Panasonic 12-35 f2.8 vs Sigma 18-35 f1.8 for GH5 

That's great! Glad to have been helpful!

Maybe try a promist filter on the Panny? To be honest since I made this video I've gone back to the Panny as my main lens

It's just so dang versatile! For travel I and light package it's the best. My friend has the olympus 12-40 which is another great consideration. You don't get the dual stabilization but that extra 5mm definitely helps.

Epic! Yes the fast aperture is a game-changer. Despite the weight and all the other downsides I talked about - it's a workhorse that stays on my camera 90% of the time. Very sharp very fast very good. Hope you are satisfied with your purchase!

ahaha I hear the Jim Carrey thing occasionally. Always puts a smile on my face! Huge fan of Peter McKinnon too. I admire how he makes videography look fun, welcoming, and effortless to beginners. To answer your question, If I was you I'd get a non-speedbooster adapter. They're only about $30 and that's a cheap price to pay if you have tons of old lenses you want to breathe new life into. Then if you find a lens that you like a lot, you could try picking up a speedbooster for the faster aperture

@@JonBear thanks for your reply. Peter is quite a character - that's for sure! I spent a lot of time thinking about getting a used Sony A7RII with some decent lenses (full format - yay!). Tried it, like the shallow world it captures... then I realized how much money I already invested into MFT lenses ;) I also came to realize that the older Nikon lenses we have (along the old nikons itself) are not of much use anymore. Better to spend the money into a new MFT lens maybe. Meanwhile for my youtubing I got the Sony ZV-1 - it's amazing how nice the AF works, it's so convenient (24-70, F1.-8 to F2.8) - even has an integrated ND filter... you prolly saw a review or two ;) thanks again and good luck - with your sympathic videos and a few years of really hard work you're destined to "de-throne" PM :) (at least you should have 100times the subbers you have now!). greets, Mario

Thank you for the warm message Mario! The full format cameras definitely are enticing. But for now the price is off putting and I can already record in 4k resolution in 10 bit. All that said it's a lot of money to switch to a format that may give me slightly more blurry backgrounds. (and my backgrounds are blurry enough 😘) The ZV-1 is definitely a handy camera that is perfect for RU-vid. Would love to try it one day. Love and greetings from Iceland! Have a good 2021!

Yeah absolutely! Sigma made an adapter and I heard it works pretty well.

The sigma will only work in ASPC mode on the S5 (I think).

Agreed, even now years after getting the sigma, I struggle to find a lens that rivals it in sharpness and depth of field. The ones that have similar bokeh or more, usually sacrifice a ton of sharpness. I kinda decided that Sigma is my one and done lens. I don't need to buy anything else for my purposes

ahaha yess. Panny is better for travel 1000%(I still use it for road trips) but if you don't mind the added bulk then I personally prefer the image from the Sigma

That's amazing!! Hope I can keep delivering awesome stuff for you. Feel free to ask me anything!

It really is!

I haven't heard of the ND built in adapters! I'll have to give it a go

@@JonBear I think it's made by Fotodiox

Good question! Personally I really value image stabilization. But having good low light ability is really important for event videos because you cannot run around and set up lights everywhere. The GH5s has some clear advantages at the cost of stabilization: 1. Incredible low light capability, 2. Comes with V-log. If you're out and about doing tourism stuff, then yeah stabilization really helps but if you bring a tripod and focus on your composition more, I think the end result will be better for it. Stabilization is good, but a good tripod shot always wins. And if you really need moving shots, then you can invest in a gimbal later on. As for GH6, there are only baseless rumors. Maybe it will never come out.

Yes! There is a reason that this lens is used by so many :)

Based on everything you said, I agree. Go with the GH4. For your scenario, the GH5 and GH4 will be identical (minus the 10bit). The only thing I imagine you could need is a dual ISO so you can shoot at higher iso without noise. If that sounds enticing, then I'd strongly recommend a Blackmagic 4k or GH5S. But I guess the better answer is to get the GH4, then invest the extra cash in lights 👍Appreciatee the question and good luck!!

Definitely a fantastic lens. A friend of mine uses it on his pocket 4k a lot. Very good lens.

I also have the Sigma 18-35, and it autofocuses very well on my OM-D E-M1 Mark II.

@@danieldougan269 Photo or video? Mine autofocuses great for photos but not for video.

Yes you are right. The sigma is amazing for low light. The other day I was shooting a music video in a warehouse. The director wanted it dimly lit. I was totally saved by the sigma.

@@JonBear when you shoot music videos does the director tell you what he wants and you do it? Or do you have a bit of input with the artistic flow? What kind of things did you shoot starting out?

