The 50mm Lumix S arrived today.

Full frame with speed. I will do a realistic look at the true benefits and pitfalls of full frame vs M43 using this lens and my 45 Oly, but the reality of a wider perspective and shallow depth adds a tool.

This lens has turned my luke warm thinking on the S5 totally around. The zoom it came with is good, I will admit that, but it is slow (small maximum apertures), so it shows me little that M43 cannot do (f5.6 full frame is roughly f2.8 in M43, which I have plenty of) and highlights the M43 advantages like better stabilising.

The Pentax prime is potentially another winning lens, but until a decent adapter comes, I can only speculate. The TTArtisan as a cropped 50 is a nice novelty, a “look” lens and the MD 45 may also be a sleeper. The Panasonic just has that all around pleasant feel.

Decently fast, very sharp, lovely in the hand (light but smooth and solid feeling), with very serviceable Bokeh. A no fault lens. A very safe bet and I can assume from the many reviews, that the whole set are the same.

Video with it is a very nice experience. The lens seems quite forgiving in manual focus. Clear snap is obvious, but not in that clinical in-or-out way. This means I have a state of the art modern bit of glass with some old school character and genuine utility. It feels like a soft caress and friendly, not brittle and torturous.

Within a few days, the S5 has gone from a base kit to a fully caged, mat boxed, dual handled, fast glass and filter mounted, animal.