Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras
by Panasonic
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: PanasonicRelease Date: 2011-03-07
Model: H-H020PP
Color: black
Product features:
- 20mm focal length; equivalent to 40mm on a 35mm film camera
- Compact and lightweight "pancake" lens
- F1.7 brightness for beautiful, soft focus
- Comprised of seven lenses arranged in five groups; uses two aspherical lenses to effectively minimize distortion
- Used with Lumix G Micro System Cameras, allows for use of the advanced contrast Auto Focus (AF) system
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras
Customer Review: Very solid performer; shows the potential of M4/3
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently purchased an E-P2 as a portable option to complement my DSLR setup. I've been very happy with its performance in most respects, however it has no flash and the kit lens is slow; this means that indoor usage results in painfully high ISO and noise that is impossible to clean. That lead me to purchase this lens, which is the fastest thing going for M4/3 currently.
First off, this thing is wonderfully compact. Much thinner than the M.Zuiko 14-42mm kit lens, although a bit bigger in diameter, and it makes the E-P2 even more low profile when it's mounted. It balances well on the E-P2 and it looks right at home to me, even though it lacks the signature PEN silver accents. It has a massive manual focus ring which is a pleasure to use (once you get the hang of the micromotor manual focus mechanism, which it shares with the 14-42).
For whatever reason, Panasonic has provided absurdly large lens caps with this little lens. The rear cap is about 1/3 larger than the Olympus rear cap, and the front cap is about 100% thicker than the Olympus equivalent. Really, guys? A lens this size begs to be slipped into a pocket, but these huge caps just get in the way.
As for IQ... well, you can read the charts, but suffice it to say that this is a very good performer. Unlike the M.Zuiko kit lens, this guy is sharp wide open, with perhaps only minor improvements by stopping down. This lens can really show what M4/3 is capable of from an IQ perspective in a way that the kit zooms just can't.
Autofocus is at least as accurate as any other lens I've tried on this body, and low light AF accuracy especially is quite good (thanks, no doubt, to the large aperture). AF speed though is mediocre at best, and it's also a good bit louder than would be ideal. The aperture also makes a very noticeable clicking sound, which is a little obnoxious with the E-P2 (which constantly fiddles with the aperture when you're using live view). Neither focus noise nor aperture noise is a real issue for stills, but they might cause some problems if shooting video with the internal mic.
There is one issue with using this lens specific to Olympus bodies: they don't do the software distortion compensation that Panasonic bodies do with Panasonic lenses. This means that, on Olympus bodies only, light falloff is visible towards the corners when shooting wide open (it goes away by around f/4). In practice it's not much of a problem, and the corners aren't that big a deal in most shots anyway, but if you're a PEN shooter you should be aware of it and stop down accordingly if/when the corners do matter.
I should mention that I also own the Olympus 17mm f/2.8, which many would consider an alternative to this lens. If you're new to photography and you're considering owning only one, I highly recommend the Panasonic, whose aperture advantage and longer focal length combine to give you much better options for DOF control. I still enjoy the Olympus (and indeed, it's even *smaller* than this lens), but I think for most people in most situations this is a better choice.
Bottom line: if you own a m4/3 body without a flash and care at all about low light shooting, stop reading and buy this lens right now. For everybody else, you're presumably here for IQ, f/1.7's narrower DOF, and portability, and on all counts this lens delivers. It's a great all around performer and the cost, although high, is not totally unreasonable for something of this quality.
As a side note, if you're used to 50mm as "normal" from the film era, I think you'll find 20mm quite pleasant; I've shot a lot with my 28mm prime on APS-C, and the Panny 20mm here provides a similar FOV to that.
** Update, 5/21/2010 **
My initial thoughts on this lens have proven to be spot on. This little guy spends much, much more time on my camera than the kit lens; the faster aperture is a godsend, and the smaller size is wonderful for portability. Image quality is impeccable and the light falloff is almost never a problem in real world scenarios. If you only buy one lens for your M4/3 body, make it this one.
More Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras reviews:
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Description of Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras
The Lumix G 20mm/F1.7 ASPH, a compact and lightweight "pancake" lens, is dramatically compact and lightweight, featuring an outstanding F1.7 brightness which allows consumers to create stunning photos with beautiful, soft focus. Comprised of seven lenses arranged in five groups, the Lumix G 20mm lens actually uses two aspherical lenses to effectively minimize distortion and achieve super high resolution. The versatile 20mm focal length (equivalent to 40mm on a 35mm film camera) is suitable for all applications--from scenery shots to dimly-lit indoor environments.
When mounted on Lumix G Micro System Cameras, the Lumix G 20mm/F1.7 ASPH lens allows for use of the advanced contrast Auto Focus (AF) system, which includes Panasonic's Face Recognition functions. It's comprised of seven blades, which produce an attractive and smooth background blur effect when shooting at larger aperture settings. The lens also features a highly-reliable metal mount, and use multi-coated lens elements to minimize glare and further enhance optical performance.
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