I heard it in some of the message boards but probably not commonly used.

@@JonBear Yes, I wondered if you had picked that up on some messie.

Super happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment 🙏

You won't be disappointed! It's so nice to be able to stop down to f1.4, still get sharp images and be able to film with barely any light.

Thanks for the question Matt!! Actually one benefit of 18-35 is that it's heavier. The heavier your setup the more stable it becomes because of the momentum conservation principle. For anything where I am standing still, I use IS video LOCK - find it in your stabilization menu. This turns you into a tripod! It's insane. If you are making movements, I suggest just using IBIS, and holding the camera tight while doing ninja steps. While doing this, I will film in 30fps or 60fps then slow it down to 24fps in post to get a little smoother footage. I grip the camera close to my body while taking ninja steps. Make sure you also zoom completely out to 18mm. The wider you are, the more 'stable' you will seem - and applying warp stabilizer in post will be much easier! Good luck Matt!

Put your gh5 on a smallrig cage with two side handle grip, or use the gh5 rope (i don't know the word in english for "sangle" in french)..

Yes this is good advice!! Smallrig is good. you mean the strap right?

@@JonBear yep. The strap tight

@@JonBear to keep horizon stable the side handle grips on smallrig cage is my favorite way to go on the top a top handle grip for groundclose shots..

Ahaha well my personal favorite is the Sigma 18-35. I just love being able to film wide and still have bokeh

@@JonBear I think what makes me go for the Sigma is the rec focus. It is really hard to repeat rec focus with the Panny.

Wow thank you so much for this poetically beautiful comment! It means a lot to me. I will do my best to keep my standards high for all my future videos. I actually have done a ton of public speaking including stand up comedy. I also taught English at private schools for over 3 years. I love being on stage :D Hope I can make more videos that you like! If there is any camera topic you'd like me to make a video on, go ahead and drop some ideas! I will work hard to upload a video a week :D

@@JonBear yest i noticed that too. you has a strong charisma in speech and body language

@@НаильУмаров-ы2и Appreciate it my friend!

Awesome Steve! Yes you are set, no need to consider the sigma. Swapping to primes when you need low light or bokeh is a great tactic

Appreciate it Thomas! Yes absolutely my personal preference is still Sigma. While it doesn't win in all the categories, it produces a pleasant image that makes all other hassles worth it. That said, if you had a camera with better ISO limits like the GH5S or black magic pocket 4k then the Panny has a very strong case. I didn't mention it in the video but Sigma far outperforms panny in low light. But if the camera can increase the ISO without noise pollution, then it's not an issue

I 1000% percent agree with your comment. The fast aperture is a game changer. You can see in the dark almost to the extent that the human eye does. The jump between 2.8 and 1.2 is massive. To be fair though, 1.2 is going to give you a very fine focus line so keeping your subject in focus is gonna be a challenge. Because of this I generally stick with 1.8 for a good balance :)

I still use the panny so so much. My latest travel videos in Vietnam are all panny baby!

Do you have a GH5 or GH5S? GH5S does not have ibis unfortunately. But it has crazy good ISO

That's great! I am super happy to hear that. Thank you!

Very nice! I am using a BMPCC4K now as well and I find myself using the same setup a lot!

I use the first version (not ii)

Thank you! Great choice!

@@JonBear Can please make a video on Vertical Clips for Ig Reels. Best Materiel to get, angles, setting… etc

Appreciate your input PJ. Definitely too much bokeh combined with bad focus and you've messed up the shot. Having less dof makes it easier to nail good focus

It's a fantastic choice! And with Blackmagic you're not too concerned about low light. Nice! Thinking about picking up a Blackmagic myself

What about the autofocus, Any problems?

@@KEVIN_GABOR i dont have a chance to test the autofocus because bmpcc4k is a manual camera

I see your point Joey and thank you so much for the comment. The simple answer is that it improves my audience retention :o We are all simple chimps that like flashy quick stuff. This is why I personally prefer buying courses online over using youtube. No fluff, just pure education.

Fantastic suggestion! I got this one actually! It's a great lens. Truly compact and wonderful. I however enjoy the wider focal length of Sigma when zoomed out.

What a great comment. Thank you so much! I won't let you down

Ey Matteo! Did you make a decision? If I could only pick one I'd go with the Sigma. But if vlogging and autofocus is important to you, then the lighter panasonic 12-35 is your best bet

@@JonBear I travel a lot and make travel videos, so the lumix would be more practical. I got the sigma anyway, you got me at “WE WANT CINEMATIC”

If sharpness is your goal, then the 12-35 is the winner. Normally the Sigma is known for being super sharp, but the added speedbooster limits it a bit.

