Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 II ASPH. Lens (Black)
UPC's:
Fast But Slow
I use this lens for mostly video but for casual photography as well. I'd like to say I only shoot video in controlled environments with proper lighting but I find myself doing run and gun video as well (especially for coverage). This is where the F1.7 aperture comes in handy. Everyone knows M 4/3's doesn't handle low light very well and fast lenses are a necessity for those sensors. Speaking of run and gun, this lens doesn't have Panasonic's exce... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Noisy but sharp
Got this used, and its a great little lens. Super short and light (86g/3oz on my scale), so its great for gimbal work. It's a 40mm f/3.4 equivalent on my Panasonic GH5, which isn't as wide as prefer, but for the price it's pretty good. It has great shallow depth of field for a micro four thirds lens. Now for the downsides My GH5 says switch to AFS (Autofocus Single) when in AFC (Autofocus Continuous). I am not sure why it says this, but th... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Nice lens for narrow depth of field
This is a really nice lens for narrow depth of field which is why I bought it. The f stop goes down to 1.7. Better than the original lens kit I purchased for my Lumix GH2. An added benefit turned out to be that it is very light and small so it is great for whipping out the camera for those quick shots. So, not as cumbersome as the longer 14-140 lens. The downside is of course, it has no zoom. But to get a shallow depth of field for a 4 thirds cam... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
F1.7 and compact - Great combination
I've never used the first version of this lens, so I can't compare them, but I did compare this one to the Oly 17mm f1.8 on my Pen E-P3. I only use autofocus, so I much prefer the pancake size of this lens to the Oly (the Oly lets you pull the focus ring toward you to switch to manual focus - a neat trick). I know there have been complaints about the autofocus on version 1 of this lens. What I've discovered on this one is that it has a real probl... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great for low light
I bought this lens to use on my GX7 along with the 14-140mm zoom. The two strong advantages over the zoom for me are its weight and light gathering. Between its lighter weight and shorter length, I hardly feel it around my neck or shoulder. It also will slip easily into a coat pocket. At f/1.7 its almost 3 stops faster than the zoom. The difference is being able to shoot at ISO400 instead of 3200. At 400, I can make a beautiful 16x20 print. At 32... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
An excellent choice for street photography
This is a very good, fast, prime lens for walking around and general street photography. This lens very closely matches how I see the World around me. The angle of view is a little wide, but, for most purposes, it delivers a very normal perspective. Small, light, and inconspicuous this lens is a great option when you want to capture scenes around you without being too obvious. Resolution is very good wide open as well as when stopped down. This l... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Easily A Go To Lens
I got this lens because I was tired of using my old Canon 50mm 1.8 lens and micro four-thirds adapter for my GH4 and needed a compatible lens that would let me adjust my aperture since I was unable to do so with my adapter for my GH4. I must say though, this lens is definitely more than worth getting! What sold me was the speed having an aperture of 1.7 which is slightly faster than my Canon at 1.8 and what makes me love this lens even more is th... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
The ONE (or maybe 1 of 2) lens to own
I had the same title for my review when I bought the 14-140mm V2 i.e f3.5 - 5.6. At the time, I suggested that the 20mm would be a great complement to that big zoom. I just got mine, and it is. Yes, it has a few warts. Just as you have read, ad nauseum, the autofocus is a tad slow. So what? I like to shoot in manual mode with this fine little baby, to bring out the best that this lens has to offer. It is fast optically, sharp, small, light and co... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great lens for traveling light
I bought this as a compact lens for an Olympus Pen-f I bought as a replacement for a previous PEN series camera to use as a walking-around camera when I don't want to tote a bigger Nikon. This lens is perfect in terms of size and excellent optical quality. I previously had an Olympus 14-42 ez pancake zoom lens that I intended for the same purpose, but I soon sold it because I was not happy with its soft optics nor with its quirky electronic zoom.... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Very Sharp lens! compact. pretty fast focus
This lens is really sharp. I did some astro photography with it and it was sharper than my L series lenses on my 6D. Some have complained about slow focus and on my Olympus EPL-5 it was REALLY slow, but on my GX8, it was pretty fast! NOt as fast as the new 12-60, but still about as fast as the Canon lenses to me anyway! I'm not sure focus speed is a big issue on this since its not really a lens most would use for action photography or birds in fl... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
I bought this lens twice.
