i'm literally leaving for tokyo in 5 days and still havent picked a prime for my s5ii... i'm totally stuck between the lumix 35mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.8. my budget is capped at like $600 so cant really go higher than those two options right now. i usually shoot street stuff in busy areas but i'm worried 35 might be too wide or 50 will feel too tight in the narrow alleys. i need to pull the trigger tonight so shipping gets here before my flight. which one would u guys grab for a heavy week of street photography in japan??
I am super happy with my Panasonic Lumix S 35mm f/1.8. It worked so well for me in those tiny Shinjuku alleys where a 50 would've been way too tight, definitely grab it.
> i'm totally stuck between the lumix 35mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.8. Tokyo is absolutely incredible for street photography! I spent two weeks there with my S5II recently and honestly, for those tight alleys, you really want the 35mm focal length. But if you want something technically superior to the Lumix 1.8 series, you should look at the Sigma 35mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary. It usually sits right at your $600 limit and the build quality is night and day. I used the Sigma in those tiny Golden Gai bars and the manual aperture ring is such a blessing for quick adjustments. The technical performance is amazing—it's way sharper wide open than the Panasonic 1.8 primes in my experience. The 50mm is just too tight for Tokyo street stuff... you'll constantly be backing into walls trying to get the shot. That Sigma 35mm has beautiful rendering and basically zero chromatic aberration, which helps with all the neon signs in Shinjuku! Definitely my top pick for a fast prime that handles the L-mount autofocus perfectly.
