Panasonic Lumix S 18mm f/1.8 Overview

Designed for full-frame L-mount mirrorless cameras, the Lumix S 18mm f/1.8 from Panasonic is a sleek and compact ultra-wide-angle prime lens. Its 18mm focal length is ideally suited for landscapes, architectural, and interior photography and provides a strong sense of perspective and scale. Its bright f/1.8 maximum aperture offers shallow depth of field control, and the nine-blade circular aperture creates a soft, beautiful bokeh effect. Featuring an uncompromising optical design and the power to capture broad landscapes with corner-to-corner sharpness, this lens provides for rich and detailed stills and smooth and compelling still and video images.

This fast f/1.8 lens is comprised of thirteen lens elements in twelve groups. It includes three aspherical elements, three extra-low dispersion elements, one ultra extra-low dispersion element, and one ultra-high refractive index element. This advanced design effectively suppresses chromatic aberration, while also achieving high descriptive performance and beautiful bokeh. The ultra-wide angle of view makes this lens suitable for a wide range of imaging situations including landscapes, astrophotography, and architectural photography. It can also be used for close-up shots thanks to the minimum focusing distance of about 7".

• Prime ultra-wide-angle lens designed for full-frame L-mount mirrorless cameras but can also be used on APS-C models where it provides a 27mm equivalent focal length.
• Bright f/1.8 maximum aperture offers control over depth of field and suits working in low-light conditions.
• Benefitting professional video applications, linear focus ring control for mechanical-based follow focus systems moves the focus at a constant speed in accordance with the rotating angle of the focus ring.
• Excels in video recording performance with a silent autofocus mechanism that suppresses focus breathing.
• Smooth exposure changes by micro-step aperture control for video applications.
• High resolution sharpness and performance to support 4K video.
• Rounded nine-blade diaphragm contributes to a pleasing bokeh quality when employing selective focus techniques.
• Offers the same approximate size, weight, and filter size of other f/1.8 S-series prime lenses to minimize balance reset time when using a gimbal.
• Dust-, moisture-, and freeze-resistant design for increased protection from the elements.