PANASONIC LUMIX G II Lens, 20MM, F1.7 ASPH., MIRRORLESS Micro Four Thirds, H-H020AK (USA Black)

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Its focal length (40mm equivalent) makes it a perfect lens for general purpose. It is good for landscape, for street photography and its f/1.7 makes it very very good (but not perfect) for portraiture and some interior shots.

This micro-43 standard lens is an ideal partner for a Panasonic GM1 or a Panasonic GX7. If you prefer a zoom lens with the same dimensions, then the 20 mm 1.7 II has a competitor in the Panasonic 12-32 mm, which we recently tested. Context is key, and Roger provided a good deal of it so taking his numbers out of context to reach a singular conclusion kinda does them a disservice. With the in-camera image stabilization of the Panasonic GX7, we saw a modest profit of 1 to 2 stops.Here is another image I shot along with a crop. Just a plain old roll of paper towels but with a little processing to give it some depth… Chromatic aberrations are reasonably well controlled, increasing in strength towards the edges of the frame as the lens is stopped down. Even at their worst at f/16 CA levels are low enough to cause few issues, even in large prints, or harsh crops from the edges of the frame. Images taken at f/1.7 are usable, but I think images taken at f/2 have better contrast and sharpness. It's a small lens and this helps to keep your micro 4/3 camera (and lens set) more 'micro'.

Distortion is nothing to worry about, as it is automatically corrected in-camera on any Panasonic and Olympus camera, as well as being automatically corrected in raw conversion software.No doubts it's good lesson for all competitors. "That's what I call the lens" =) Small, sharp and fast. Very good, contrast images ! BTW colors from my G1 + 20mm much better than for my D700 and 5D, I mean without processing. And in spite of 2x crop I like it's pictures more than from Canon and Nikon 1,5 crops. I have the mark I version of the Panaleica 25mm and while on the charts it may be inferior to the Olympus I absolutely love the smooth rendering and the rich tonality. Wide open is just magic. And then you have those who because they have the latest Canikon dslr believer that they should be able to shoot as well as a pro (although they haven’t spent the time to learn how to shoot) An exposure at ISO 100 f/1.7 1/100 sec on m43 is exactly the same as an exposure taken at ISO 100 f/3.4 1/100 sec on full frame.

The sharpness of the Panasonic 20 mm 1.7 II in the center is very high; this was the case for both our practice shots and our measurements. The Panasonic GX7 test camera is probably the reason that we measured a higher resolution for version 2 than in our testing of version 1 (with a Panasonic GH2 camera). Thanks for such a thoughtful review and analysis. It’s a couple of years later but I guess unlike camera bodies lenses can resist instant obsoleteness.As one should expect at the price point, this 25mm offers a bare-bones feature-set. There's no optical stabilization, though this shouldn't matter for the vast majority of shooters, as almost all modern Micro Four Thirds bodies have internal IS. Nor is there an aperture ring or custom buttons. What the lens does offer is a sizable focus ring.

Sharpness and boken seem in line with the Oly 25 but focus speed and fluidity of the focus ring are not acceptable when used in manual. Way cool. I came to read a review of the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 and came away convinced that in reality, I can dump my DSLRs and do anything they can, and most likely even better with a M43!!! Still not sure about the P20mm though. At maximum aperture, sharpness in the centre of the frame is already excellent and the clarity produced towards the edges of the frame is very good. Stopping the lens down to f/4 improves the sharpness towards the edges to excellent levels and outstanding levels in the centre. Smaller apertures result in a loss of sharpness due to diffraction, but the quality is still very good across the frame down to f/11. This close-up photo shows both how close you can get to an object, as well as bokeh. 1/1600s, f/1.7, ISO200, 20mm. Photo: Joshua Waller For the cost, size, and weight, the Lumix G 25mm/1.7 is one of, if not the first lens any micro four thirds user should own. This lens plus camera, is the best economical choice, and a rewarding experience as well…

The 7-aperture blades mean that sun-stars have 14 points. 1/400s, f/14, ISO200, 20mm. Photo: Joshua Waller This camera and lens will NOT replace a 5DII and a 50L for night shooting if you want clean results and it wont replace an M9 and Summilux lens either. If you’re planning to do night photography with this lens where there are a lot of street lights, then you will occasionally encounter flare. That also applies to many other lenses. ISO is a unit-area quantity because it is used for exposure. But when you're talking about IQ, equal numbers do not have equal results across formats. We could fix this whole equivalence debate by either getting rid of f/numbers and just using aperture diameters or by getting rid of exposure-based ISO and just using a more absolute measure of sensitivity. Read our original Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 ASPH. lens review to see how the lens performs under our usual testing procedure. Value For Money