Panasonic Introduces Ultra Compact Lumix S 40mm f/2 Lens for L-Mount
Panasonic has announced the Lumix S 40mm f/2, a compact and lightweight prime that it says is ideal for capturing scenes with a natural perspective, making it well-suited for street photography, portraits, and landscapes.
The lens fills a gap in the L-mount by being affordable and also relatively fast. It’s also super light weight, which means it will pair well with Panasonic’s Lumix S9 camera: it weighs 144 grams and measures 40.9mm (1.6 inches) in length. Panasonic says it intentionally designed the lens to share a similar profile as the Lumix S 18-40mm f/4.5-6.3 (including the 62mm filter diameter) so photographers can easily swap between the two lenses.
The Panasonic Lumix S 40mm f/2 is constructed of seven elements arranged into six groups, including three aspherical elements. It has an aperture range of f/2 through f/22 via a seven-bladed aperture diaphragm. The way the lens is designed means that there is no way to attach a hood to it (outside of a third-party option that screws into the filter threads), but Panasonic says it worked hard to assure that flare and ghosting is well controlled to the degree that a hood would not be required.
The lens is dust and splash resistant and can remain functional down to -10 degrees Celcius.
Despite its diminutive stature, Panasonic managed to fit both a manual focus, autofocus selector switch and a focus button onto the body of the lens. The focus ring can also be customized, all of which are welcome when paired with the Lumix S9 since it doesn’t have a huge number of custom buttons on it.
It wouldn’t be a Panasonic lens if it didn’t account for video creators. Panasonic says that the 40mm f/2 was designed to suppress focus breathing and features micro-step aperture control, which the company says enables smooth exposure transitions and “high-quality video expression.”
In addition to the announcement of this lens, Panasonic has also updated its lens roadmap and says it will release a wide-angle prime lens designed to complement the compact Lumix S9 somewhere between the 18mm and 24mm range as well as a large-aperture telephoto zoom lens that will offer a range somewhere between the 50mm and 200mm.
PetaPixel’s Take: Based on graphics PetaPixel was shown, the editorial team is guessing an S 20mm f/1.8 as well as a 50-200mm. The promise of “large aperture” on the zoom has strong Sony 50-150mm f/2 vibes, but if it extends beyond that range, then an f/4 zoom would still be considered “large aperture” for a 50-200mm. This is all speculation, of course, and Panasonic Lumix did not elaborate further.
The Panasonic Lumix S 40mm f/2 will be available in Leica L-mount for $399.99 and is expected to start shipping in early June 2026. It will be available in both silver and black.
Image credits: Panasonic Lumix
