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Product Description:
20mm focal length; equivalent to 40mm on a 35mm film cameraCompact and lightweight "pancake" lensF1.7 brightness for beautiful, soft focusComprised of seven lenses arranged in five groups; uses two aspherical lenses to effectively minimize distortionUsed with Lumix G Micro System Cameras, allows for use of the advanced contrast Auto Focus (AF) system
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Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras
Panasonic's large-diameter fixed focus 20mm "pancake" lens is the perfect all-around DSLR lens. The f/1.7 to f/16 aperture range provides plenty of creative options. Plus, its compact, easy-to-carry design is also ideal for capturing everyday photos. Check out the latest craze for fixed focal length digital lenses.
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Manufacturer: Panasonic
Model No: H-H020PP
Dimensions: 5 x 4 x 4 inches. 1 pounds.
Customer Reviews
 good complement for the zoom lens
If you bought, like me, a Micro Four Thirds camera (mine is a Panasonic G1) with a zoom lens, you have two options: just keep using the zoom lens alone, or buy this 20 mm prime lens as an addition.
While the 14-45 mm zoom that came with my camera is good enough, the 20 mm prime extends the capabilities of the camera very substantially. Swap the lenses, and it's basically a whole new camera.
With the 20 mm, if there's enough light to read, there's enough light to take pictures. I rarely use the flash with this lens, in most cases I've no need for it, which is exactly what I intended. Taking pictures of kids playing in the living room, without flash? No problem.
I use the 14-45 mm zoom outdoors in daylight (between sunrise and sunset). I use the 20 mm prime in all other situations (indoors at all times, or outdoors after sunset). This is a great combination. Highly recommended.
Best MFT lens available so far
It's very simple, if you have a micro Four Thirds camera, you want this lens. Doesn't matter if you have a Panasonic or Olympus camera, this is the best MFT lens you can buy, and easily the best deal. You can spend more, but you won't get better performance. Hopefully that will change, BTW. Or at least, the ease of making that pronouncement will change.
I have an Olympus E-PL1 with this lens, and unlike some of the older reviews, especially with E-P1 and E-P2, the autofocus is quite good with the latest firmware for the lens and camera. Since the PEN cameras have in-body image stabilization, like god intended, you get some seriously great, crisp shots with this lens.
The minimum focus distance on this lens is tiny, the image quality is fantastic, and, well, there's the speed. Its 1.7 f-stop is the fastest thing in the MFT world, by quite a ways. The next closest is the similar, but shorter focal length, Olympus 17mm f2.8. That's a LOT slower than 1.7, as everyone is well aware, I'm sure. The Panasonic/Leica 45mm is also f2.8.
The speed therefore makes this lens much more versatile and useful than any other MFT lens on the market. With the aperture open, you get a very nice, soft bokeh that is gorgeous. The color repro with this lens is awesome, and I especially love that because I love to take pictures of flowers. The crisp, clear, faithfully reproduced colors of the flower subjects far surpasses the kit lens.
The lens is quite compact, but not as much as the Olympus 17mm, but that's OK because it's packing a larger set of glass, isn't it?
The focus performance must be mentioned. On the *highly* auto-focus challenged Olympus E-PL1 camera, this lens is a huge breath of fresh air, because it focuses faster and more precisely than the kit lens, which is downright awful, really. Because this lens is so fast, it's able to focus in lower light situations that the kit 14-42mm lens can only dream about, and that's a real life saver, believe me. Or perhaps I should say "shot saver", because I lost an extremely important, impossible to replace shot because the kit lens refused to focus and didn't warn me sufficiently. Actually it doesn't warn you at all, sigh.
People keep saying buy it if you can afford it. Am I missing something? It's cheaper than many of the other MFT lenses that I don't even have to try out to know can't match this one. The Panasonic 14-140 costs double this lens, and the 45mm Panasonic/Leica lens is a bunch more than double, and I don't even want it. f2.8 is just a wannabe compared to this lens. Enough said.
I recently went to the Concorso Italiano in Monterey, California, a car show dedicated to Italian marques like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa, etc. I started with the kit lens thinking I would need the zoom capability. It quickly came off and I didn't think about it again all day. The beauty of this lens and it's focal length is that I could shoot the cars standing very close to them. All the pro n00bs with their giant lenses had to stand way back, and as soon as you do that, crowds of people stream in front of your shot. With this lens, I was standing close enough to the cars that most people wouldn't walk in front of me. I was able to get in, get the shots I wanted, and get out of each shooting situation, all while the vest-wearing silly people with their huge lenses and official credentials just had to wait and wait. And the pictures came out a new kind of perfection.
Now that I'm covered myself in slobber, I'll end this review by saying I'm obviously very happy!
A Best Buy for E-P1
Many have said it here: if you want wonderful photos from the E-P1, get this lens. My copy is super-sharp. Photos are now in a different league from the Olympus 17mm, which I find hard to believe. The pics remind me of my last film camera - a Leica P&S with velvety images. My only minor quibble: when taking a photo, the shutter sound is 'kuh-lunk' as if it's shooting at 1/10 second, no matter what the actual shutter speed is. It's a bit unnerving but is probably a fault of the E-P1. Still, the images are superb. Just buy it.
Fantastic for Low Light People Shots
If you like to shoot like me, this is an incredible lens. I use it as my main lens, and I shoot mostly people and small groups in relatively low light situations. Using this lens on my E-PL1 I have gotten excellent handheld results just before and at sunset. I have also been able to get very sharp handheld results indoors with one normal incandescent light on in the room. I've never had such a positive experience in low light before - even with my SLR.
The lens is VERY sharp in the middle and it lets in lots of light. When I shoot in AUTO mode, the camera tends to default to the 1.7 aperture in lower light and yields terrific results. Even when viewed on the small viewfinder, people immediately comment on how beautiful the pictures look and how that must be "a really good camera".
The lens is quite small and I am able to carry the combination in a larger pocket without a problem - making it an excellent carry around option. It also creates excellent video with shallow depth of field, however you need to pre-focus because the sound of the focusing motor is very obvious in the audio of the video.
I am very impressed with how easy it is to get great, sharp shots in low light with no flash. You still need to be careful what the lens is focusing on, but it's basically a quick point and shoot operation. For a casual family shooter like myself, this lens/camera combination is really great. I've been through 8 cameras in the last six years and I finally have one that satisfies my social shooting needs. The Panasonic 20mm 1.7 has made all the difference.
I just don't get it
I don't disagree with anything else that has been said in the reviews. But it seems to me that this lens is just very blah. I also have the 14-45 which seems to be far more useful because it offers both wide angle and a bit of telephoto. The 20mm isn't very wide angle and obviously isn't tele. So it is stuck in the middle somewhere. I'm returning it.
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