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

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So, this lens. I had the previous version of this lens, and gave it three stars because the AF speed was close to terrible. That was a few years ago. So have things changed? Yes, actually. Camera bodies got better, with better interfaces, better focusing systems, better touch screens, etc. So even though this lens is the same lens as it always was, now its a better lens because its part of a better system, and I feel pretty comfortable saying its now a 5-star lens for 90% of situations, whereas maybe before, I did not feel it deserved 5 stars. This lens is still what it always was, and thats whats so wonderful about it. Its a very compact, inexpensive prime with SUPERB image quality. I think just about everyone agrees that this lens takes a better quality picture than any wide to normal MFT lens under a grand. Not only that, 20mm is a superb one-size-fits-all focal length, useful for street shooting, environmental portraits, group shots, even selfies (where the light weight is useful). It might be the most versatile focal length for someone who is primarily a night time shooter like myself. And this lens, it just oozes vibe, it just has mojo. Theres real soul to this lens. I cant explain it, but the first time you nail that street night shot with this lens, youll know what Im talking about. Its sharp, yet flattering to people. It makes dull pictures look just a bit more interesting, and it makes good pictures look great. The Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 also does that, of course, but this lens has that vibe for less money in a smaller lens with a wider field of view. But you have to use it properly. You have to give it something to focus on. You cant let it hunt because it will never finish hunting. But with a modern MFT body (esp. a Panasonic with DFD), thats not hard. You can use the touchscreen or use buttons to make sure youre giving a good AF point. If youre the kind of person who lets the camera pick a focusing point all the time, dont get this lens. But then again, I would argue that one should be carefully focusing every shot at f/1.7. So, if you are ready to give your camera something to focus for every picture you take, then try this lens. Notice I said nothing about still life vs. action. You can take action shots with this lens. But you have to select a good AF box for every single shot, and if you slightly miss it and the lens starts hunting, pick a better AF point and try again. Yes, you might miss a couple of shots with this lens that you might not have missed with a faster focusing lens. But aside from a black cat running back and forth in a dark room, you should be fine if youre picking a good AF point for every single picture. Practice with it. The first time you shoot a concert with it, expect to miss some shots. But youll get better, and the bouncer who turns away other "professional cameras" will probably not even realize what a monster you have with the 20mm. There are situations where this lens will not be so great, but youll quickly learn what they are: 1) Video where you need the on-camera audio to be clean, because yes, this lens talks a bit. Of course, in a loud setting like a rock concert, AF noises are pretty minimal compared to other sounds. 2) C-AF. It cant do it. But on the other hand, what exactly would you have been doing with C-AF at 20mm anyway? Shooting basketball? You can fire off a burst in S-AF just fine at 20mm, where youre so far from the action that the depth of field is so deep, so a series of photos is highly unlikely to require refocusing. For video, C-AF in MFT is awful anyway, so just go manual or S-AF. 3) Trying to shoot scenes with minimal contrast. Thing is, though, unless its an action scene, you can wait for the picture to get taken. But I guess some toddlers dont really wait around. 4) Handing off the camera to someone who is bad at cameras. But lately, this is less of an issue. Set it to touchscreen shutter, and tell them to touch the face on the LCD. Almost anyone can do that these days. 5) You want reasonably fast focus on an older MFT camera. If any of these points are deal breakers, just skip this lens and go to the Olympus 17mm f/1.8. However, I think a better idea is to spend the same money on a cheap used body + this 20mm f/1.7 because I think the picture is better. Plus, with all these other lenses out there where you can go crazy, I think this tiny, cheap, and superb lens is more important than ever to the Micro Four Thirds system. Its cheap enough that it doesnt have to be your only lens, so you can have other lenses that cover its weaknesses. This by itself makes a pretty decent kit. This + a kit zoom can make a good kit. This + any of the great MFT lenses out there (zoom or prime) can make a great kit. To summarize, dont get this lens if you have no desire to develop good habits for photography. But take care of your 20mm, and it will take care of you.

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Hey what’s up everyone, my name’s Chris Winter and today I’m going to take a look at what has become one of my all time favourite lenses, the Panasonic 20mm 1.7. Ive been using this lens for about a year now and have absolutelyy fallen in love with it’s image quality and size. And if you haven’t seen it yet guys, make sure to check out my top 5 best value micro fours thirds lenses list. I’ll put a link in the description box below so go and check it out. Let’s first take a look at the build quality of this lens. When you first pick up the panasonic 20mm 1.7, you’ll definitely notice just how small it is. Even though the lens does have a very wide 1.7 aperture, Panasonic has been able to keep it down to a tiny size. There’s not a whole lot of plastic on this lens either, with a metallic body and metal mount on the rear, it does feel like it’s going to hold up well to years of use. On the front we have a beautiful focus ring which is incredibly smooth to turn. I really love it. Theres no image stabilisation on the lens or a manual focus switch, but thats because its actually got full time manual focus, which is a nice touch. Before I used the 20mm 1.7, my favorite focal lensht was a 50mm on a full frame body. But thats all changed now and it’s now 20mm. That equates to about 40mm on these bodies and its a great field of view for most shots. Just so you can get an idea of what that focal length is. Here what 20mm looks like. And just for comparison, this is what 12mm looks like on a micro four thirds body and here is what 32mm looks like. So for me, its a very happy medium at 20. Lets now talk about bokeh, or the background blur behind your subject. Before I found this lens, I never thoguht that you could get such shallow depths of field with a) such a small lens, b) a wide-ish angle of 20mm and c) on a small micro four thirds camera. But as you can see, I was wrong. Ive had such a blast shooting with this lens, as it produces some stunning bokeh. Its creamy, its smooth and its not distracting. Not only that, even at wide apertures the shots are still tack sharp and youre still getting some lovely bokeh. Ive very impressed The 20mm 1.7 has a minimum focusing distance of around 20cm, which isnt the closest focusing lens youll find. Thats not to say you cant get some nice detailed shots with it, as you can see here, as we zoom in to 100%. But its definitely not a dedicated macro lens. Now one of the biggest issues people have had with this lens is its autofocus speed, and you know what, I havent had any issues with it. Ive consistenly found the 20 1.7 to have very good autofocus speed at all apertures, comparable to my dslr with a similar lens. The only time Id ever have any problems withe autofocus is in very low light conditions, and then id simply switch to manual focus, no biggie for me. So if you’re worried about all of the autofocus probelms you read online, Id forget it, its a great focusing lens especially for its size.

