Panasonic Lumix G 20mm/F1.7 Pancake Lens

Product Information

EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. Shooting assist functions including Luminance Spot Meter, Zebra Pattern can be used during RAW output. Shooting assist functions including V-Log L View Assist, Luminance Spot Meter, and Zebra Pattern can be used during RAW output. One of the reasons why this m4/3 system is taking off, and also why many big DSLR shooters are selling their entire kits for a Leica M9 is all about weight and size. In the past, small cameras were, well, CRAP! They had excessive noise, bad color, and the images were flat and awful. Today we are just about at that point where we can buy a smaller camera and get big DSLR quality out of it. In the case of the Leica M9, we surpass that big DSLR quality and approach medium format.

However, when shooting wide open, bokeh near the edge of the frame looks lopsided, displaying the classic 'cat eye' effect. While this can lead to a slightly less shallow DOF effect at edges, it's perfectly acceptable for a lens of this type, and wasn't severe enough to yield swirly bokeh in our shots. More importantly, the discs near the corners aren't truncated in an odd or distracting manner. The improved build quality should make the lens last longer, although unfortunately there has not been an improvement in focus speeds with both the old and new lens giving the same focus speeds in our testing. With the same excellent image quality, reasonable value for money, and compact size, this new model should be just as popular as the original and is an excellent choice for Micro Four Thirds users. The new colour options also better match the new cameras from Panasonic and Olympus. I don't have the 17mm. However the 20mm has better IQ scores on Dxomark. Also the EM1 seems to correct the CA and is not known to suffer banding. Many posts agree that the AF is slow and noisy. For stills this has not ben a problem for me.With this update, it is possible to load low compression and high quality data directly to the PC without transcoding for smooth NLE(non-linear editing)

The Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH was announced earlier this month as the natural companion to the compact Lumix DMC-GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera, alongside a Leica-branded 45mm F2.8 Macro (the camera is also available with a 14-45mm kit zoom). The H-H020, as Panasonic curiously likes to call it, is a large maximum aperture 'normal' prime in a very compact 'pancake'-type body. It gathers a stop and a half more light than Olympus's M. Zuiko Digital 17mm F2.8 pancake (which is only marginally smaller), and is therefore sure to be of interest to E-P1 owners who want to shoot in low light using a lens well-matched to that camera's size. Comprising of seven lenses in five groups, the lens system uses two aspherical lenses most effectively to minimize both distortion and chromatic aberrations, achieving super high resolution corner to corner. Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. This lens also features a highly reliable metal mount, and uses multi-coated lens elements that minimize ghosts and flare to further enhance its optical performance. C-AF - 15/1.7 really SHINE and where 20/1.7 problematic unrelaible AF hunt become really noticeable and very VERY annoying. Seems to me this is the main reason pros avoid iMovie not realizing that using the entire iLife suite of programs is where the power lies.It doesn't mean anything for optical performance, but in 6 month your lens and camera will *look* like it's been through a war zone, even if it was just bouncing around in a padded camera bag. I appreciate everyone's replies, and the images shown here (plus the video) really drive the point home. The 20mm looks beautiful for photos of still subjects (and maybe some utility for slow motion) but for video the 15mm f/1.7 is really the only consideration, for the Panasonic lenses. (The pancake zooms aren't a bad option, but I do need low-light capabilities, unfortunately...) My LUMIX GF1 (white ivory, with the pancake lens) arrived just 10 days ago, and I am absolutely happy with it. I agree in full with your comments regarding the pancake lens. It is certainly in the forefront of glass in kits. It is maybe a bit unfair to compare with LEITZ lenses, but it fares very well indeed also in comparison with them, given that their lenses (and cameras) play in a different league /price range. Chromatic aberration and purple fringing – this is automatically corrected in JPEG and raw files when using Panasonic cameras (left), but not on Olympus cameras (right), with the Olympus raw file requiring manual correction in Adobe Camera Raw (bottom right). On an Oly body the aperture ring don't even work, and the 20mm may randomly produce banding at high ISO, so there's that.

