{"id":11816,"date":"2026-09-22T05:04:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T03:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/09\/22\/panasonic-lumix-s-20mm-f2-5-sample-gallery-and-hands-on-a-compact-ultrawide-prime-for-l-mount\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T05:04:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T03:04:30","slug":"panasonic-lumix-s-20mm-f2-5-sample-gallery-and-hands-on-a-compact-ultrawide-prime-for-l-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/09\/22\/panasonic-lumix-s-20mm-f2-5-sample-gallery-and-hands-on-a-compact-ultrawide-prime-for-l-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"Panasonic Lumix S 20mm F2.5 sample gallery and hands-on: a compact ultrawide prime for L-mount"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe lens is easy to carry around and produces solid images.<\/p>\n

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When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Last week, Panasonic announced the Lumix S 20mm F2.5, a small, full-frame prime for L-mount. We\u2019ve had the chance to take it out for a few shoots to produce a sample gallery and to see how it performs in various conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Hands-on impressions<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/a>Mitchell Clark<\/span><\/figure>\n

The Lumix S 20mm F2.5 feels relatively well-constructed, with pleasing tactile controls. Of course, its main focus is being compact and lightweight, a task which it gets full marks for. It only adds a bit of depth compared to my camera\u2019s grip, and I found it very easy to slip into a bag to bring along for everyday outings.<\/p>\n

Vingetting is well-controlled; there\u2019s a bit at F2.5 through to F4, but it\u2019s not enough to be distracting. It\u2019s around what we\u2019d expect given that this lens is focused on being small and lightweight, while not being super fast. I did, however, typically have to stop down a bit further to get super-sharp edges and corners, as they\u2019re a bit soft below around F5.6.<\/p>\n

To achieve this size, Panasonic \u2013 like essentially all other companies making lenses for modern mirrorless systems \u2013 has made use of software geometric correction. Without it, there\u2019s substantial pincushion distortion, and, occasionally, darkness in the corners. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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The lens is susceptible to some flare under very harsh conditions. On one of the afternoons I was shooting with it, I found a few of my photos had some large purple flares when I was shooting in the general direction of the afternoon sun. In the shots where I was deliberately trying to produce sunstars, I also got a lot of ghosting. This wasn\u2019t too much of an issue in my testing, but if you frequently find yourself shooting in the brightest of light, you may want to consider picking up a lens hood, as it doesn\u2019t come with one.<\/p>\n

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Note the flare on the right side of the image (not that its ruining a shot that would\u2019ve otherwise been a masterpiece, but still).
Panasonic S1R II | Panasonic Lumix S 20mm F2.5 | <\/figcaption>Mitchell Clark<\/span><\/figure>\n

The lens otherwise behaved quite well in the sun; in shots where it was fully within the frame, it did a very good job of retaining contrast.<\/p>\n

Using the lens with the S1RII and original S1R, I never felt like its motors were the bottleneck for autofocus performance. It was very responsive, and could snap from its closest focusing distance \u2013 a respectable 0.18m (7.1\u2033) \u2013 to objects far away very quickly. I\u2019ve also tested a lot of pancake lenses with unit focus systems, and it was a nice change of pace to use one that focuses internally instead.<\/p>\n

Overall, I felt this lens is a nice addition to Panasonic\u2019s lineup, especially for ultrawide shooters. While there are a few technical drawbacks with a lens this small, I was overall quite pleased with the images I got out of it. If you\u2019re the type of person who prefers this field of view for everyday shooting, or a videographer who wants to be able to film themselves, it\u2019s an easy option to carry around, as long as you pair it with the right body.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Sample gallery<\/h2>\n

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter\/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page<\/a>). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don\u2019t abuse it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Loading gallery\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thanks to Panasonic for the loan of an S1RII to shoot this gallery. All images were processed using our standard lens workflow in Capture One, with the manufacturer\u2019s distortion correction applied but no correction of vignetting. The profile corrects a large amount of barrel distortion, and we\u2019d consider it an essential part of the lens\u2019s optical design.<\/p>\n

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Panasonic Lumix S 20mm F2.5<\/h3>\n