Lumix 18-40mm f4.5-6.3 pancake lens review
This lens has been a long time coming! The Lumix 18-40mm is the perfect companion for the tiny Lumix S9, and I think this lens is that good it makes the S9 make much more sense. I’ve been using this combo for a few weeks now for my main vlogging camera and day-to-day documenting, and it has impressed me so much. Let’s get stuck in!
Lumix 18-40mm f4.5-6.3 size and handling
As you can see from the example images in this blog, this lens is TINY! Not even “tiny for full frame” but genuinely tiny. It does un-pack to a slightly larger footprint when you’re using it, but I don’t mind that much at all. I think lens size matters most when you’re transporting and walking around with the camera. That’s when things feel most bulky, so this collapsable design is genius.
Now, don’t quote me on this, but I believe this is currently the world’s smallest full frame zoom lens. Super impressive.
The build quality is superb too. It’s incredibly light, and the more pronounced ridges in the zoom and focus wheel make the lens really easy to handle and not as fiddly even if you have larger hands.
The lens has a 62mm filter thread.
Lumix 14-40mm with the Lumix S9
While you can use this L mount lens on any other L mount camera, it’s definitely been designed with the Lumix S9 in mind. I absolutely love this combo! In the past, even with a Lumix 1.8 prime on the camera, it still felt top-heavy and large. But with this new 18-40mm it’s a perfect pairing.
I also love how the focal length perfectly compliments the S9 too. The S9 is aimed at the “Every day carry” crowd, as well people who document their lives on social media. The 18mm end is perfect for vlogging, and the 40mm zoom is the perfect focal length for an “out and about” lens. 40mm is my favourite for street photography for example. In fact, if I were to design a perfect lens for this setup and use-case, I’d have picked the 18-40mm focal length.
And when you consider you can also use the Hybrid Zoom function in the S9 with this lens, suddenly this tiny 18-40mm can reach up to 125mm in photo modes and 65mm in 3.8k video! I’m just going to glue this lens to the S9 and be done with it. Perfection.
In these images below you can see 18mm, 40mm, then 125mm using Hybrid Zoom.
Lumix 18-40mm image quality
I’ve found this lens to be super sharp throughout, and just a joy to use. You get all the benefits of a full frame setup at a fraction of the size and weight.
I absolutely love the Lumix S9 Real Time LUT feature, and my “Streetwise” preset/LUT can be found in the Creator Gallery inside the Lumix Lab app. All the test images in this blog are straight out of camera with my Streetwise preset. If you don’t have an S9 but like the look of the preset, you can download it here for free! It’s compatible with Lightroom and Adobe editing software, as well as and program or camera that will take LUTs.
How does the Lumix 18-40mm compare to other full frame zooms?
This question will always will come down to, what do you value most?
I’ve tried most of the L mount stock/zooms now, and there are some great options!
For my wedding photography, I love either the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 for that lovely wide aperture, or the Lumix 24-105mm f4 for versatility and reach. But MY GOODNESS both of those lenses are huge and heavy!
While the 24-105mm is objectively a better lens than the cheaper Lumix 20-60mm stock lens, I usually choose the cheaper option for personal projects just because it’s lighter and smaller.
But now? This new 18-40mm makes the 20-60mm look like a brick.
And what about the delightful Lumix 14-28mm? Well, That has been my full frame vlogging lens of choice for a while, but even that is huge on the S9! Look at this comparison:
So now we are blessed with options. I think there’s something for everyone! You can choose wider apertures, more versatile focal lengths, or, if you’re like me, you can choose the most portable option.
I think one of the more dated criticisms of the Lumix L mount is that there aren’t many lenses, or that they’re expensive. Sure, the mount could really do with some more third party options, like Viltrox or Samyang, but Lumix (and Sigma!) have been chipping away at the line up for a while. There’s a lot more choice than you think, and at a lot of different price points too.
Conclusion
I’m so happy with this new lens release from Lumix, and more than them knocking it out of the park, I am quite excited by what this tiny lens represents: to me, it shows that they’re committed to providing tiny lenses for their tiny S9 camera. I hope there will be many more of this style to come.
If you’re looking for a “do it all” lens, then this the Lumix 18-40mm f4.5-6.3 is a brilliant option indeed.
Don’t forget to check out my free Streetwise preset here!
