Panasonic LUMIX G II Lens, 20MM, F1.7 ASPH, MIRRORLESS Micro Four Thirds, H-H020AS (USA Silver)

Product Information

Micro Four Thirds is the oldest mirrorless system, having been around for more than 15 years at this point. The original advantages of the system included the portable dimensions of its cameras and lenses. They stood in stark contrast to the DSLRs that were popular at the time – however, these days, with mirrorless systems in their ascendancy, the difference is less clear-cut. A full-frame Sony setup or an APS-C Fujifilm setup won’t be all that much bigger and heavier than a Micro Four Thirds setup using top-end Panasonic or OM-System kit. Main reason being was weight, it was just to heavy sometimes lugging it all about even with just the body & one lens. When considering the best lenses for street photography for Micro Four Thirds, remember that both the focal length and the depth of field equivalence to full-frame is double. This is unlike Panasonic’s Lumix S series, which is full-frame. It means that Panasonic’s 20mm f1.7 will render a 40mm f3.4 field of view when shot wide open. In our tests, we couldn’t really identify any color fringing in the images–which is a great thing for JPEG shooters that love to complain about this type of thing. But even for RAW shooters, this means that much less work in the post-production phase. Extra Image Samples As I shot the lens more and more I was very surprised at how capable of a lens it really is. But let’s not get too crazy. One thing I did notice next to my Leica M9 setup is the lens does not give me that Leica quality I love so much. Of course I do not and would never expect it to either. I do see some guys online trying to claim the m4/3 cameras are equal to the M9. That is BS hogwash right there. I am now a big fan and love the M4/3 cameras, plus I have been shooting the hell out of the E-P2 and 20 1.7 and yes, it’s insanely fun. But my M9 gives me those files that make my jaw drop sometimes, and it should for the insane amounts of money I have spent on it!

Another thought if you can tolerate a 'slower' lens (but perhaps faster than your current lens) is you might be able to get a used Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 pro lens for that amount of money. That is two stops slower than a f/1.4 lens, but if you are willing to process noise, I find often the 12-40mm is great at indoor photos without a flash. The lens is devoid of any switches or control surfaces other than the manual focus ring; there isn't much room for anything and in the micro-four thirds cameras it can attach to, lens functions are controlled at the camera level.

Tech Specs

You work out a lens’ full-frame equivalent focal length by multiplying the crop factor by the actual focal length. With Micro Four Thirds, the crop factor is 2, so working it out is quite easy – simply double the stated focal length. A 35mm lens mounted to a Micro Four Thirds camera will provide an effective field of view of 35×2, which is 70mm.

The out-of-focus regions in this F1.7 shot show some purple fringing in front of the subject, aka longitudinal CA (LoCA) Panasonic GX7– The GX7 is a camera that may go best with the lens due to its smaller size–which works best with the lens’s small size.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 tested by AP’s review team. Photo credit: Andy Westlake If there's a weakness in the lens, it would be significant corner shading when used at larger apertures. This is especially noticeable when used wide open, where we note corners which are a full stop darker than the center of the image. This light falloff reduces as the lens is stopped down, becoming 3/4 of a stop at ƒ/2, and 1/2 a stop at ƒ/2.8. At ƒ/4 it remains more or less constant at a third-of-a-stop of light falloff. If you really want sharper image quality, use a flash. Your images will instantly have the sharpness of a brand new camera and lens. It’s really that simple. It’s amazing what a well-metered image using a flash can do. I would also expect this might explain the different sharpness results from the 16mp tests(and my own experience) and the 12mp tests, where the added contrast helps lenses resolve more detail at the edges, whereas on a more resolving sensor you might see there is actually more resolution with the 20mm.