I’m also an obsessive street photographer. http://paultreacy.com/nyc1 (for example) My current favorite workhorse camera / lens combo is my Nikon D200 with 24mm 2.8 AI prime. It’s a sweet combo yielding very sweet images. Although the original was highly regarded, the range of rival offerings has increased dramatically. Olympus introduced a high-grade 17mm f1.8 model to compete directly, and Panasonic added a Leica branded 25mm f1.4 that must surely be tempting sales away from the diminutive 20mm. Main reason being was weight, it was just to heavy sometimes lugging it all about even with just the body & one lens.The bokeh – or quality of the out-of-focus regions produced by this 25mm – is fairly pleasing. Panasonic takes pride in the smoothness/polishing of its aspherical surfaces/molds, and it shows here. The discs rendered by out-of-focus highlights are relatively Gaussian and free of distracting patterns like 'onion rings'. Only occasionally do they show the slightest hint of a hard edge (more noticeable as you stop down), but not enough to cause any concern. The diminutive 20mm F1.7 isn't the smallest lens currently on the market (the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 17mm F2.8 Pancake shaves a couple of millimeters off in each dimension), but it's unusually fast for such a compact design, letting in a stop and a half more light than the above-mentioned 17mm (or Olympus's Four Thirds-mount Zuiko Digital 25mm F2.8). Construction is reassuringly solid, with high quality finish and a metal mount. The weight is just 100g. Through the firmware updates, Panasonic proposes future-ready solutions for more flexible filmmaking workflow using mirrorless cameras. Another difference is the weight of the new lens vs the original, with the new lens weighing 100g compared to 87g for the original, with both being very lightweight lenses.

So far all I have talked about is how great this lens is. Frankly, there is not much more to say. The proof is in the pics. Wide open your focus point is sharp and while you will get some bokeh you do not get crazy shallow depth of field like you would with a 50 or longer lens. The 20 1.7 is great for everyday use as 40mm is in between the two great classic focal lengths, the 35 and 50. Follow along as we jump into handling, AF behavior, and optical characteristics to find out if this lens is also a good choice for you. While the Panasonic 25mm F1.7 shows some longitudinal CA wide open, it becomes much less noticeable when you stop down a bit. Still, at 100%, you can certainly spot some purple and green fringing in the out-of-focus regions on the left side of this image, in the vines and stems. As falloff and distortion are corrected by the camera's image processing engine when shooting JPEGs, falloff and distortion will only be easily visible when shooting in RAW format. Ever since the time of introduction, the LUMIX GH6 gained high attention and have been acclaimed after its release to the market not only from the conventional GH users but also from the new GH users worldwide. The GH6 is planned to “evolve” with firmware updates to further enhance its performance and usability for professional video creators, as previously announced.The 'cats-eye' bokeh is mostly gone by F4. However, bokeh discs becomes less rounded. Specifically, the polygonal shape of the lens's 7-blade aperture becomes more pronounced in the out-of-focus highlights, when you stop down past F2.8, and this can have a slightly negative impact on bokeh in general. Based on the review and some opinions I've read, the 20mm f/1.7 is a bit slower to focus, although the significance is subjective But it is not as easy as that for us camera addicted crazies. See, I do appreciate the extra quality my M9 gives me not only in its feel, build, and lenses but in the way I shoot with it. It’s a rangefinder and I love the viewfinder, the manual focus, and the feel of those lenses in my hand. The image quality is stellar. To me, it is worth that extra money to have something I can really enjoy shooting. The M9 is a camera I could be buried with. That does not take away the capabilities of this E-P2/20 1.7 kit though. For the money it is simply superb! The overall image quality from the 20mm f1.7 II lens from Panasonic is truthfully pretty damned good. There is a healthy amount of sharpness, contrast, and overall solid color rendition built into this lens. When you couple this with its great build quality and focusing abilities you’ve got yourself quite the winner. Yes, the days of everyone and their neighbor owning a big DSLR may soon be over. We are finally getting smaller cameras with the quality of the big guys. All we need is some minor improvements and some better glass (for m4/3). Today we have the m4/3 cameras, the fabulous Leica X1 and M9 and even the new Samsung NX10 that is about to hit the streets. It’s awesome to have these choices, and for those who are like me and tired of lugging around 20 lbs of gear, well you now have quality choices!