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I was immediately impressed with the sharpness of this lens. Its right up there with the best M4/3 lenses, like the Pan/Leica 25mm f/1.4 and the Olympus 75mm f/1.8. That, coupled with its tiny size and f/1.7 maximum aperture make it a very valuable tool for any M4/3 user. One criticism Id always heard about this lens is that its autofocus was pretty slow. If thats your concern, you have nothing to worry about. It focuses very quickly and accurately. Technically, it may be slower than some other M4/3 lenses, but youre talking about maybe a few hundredths of a second slower -- hardly anything to worry about.

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EDIT: Now that Ive had time to shoot more with this lens, Im starting to hate it. The slow, inaccurate focusing is just unacceptable. Id give it just one star because Im so frustrated, but when it DOES focus, the images are nice. 2.5 stars. I am using this lens on an Olympus E-PL7. Pancake size is nice for keeping things compact. Takes lovely photos, but it constantly hunts for focus, which can be really annoying.

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Ive taken some really incredible photos with this lens mounted to my Panasonic G85 and G9 camera bodies over the course of 9 months, including the birth of our first child. The physical size was a huge selling point. The focal length is very usable, and the f1.7 aperture is nothing short of stellar for low light and creamy bokeh creation. That is...until...on vacation a few days ago, we took it out of its case and discovered it would not focus. Neither autofocus or manual focus would work (MF is motor-driven "by wire"). The lens wasnt mishandled in any way to cause damage. Unfortunately it was a very inconvenient time as it was our first trip to the beach with baby and we hadnt brought along any other lenses. Ive owned dozens of lenses (recovering freelance photographer who used to be a full-frame Canon shooter) and never seen a failure like this so quickly. Contacting Panasonic for hopeful repair, will update the review if/when it gets resolved.

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This is the sharpest lens I have ever used. I used to shoot on DSLR with canon L-lenses, both primes and zooms. This lens on my EPL5 regularly produces the sharpest, fullest photos I have yet taken. Also, the iris is 7-bladed, so you get beautiful heptagons on blurred out highlights. I took a picture of dewy grass that blows my mind. If I lost this lens or something, I would buy it again with 0 hesitation.

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I had the 2009 version of this small pancake lens on the GF1 for many years and enjoyed it. Since I recently bought the Lumix GX85, I thought I should try this newer version of it. I like the look of it and it looks good on the GX85. Its very small and the autofocus is fast and accurate; it does not hunt and locks on the subject(s) as soon as I press the shutter half way. The images come out clean even in low light. Both attached photos were shut indoor and I can hardly see any noise. The price was also quite reasonable and it makes a good pair on my GX85. I look forward to using it often.

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This lens is a favorite on my Oly OMD EM10 Mark II. It is on the camera much of the time and makes it very compact, good for all around walking around and steet photo. The 40MM equivalency is also a very useful. Real bright lens, too, f/1.7, and thats always going to help out the m43 sensor size. Images have been very sharp, impressive. I do not have a lens hood for it and dont want to get one due to size. Ill just have to keep the light in mind when shooting, but isnt that always the case. Feels very well built, smooth focus ring, fast to focus. Overall, IId suggest its a "must have" for any m43 system due to the excellent image quality, the size, and the wide aperture. I highly recommend!

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Great night shots with this lens, I dismissed the micro 4/3rds system a few years ago, but after getting the Panasonic G7, some decent lenses, and disappointing results with a Sony RX10, Im back on board the m4/3rd train. Technically, the Canon 40mm 2.8 is smaller than this, but any Canon body is going to be larger than most, if not all m4/3rds body. I shoot weddings and so low light performance is crucial. Ive done a handful of weddings with poorly light receptions and, while the results dont match my Canon 50mm 1.4, they come damn close. This is also a great night lens. I find the focal length and aperture really condusive to urban night shots. I have no regrets buying this lens.

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I bought this prime lens to go with my Panasonic GH5 because it was relatively affordable and seemed very compact. My main lens is a more expensive Leica 12-60mm, but this 20mm is much more compact and takes better photos in low-light, which is great for indoors. Having previously used that more expensive zoom lens I was slightly disappointed that the manual-focus ring wasnt very sensitive and didnt accelerate based on how fast I turned it. The auto-focus motor definitely isnt silent, but its still quite usable and doesnt bother me. The attached photo was taken in a dimly lit room on my Panasonic GH5, F-stop 1.7, Shutter speed 1/60 sec, ISO-1000, with lossless compression (from raw to png).

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