@@JonBear Thanks a lot

Hey Vince! Appreciate the question. Unfortunately, speedboosters act as adapters for bigger glass to smaller sensors. So in short, there is no speedbooster for a native m43 lens to a m43 body. Only lenses designed for larger sensors can utilize speedboosters. The most common is Canon EF- to m43. But you can also find Nikon to m43, and maybe other niche lens mounts. So you cannot make your panny faster unfortunately.

Jon Bear Thanks for clearing that up. I’m still learning about all this stuff 👍🏼

Great choice! For the ef adapter, a popular wide lens is the Tokina 12-16mm amzn.to/2yNoU1h For a Tele lens, people tend to go for Sigma 50-100 to compliment the 18-35 : amzn.to/2YSqmtW

Thank you! I actually lately personally use the panasonic 12-35 more. I got enough lenses that get good bokeh. The lumix is simply the best in every other category. It even autofocuses fast!

Sigma hands down. It goes to f1.2 with a speedbooster, although I'd recommend keeping it at 1.6 or above to get sharp focus. Yes I guess I should have mentioned low light performance. But since bokeh and low light are both related to aperture (fstop) then I suppose I considered it as a given. That said though, I can say from experience that the Panny isn't very handy in low light Thanks for commenting!

Thank you! I did a lot of research and I concluded that Metabones and Viltrox are very very similar. Metabones is slightly less blurry in the CORNERS but only slightly and you won't ever frame a subject there anyway. I guess the people who say Viltrox is bad are just salty they paid 600 bucks for a speedbooster that you can get for around 150 bucks. I've used Viltrox Sigma combo as my main lens for a year now and I never had issues. It sits on my camera 90% of the time. Hope this helps!

Yes! I believe EF and EF-S is the same thing (EF-M is not the same thing) So yes, the EF-s version is the one that will work with the viltrox :)

That buttery bokehyy is just mmmmmph delicious

The low light capability has to do with the f stops which I covered

Absolutely epic! I checked your channel and saw the "Your Mind" video. It's stunning work. I hit that sub and bell in a heartbeat. Looking forward to seeing your work with the G9!

@@JonBear Wow deeply appreciate it this Jon! I didn't film it so can't take the credit but I did direct the video :) I have a question if you don't mind - I will be using the lens to do guitar tuitional stuff and few people said there is issues with even one punch auto focus when not using native lenses. That got me thinking whether i should go for a native like a Sigma 16mm 1.4..Whats your take on it?

@@GeorgeMariosofficial Good question. Sigma 18-35 is definitely more versatile. It works with Autofocus but it is LOUD. A camera mounted mic will pick up that noise. But if you record audio from a boomstand then it won't be picked up. That said, the sigma prime lenses for M43 cameras like the Sigma 16mm f1.4 are phenomenal. Fast, light and reliable. Since it is native the Autofocus will also be reliable.. And if you get only the sigma 16mm f1.4 then you'll save some money since it's cheaper and doesn't require an adapter. If the zoom is not important to you, then get the 16mm f1.4. It probably serves your purposes better and it will probably become your go-to gimbal lens if you decide to expand. Hope these thoughts help!

@@JonBear Thank you for the insights! That is definitely a good idea - With regards to autofocus (sorry if it is a stupid question)...I have a canon rebel t2i at the moment and once you set the focus (I have a remote control) the lens stays still. Is it possible to do this with the G9 and the sigma 18-35? Meaning if I focus on me through the app let's say - can i then "freeze" that focus so it doesn't keep changing?(hope it makes sense) Thank you again Jon!

​@@GeorgeMariosofficial Yes you can do this! Use the Panasonic Lumix Imaging app on your phone. Set camera to manual focus, then set the focus in your phone. The focus won't change.

Thank you for the comment! As for the lens, is the switch on the lens set to AF? What I do is I keep the lens on AF then I keep the camera body on MF. Then when I want to refocus I push the AF/AE lock button which works similar to" tap to focus' This focusing method is fast and responsive. I do this because when you use the Sigma with AF on the camera body, it's slow and noisy. But it works. Try this. Cheers!

Viltrox! Link in description :)

@@JonBear thnak u homes

Actually I haven't! I never even considered this! Any one that you can recommend? I'll order one and test it out asap

Jon Bear yes Viltrox make one it’s the EFM 1 just over £100 . It would be a similar range as the Panasonic 12-35 with a 2 stop advantage

I think that should be just over one stop advantage

@@ANNIESI1 very nice! Maybe I will make a video comparing the two adapters!

