Conclusion

It’s easy to understand why Panasonic chose to include a 70-200mm lens in its initial line-up of lenses for its brand new system - it’s a classic mid-range focal length that has a lot of applications for lots of different subjects.

A range of users from wildlife and sports photographers, right through to wedding and portrait photographers can find use for this kind of focal length. It’s a shame not to see it be an f/2.8, but for the majority of situations, the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 70-200mm F4 O.I.S. should serve most people well - and an f/2.8 would have bumped up the already not inconsiderable price somewhat. Optical image stabilisation does a good job to keep images sharp even when you’re forced to use slower shutter speeds in low light situations, too. It’s highly likely that an f/2.8 version will make an appearance once the system has had some time to bed in.

Images produced by the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 70-200mm F4 O.I.S. lens are fantastic. Sharpness takes advantage of the high resolution sensor of the S1R, while it would also be a great companion for the slightly faster (but lower resolution) S1. Despite only being an f/4 lens, background blur and shallow depth of field effects are attractively rendered.

As is typical for full-frame lenses of this focal length, the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 70-200mm F4 O.I.S. is not small. But it balances fairly well with the S1 or S1R, with the addition of a tripod foot helping to keep it balanced. Having a flip back ring at the front of the lens is useful for quickly switching to manual focusing when you need it, especially if you want to make small micro adjustments to autofocus.

For the time-being, Panasonic’s 70-200mm lens is expensive compared to similar lenses from other brands - such as Canon, Nikon and Sony. This is not particularly surprising for a brand new system, but it’s something to take into account if you’re thinking of making the switch to the S series from elsewhere.

Overall, the Panasonic Lumix S Pro 70-200mm F4 O.I.S. is an excellent and versatile lens that makes a lot of sense paired with the S1 or S1R. We can see this being a popular choice for a wide number of different types of photographers, who are likely to be pleased with the results it generates. It comes highly recommended.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	3.5