I have been taking photographs since I picked up my first camera while serving in the Army back in 1959. I shot weddings, worked for a newspaper and been published in magazines and this is one of the best lens that I have ever owned. A while back I gave my first 20mm lens to a son, but soon realized I had to have that lens. Today I shoot street and its size makes a difference in how I am seen. I don't look like a pro. I also own the 25mm, which i... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
fatally flawed for dark night photos
Recently bought a GM1. In many ways the 20mm f1.7 is the perfect lens for it. It keeps the size small and is a very flexible focal length. In most situations, the lens performs really well. However, in very low light, the 20mm f1.7 has a terrible flaw. Black areas of the photo will often show terrible bands/stripes. The issue is thoroughly discussed in many micro 4/3rds forums and can happen with many micro 4/3rds cameras. It doesn't always happe... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Slow focus
This is a great lens for indoor photography. Nice small lens, good field of view, excellent construction and image quality is sharp. Unfortunately this lens focuses very slow. The Olympus Zuiko lenses all have blazing fast and silent focus. Not so with Panasonic. Something about the design, it hunt for focus with every shot. Even if you focus and lock in on the subject. If you refocus again it will bring it out of focus and lock in again. This is... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Outstanding Moderate Wide-Angle Lens
This is a first class lens for MFT users. I already own the fine Olympus 17mm F1.8 lens, and needed a second lens in this range for my wife's E-P5. In a back to back comparison using my E-M1 (tripod and self-timer), the Lumix lens is noticeably sharper throughout the range of f-stops, when viewed at 100% on screen. No chatter during focusing was noticed on either body. Perhaps the Lumix is a bit slower at focusing, but not significantly so. Panca... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Sharp and fast
Just used this lens for 1080 video as a stationary angle in a low light church on a GH4 body. Capture of detail and sharpness much better than the main video camera used (Panasonic AGAC90). No focus drifting. Exposure at 1/60 3.5 ISO 2400 and still great sharpness (corner to corner) and shadow detail without much graininess. Semi-wide angle framed entire front of church from 60 feet away. Thought of getting the pricier 15mm Lumix Summilux, but th... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
A little gem
I love the Olympus 17mm F1.8, so this pancake had a lot to live up to. After using both, I much prefer using this lens. Not only is it small and light, there is just something about the 40mm point of view and the colorsthat this lens produces. It reminds me of film, it just has a character to it that the oly17mm did not have. The auto focus is nothing to write home about, it is a little slow and will sometimes hunt for its target. But when you ge... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Extremely Sharp
I purchased this lens for use with a recent purchase of the black magic micro cinema camera. I expected the lens to be sharp, just as all of the reviews say, but what I didn't expect was this incredible focus ring. It's not the distance throw of a true Cine lens, but a far enough throw that you can attach a gear to the ring, and a focus control on your rods, and obtain cinematic focus points. If you're doing film work with the micro or pocket cin... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Sharp, Compact Wide Normal Lens
I bought this lens over the Lumix 25mm f/1.7 lens because I prefer a wider normal lens, and so far I've been very happy with it's performance. It seems to be slightly faster focusing that the first version of this lens, which was known to be an AF slow-poke. This lens is quite sharp, even when shooting wide open. It's also very quiet, so it's good for video work. The manual focus-by-wire is a little less responsive than I would like, but given it... Show More
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great pancake lens.
I bought this lens for my GX85 because it's a flat pancake lens, and the camera will still fit in a large coat pocket with the lens attached. It seems sharp even wide open at f1.7. The GX85 came with a 12-32mm kit lens, and I got the 20mm for situations where the kit lens is too slow and where I wanted a shallow DOF. After using this one, the kit lens has remained in a bag and the 20mm lives on the camera almost full time. I didn't expect the lens to be as good as it is because of the low price. However, it feels solid and well built, and it's a perfect match for a small camera.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Great image quality, slow AF
I was drawn to this lens mainly because of the fast aperture and the small size. I wanted a lens that I could keep on the body while in my messenger bag, so that I could pull it out and take shots quickly. The kit 14-42mm made it too big for my bag.The image quality is great. Good sharpness and color saturation. The only downside is that the AF is noticeably slow. I only have the kit 14-42mm to compare it to.The Olympus 17mm f1.8 was the only other lens I considered, but I went with the Panasonic mainly for it's slightly smaller size.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Good product for day shoots, not so much by night though
Although this LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 II ASPH lens has proven to be most useful during day-shoots, it still lacks the amazing results my partner and I have obtained by night from using the Olympus 45 mm f/1.8 one. Although focal length is obviously different for both lenses, and even though each of these two lenses serve contrasting cinematic purposes, we feel the Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 17mm f/1.8 lens might have performed even better --considering in our humble opinion, the excellent performance we have gathered from the 45 mm one.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Essential Lens
This was the first m43 lens I bought (version 1) to use with my GH2 and recently bought version II to go with my GX7. It is my most used lens and turns out to be an excellent all around lens. It is remarkably small and lightweight, has excellent optical properties and the focal length works for a wide range of subject matter. It is wide and fast enough to shoot indoors and works equally well outdoors where its rendering quality is marvelous. I am consistently surprised and happy with the results even after three years.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
Excellent compact lens
The Lumix 20mm f/1.7 is a sharp yet tiny lens that I use as my primary lens with an Olympus OM-D E-M10. The lens support Olympus's S-AF/MF, where turning the lumix's focus ring will override the camera's autofocus. The focusing is smooth and easy on both autofocus and manual focus mode. I chose this primarily because of photozone.de's fantastic review, and the lens certainly lives up to the hype. The E-M10 + Lumix 20mm combo makes for a very compact system good for street or nighttime photography.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
small with decent optics, but AF is slow
Optically, this lens is okay, but not really much different than other m43 prime lens with a similar focal length. However, this lens is very small (not that the others are large). By current standards, the autofocus on this lens is extremely slow, not unlike a macro lens. If you can live with slow AF this lens is okay. This lens is also noisy during operation. For general use where focus speed matters, the Olympus 17mm f1.8 and 25mm f1.8 lenses (I own both) are much better lenses.
Reviewed on B&H Photo Video