@@JonBear Yes please! I had the same question. I would actually prefer the focal range without a speedbooster but I'm not sure if the Toneh will be good enough to justify the disadvantages of an adapted lens.

The Olympus is solid! Killer lens. Sigma is great for paid gigs like you said 🙌

@@JonBear ya I think the olympus can do paid work but I didnt want to get so caught up in the bokeh aspect of it. great video even your panasonic shots looked really good

Nice one! Yeah they both have specific uses. I made the video because a lot of people contemplate getting either one or the other.

@@JonBear Great vid. Thanks bro!

Nice! Definitely the 18-35 is nice to keep around since you can adapt it to many cameras

That's a fantastic compliment I'll take it!

I subbed. 👍

Actually yes. I recently started playing with it again and realized how awesome it is. Bokeh is nice, but recently I overdid it a lot in my talking videos and it was just distracting to me. f2.8 doesn't bother me anymore. Also if you're on the GH5 - there is a neat trick to fix the autofocus by putting shutterspeed to 179 degrees and use AFC single point. Paired with this lens, it works surprisingly well. So that's another point for Panasonic - autofocus.

@@JonBear Thanks Jon I will get a GH5II to pair it with this lens. I need stab and I dont need bokeh this lens Is really perfect for me

@@tomariko There you go! Perfect!

Then you cannot go wrong with the Sigma! I still use it everyday in client work www.jonbear.com

@@JonBear I'll get it soon 😁 thanks!

Thank you Diego!!

Awesome! Yeah to this day I use the Sigma most of the time. It's just incredible

Super appreciate it Azeem! I'll make sure to have fun in all my future videos! 🙏🙏

Blackmagic 4K pocket with Olympus 12-40 lens, Smallrig cage, samsung 1tb SSD (attatched with smallrig attatchment) and wooden handle attatched with smallrig too :) Great camera! My newest videos are about it

Super happy to hear that! Appreciate it Ramil!

After making this video I have also added a P4k to my kit. Still the sigma is the king for me. Fast sharp glass.

Thank you brother. I appreciate you taking the time to comment too!

What do you use your GH5 for? If you want something lighter and more reliable with autofocus go with Panasonic 12-35 lens

I truly appreciate that ❤️

Thank you!

Thank you Hector! There is really no clear answer. Just preferences. I have gone back to using the Panny a lot more over the time since this video released. It's so sharp and nice and I find the Bokeh to be sufficient - and the Autofocus works great on GH5. With the Sigma you get that fast fast aperture on a zoom lens. There is a reason this lens is the go-to even for people on cine-cameras. If you want more bokeh in general, then Sigma has you covered on the main focal lengths you'd ever need for filming people, The tap to focus function works great on Sigma with GH5, but don't expect to use the continuous AF - as it's noisy and unreliable.

@@JonBear got it, thanks a lot!!

@@JonBear Thank you for the video definitely made it easier to decide. I got one question that’s a little off topic. What’s the best 50mm lens for cinematic b-roll for the gh5s ? What would you recommend sir?

Thank you so much! Yes I admit after making this video, I have used the Panny more. It's simply a great run-n-gun lens and the extra zoom comes in handy. I still like the image from the sigma more but I will only use it in controlled productions from now. For travel, the panny wins.

Totally worth it!

@@JonBear hope so!

100% yes :D! Thanks for commenting :)

The Panny is the ultimate one-and-done lens for anything not requiring low light or tons of bokeh. Sharpness is top tier

Sigma for life

Thank you for your wonderful comment !!

Here is the correct math: Apsx: 18mm x 1.5 = 27mm M43: (18 x 0.71) x 2 = 25.5mm Hence it's wider on m43 with speedbooster than on apsc sensor. Gerald undone tested it in one of his videos and the math checks out 😁

@@JonBear If you have a full frame lens and want to know how it behaves in an APS-c camera, you multiply by 1.5. But if you have an APS-c lens and want to know how it behaves in a full frame camera you need to divide by 1.5. If you had a full frame lens that was 12mm, in an APS-c camera it would behave as an 18, (12 x 1.5). in a 4/3 camera it would be a 24 (12 x 2). Why are you using the number 18 in your calculation? A lens made for APS-c with a rating of 18 will not be an 18 in a 4/3 camera. The Sigma 18-35 uses the EF mount but is made for the APS-c sensor. APS-c / 1.5 = Full Frame, x 2 = 4/3. 18 / 1.5 = 12, x 2 =24 Add the adaptor, x.71 = 17 so in Full frame equivalents the wide end of the Lumix is 24, (12 x 2), and the converted Sigma is 34, (17 x 2). Not comparable lenses