I have to say Sony has come out with a very good lens for travelling, which is not expensive either and $1.6K (lower street price with cash)
Sure, it does not zoom to 70mm as a professional event photographer would like but for most people, the G lens here is more than enough for most people. If you want close-ups, then get a proper 70mm-200mm anyway.
It is more important to most photographers because it is a fast lens. It is not as fast as primes with f1.8 or even f1.4, but it is sufficient for most.
As you can see by now, this lens is really for general-purpose applications, and I dare say no point in being general-purpose if you are not bringing the lens out to shoot. You may have a very good quality lens but the weight of those lenses will one day push you to use your smartphones more often than you like it.
This is why I feel the shorter zoom, in this case, a 2x rather than the more common 3x, gets the job done without the bulk that older folks will appreciate.
The photos are good. It is not at the quality of the G-Masters, but these days, when you are posting online, there is some degradation because of the Facebook/Instagram app downsizing before uploading the photos.
How about a video? First of all, the focus breathing is controlled, and because of its small size, planting the camera on the gimbal would not be a huge issue. I guess the primes of the Panasonic L-mount made the market realise the need for a small lens that is consistent in size and weight so that changing lenses does not create an imbalance on the gimbal and less time spent on rebalancing.
The lens can also de-click the aperture ring, which means you can create a soft focus shot first, followed by a great depth of field, just by twisting the ring. This will create a cool video clip for interviews.
The only 'weird' thing is that the lens started at 50mm, so hunting for your subject will take some time. I zoom out first before putting the camera to my face for the shoot. That makes it more efficient.
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