Panasonic Lumix 20mm 1.7 (mk1) - thoughts?

[EspressoJunkie]

I've succumbed to the lure of m43 (again!) and I'm looking for an inexpensive general use prime to go along with the 12-32 kit lens.

I've not got mega bucks to spend though so as much as I'd love the 17mm 1.8 it's out of my budget. I've about £150 to spend.

I've seen the original Lumix 20mm 1.7 used for about £150, so it's really between this and the newer Panasonic 25mm 1.7. I'd prefer the wider of the two as it's more how I shoot, but I'd there's a drastic difference in performance and quality I'd go for the 25mm.

Or is there anything else in the f1.8 area I should look at?

 

[woof woof]

The 20mm F1.7 is a good lens with only two problems that I can see...

- It's relatively slow to focus.
- It may cause noise banding at high ISO's.

If nether of these are an issue for you then it'll be a good buy.

I haven't used mine since I got my Oly 17mm f1.8.

 

[damianmkv]

It's an awesome lens but is "slow" ( in comparison to the usual instant focus of m43 ) and can hunt in low light. I loved the IQ and feel of what it produced but replaced it with the o25 ( which I then replaced with the Sigma 30 f1.4 )

 

[Gyles]

I've got one for sale on another forum. TBH it's a fantastic lens, great value. Very sharp and good colours and so tiny. As said focusing in quite low light, low contrast situations it can hunt a bit(some not all of the time) but in normal light its fine. There has been reports of banding on some Olympus bodies em5 mostly.

I use a step down ring for a lens hood as the filter ring will move back past the front of the lens.....if that make sense.

I'm only selling mine as I've just picked up a Fujifilm X-E1. You wouldn't loose anything by buying used, if you don't like it sell it on for the same price.

 

[woof woof]

There has been reports of banding on some Olympus bodies em5 mostly.

The banding is not limited to Olympus bodies, it does it on Panasonic bodies too. I think it'll be ok up to ISO 3200 as that's all my G1 will go to and I used the 20mm extensively on that camera and I never saw any banding. Newer bodies like my GX7 go to much higher ISO's and it's at the higher ones that the banding appears (and I've seen it) so if you only go to relatively low (by todays standards) high ISO's such as 3200 banding may never be an issue.