if you shoot many videos.
7. Autofocus
Except for a few high-end models, most current lenses have some form of autofocus. Autofocus lenses are also known as ‘AF lenses.’ AF lenses allow you to point and shoot your camera and get a focused photo with little to no adjustment. Many manufacturers use different acronyms to describe AF features like image stabilization.
8. Weight And Size
One of their biggest advantages is that mirrorless cameras are lightweight and portable. If this is important, you should also check the lens’s weight and size. A zoom lens, for example, will be bulkier and heavier than a prime lens with fewer internal parts. A telephoto lens, by definition, will be larger and heavier than most other lenses.
9. Build Quality
The build quality of a lens is closely related to its weight and size. Cheaper lenses feature more plastic pieces, which makes them lighter for travel but also means they are less durable. Depending on the frequency of usage and the amount of handling and travel it must withstand, it’s critical to strike a fair balance between cost and quality.
10. Price
It’s critical to understand which features are “must-haves” and “good to have” to keep costs low. For example, dual stabilization is generally a must-have if you plan on shooting much cinematic footage. The IBIS will likely suffice if you don’t do any videography. Another simple approach to save money is to buy a third-party lens instead of a Panasonic choice. These are a less expensive option that produces high-quality outcomes.
Final Verdict
The Panasonic G85 is a fantastic camera with a wide range of features that will appeal to amateur and professional photographers. The new Panasonic G85 can do miracles when used with the Panasonic G85 lenses discussed in this post. If you’re on the fence about whether you should buy the Panasonic G85, rest assured that if you do, you’ll be making the right decision. I hope this article helped determine which lens is ideal for your Panasonic G85.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is a Micro Four Thirds Lens, and how does it work?
MFT lenses are specifically built to accommodate Panasonic and Olympus’ mirrorless camera lines. The name comes from the sensor’s aspect ratio of 4:3. These cameras are also popular due to their lightweight and compact construction.
Q: Why Do Micro Four-Thirds Lenses Cost So Much?
Some specialist MFT lenses may appear to be pricey. Many more cost-effective solutions are available compared to full-frame lenses. A lens with a plastic construction is usually much less expensive and, as a benefit, lighter than the more expensive metal options.
