Panasonic 28-200mm F4-F7.1 OIS Zoom Lens Review

Welcome to the website, my name’s Shane.  In today’s review, we are checking out the Panasonic LUMIX S Series 28-200mm f4-f7.1 zoom lens.  This lens will make a lot of sense for shooters who want a one-and-done lens for photography or video purposes – whether that’s landscape photography, portraits, or macro, this lens does it all.  While this is a variable aperture lens I was able to get some great results for video use thanks to the Optical Image Stabilisation and low to nil focus breathing.

Disclaimer & Information

Before we continue, just a quick disclaimer.  This lens is on loan from Panasonic, I don’t get to keep it and no money has changed hands.  All thoughts about this lens are my own and I’ll talk about my experience with it and who it’s for throughout this review. I have worked with Panasonic to produce camera training materials in the past, but that is it.  All of the photographs and video samples were shot using the Panasonic LUMIX S5IIX

Where does the 28-200mm Lens Fit in the LUMIX Zoom Lens Lineup?

Let’s talk about where this lens fits in the lineup. The 28-200 is an extension of the 14-28mm lens and is a great alternative to that of the 20-60mm lens – which I love using.  After testing this lens, it’s arguably the most versatile zoom in the S Series range except if you need the 300mm found on the 70-300mm zoom.

LUMIX 28-200mm Price

Coming in at $899 (USD), this lens is more affordable than other options from the lineup while still being excellent in terms of build quality and optical performance. In Australian dollars this lens retails for $1599.

Get the best Price on B&H Photo | DigiDirect Australia | Amazon UK

LUMIX 28-20mm Size and Weight

I love how small and light this is for a full-frame lens.  At the time of filming, this is the smallest and lightest telephoto full-frame zoom lens on the market.  It’s only slightly taller than the 20-60 at both rest and full zoom.

Additionally, the 28-200 is only 413 grams compared with 350 grams of the 20-60!  This is an awesome achievement to offer such a huge zoom range in a small and compact design.  Furthermore, there’s the same 67mm filter thread found on the other S Series of lenses so you won’t need to go buy any step-up rings or new ND filters.

Weather Ready

Like the rest of the s Series of lenses, this is also dust and splash-resistant and can work down to -10 Celsius. On the side of the lens, there are two main buttons – the Autofocus Manual Focus Switch and the O.I.S On and Off Switch.  This switch controls the optical stabilization.

Aperture and Focal Length

This is a Variable aperture lens with F4 at 28mm to F7.1 at 200mm The lens can also stop down to F32 on the Wide End or F45 on the Telephoto side.

Let’s take a look at a practical test to showcase how insane this lens focal length is.  Here we have a scene at 28mm (above) – it’s sharp, and looks great – Now, this is how far 200mm is in contrast – far out you can see the houses over the lake! It’s like an old-school camcorder focal range haha.

Great for Portraits

This is a great portrait lens whether you’re shooting at 85 or 100mm I was able to get some really beautiful results.  There’s a nice compression on the background while nailing focus on the subject.  I tested this lens for some burst photography using the S5IIX and the results were great. 

This lens paired with the Phase detection autofocus on the S5II or X will give you excellent results.  These are all jpegs straight out of the camera shooting with the natural picture profile. (see test results in my video at the top)

Wildlife Results

The 200mm focal length is great for wildlife for larger animals or birds as you can see from these photos – again these are all un-edited jpegs.  If you punch in, you can see how sharp the details are on the bird and I think this lens rendered a beautiful image.

Video Autofocus Performance

Video autofocus was also excellent both at 28mm all the way through to 200mm I had no problems with human tracking.  This lens also features fast linear focus motors so whether you’re shooting video or photos, the focus speed is excellent.

Macro Performance

Another area where this lens shines is for macro work – making this a great one-and-done option for shooters.  Have a look at how close I was able to get to this ring.  I had the lens resting on Rhyannon’s hand in this test.  We were both shocked at the close-focusing results. 

The 0.5x magnification makes getting photos like this very easy to achieve.  Check out how sharp this Preying Mantis is – and how cute he is haha.  I haven’t seen one of these guys for years and I had to take a shot.

Vlogging Tests

Vlogging at 28mm is tight, but usable. I much prefer the 20-60mm for vlogging but if you’re taller than I am, you can make it work.  Thanks again for the optical image stabilisation and you can get some pretty solid results.  With this in mind, it’s a bit too big for a vlogging lens. I still prefer the 24mm or the 20-60 for vlogging scenarios.

Focus Breathing

Video shooters will also appreciate how little focus breathing this lens has – and Panasonic lenses in general. Focus breathing is when you pull focus from infinity to minimum focus – you can sometimes see the edge of the frame zoom in.  This lens has next to no noticeable focus breathing I could see, which is great.  See the video above for all of the focus breathing tests.

Sharpness

I thought we’d test the sharpness of this lens by shooting a landscape photograph using the handheld high-resolution mode and I was very impressed at how this lens rendered the details.  We can punch right in and see just how sharp it is. 

This sharpness continued through the focal range with the practical tests I did shooting in the real world.  I didn’t test it on charts, but the images I captured looked sharp and detailed to my eye.

Chromatic Aberration and Color Fringing

Chromatic aberration was not an issue for me, I tested this lens out in several scenarios and tried to force it, but I can’t see any fringing on any of these shots. See for yourself on the photograph below. 

Bokeh and Background Blur

Background blur and bokeh also look great.  We get a nice soft background blur even with the variable aperture. Shooting in at 200mm offers great background blur even at f7.1

Low Light Photography and Videography

I took the Panasonic S 28mm-200mm OIS zoom lens lens out to shoot some photos and video at sundown and it also performed great when paired with the S5IIX and its full-frame sensor.  The full-frame sensor makes it easy to get shots like this in very low-lit situations.

Final Thoughts

This lens motivates me to get out and start photographing wildlife and animals more.  The versatile focal length paired with the sharpness and handling makes this a fun full-frame telephoto option.  I usually try to avoid full-frame zoom lenses due to their size – but this ticks the boxes when it comes to versatility, price, and performance.

Buy it online: B&H Photo | DigiDirect Australia | Amazon UK