you pay extra for f1.2 with AF and OIS. then there are the small details of metal exterior and hood, aperture ring and hardware OIS and AF switches. the latter is pretty useless for higher end bodies, as those have SAF/CAF/MF hardware switches already. so this lens should be compared against the 42.5 f0.95 Voigtländer lens, which costs $885 on Amazon.com. However, its MSRP is $1200.
As we are discussing the Panasonic’s MSRP here, the proper comparison is:
– Voigtländer: manual lens, metal exterior, f0.95: $1200
– Panasonic: add AF and OIS for $400, drop to f1.2
depending on how one uses this lens, that $400 may or may not be worth it. it’s 33% more on the $1200 MSRP. in the long run, it may actually be a good investment for amateurs, as it will make up the aperture disadvantage in low light and it will result in more keepers because of the AF (MF is not easy to use in a hurry).
Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.