Wondering which is the best kit lens for mirrorless camera in 2021? My suggestion would be the Panasonic 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 L mount
Previously I wrote about the Panasonic 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 L mount kit lens and to be honest I didn't have extremely high expectations. Couple of months later and few hundred more photos taken with that one I could say this is truly the best kit lens I have ever used.
There is so much to enjoy in the Panasonic 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 that... the focal range, the sharpness, even the bokeh is great for those portraits that we all like.
Well, some may criticized it for not having optical stabilization so it would work in dual-mode with the S5 body but I have never noticed an issue with that. Probably it is because Panasonic's in-body stabilization is so good that it makes up for almost all scenarios.
Another thing that some may not like is that it stretches quite a lot for the 20 to 60 range and I know you would prefer this to happen within the lens without the external extension. But that is quite normal for an entry-level lens and I guess Panasonic decided not to sacrifice the results just to have better looks.
Photos
And the results are truly amazing. As mentioned earlier photos are sharp, with great detail corner to corner with no obvious vignetting. I also like the color reproduction that is processed with the S5 and this lens. Colors are vibrant and yet natural and give you lot of space for edits in post without any typical profiling that would make you say "yeah, that looks just like Panasonic colors". For example I love how most Canon-s process their colors but they are so recognizable that I would know it was done by a Canon from a mile away.
Video
Last month we had to do a corporate video indoors in good light conditions and the results were just amazing. The guy that edited the materials was amazed by the details and sharpness of this lens (and the S5 of course).
One thing that I don't like 100% is the zoom ring movement, it is good but it good be a bit smoother for creamier transitions (but who would zoom dynamically while recording with different aperture levels anyways).
And yes, the contrast-based autofocus is not perfect but that is mainly because of the S5 firmware rather than the lens. And believe me if you want to get truly professional results - learn how to work with focus manually, the Lumix S5 will help you a lot in that regards.
Panasonic 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 L mount - video
Panasonic LUMIX S Series 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 Mirrorless L Mount (S-R2060) lens review
After saying all of the above there was one thing that I took as a decision - to keep just this 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 L mount lens for my full-frame camera since my professional demands do not require another lens for now.
