Big question, what’s the difference between the two 20mm pancake versions? ePhotozine (Click here) find it out for you:
The Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 II with a redesigned styling and metal parts, and this gives a very slight improvement in resistance to flare, as well as a slight improvement in contrast. The redesign has very slightly improved the position of the surrounding plastic closest to the lens, which results in a very slight improvement in shielding light from hitting the lens at oblique angles.
The improved build quality should make the lens last longer, although unfortunately there has not been an improvement in focus speeds with both the old and new lens giving the same focus speeds in our testing. With the same excellent image quality, reasonable value for money, and compact size, this new model should be just as popular as the original and is an excellent choice for Micro Four Thirds users. The new colour options also better matches the new cameras from Panasonic and Olympus.
Be sure to read the full review at ePhotozine (Click here).
The new version is alreayd in Stock at BHphoto (Click here).
27 Responses
I’d like to know if it produces the same banding issue as the old one on the OMD E-M5 at high ISO (or did that get fixed in firmware?)
It does. Banding has been shown by a few people now that have tested it with their OMD. Nothing has been fixed, just a cosmetic makeup.
Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!
No focus speed improvement and banding on OM-D? Why release an update then?
> and banding on OM-D
Worst part: and GH3 too. Panasonic own camera suffers from the same problem and they did do nothing.
I wonder and worry if the GX7 is affected too.
I think not, GX7 does not have a Sony sensor and it is clear that this combo gives the banding issue. But what the physical reason is, si unknown so who knows…
what do you do to get banding is it a high ISO issue i use the 20mm a lot on GH3 & GX1 .I have never seen the banding but i shoot under 800 ISO hence my question
Yes, it is visible on ISO 1600 and up (mostly from 6400 though), or if you lift shadows on lower ISOs. And as usual with banding, you need plain/regular surfaces to notice it.
Sorry dude, never saw any nasty banding with my copy. I now use the mark II and I did some testing. No banding with my E-M5.
Well, in that case I’m glad I did not wait for the updated lens for my E-M5 but bought the bigger 25mm PanaLeiva instead.
the focus ring clicks. it ease to focus manually (by my try with this lens).
but if it could use new nano coating like other X lenses (sigh).
The focus ring clicks?
Other panasonic fail as ussual
You have seen the new Olympus? And you say another Panasonic fail lol
Will stick with my Sigma 19mm, the Panny is not sufficiently better to justify a more than double increase in cost.
The Sigma 19mm is inferior to the first version of the 20mm and even more inferior to the mark II. Better sharpness, better contrast, better looks.
Panny really dropped the ball on this one. I thought they would address the negative issues with the old lens. Hopefully, Oly ZD will release a pro subnormal, say a 20/1.4 with weather-sealing.
I’m guessing that, to handle the rest of the issues, the lens would no longer be a pancake lens. There just wasn’t enough room.
Agreed completely! The problem with pancake designs is that they inherently tend to involve compromise of optimal resolution & overall sharpness in favor of compactness. In order for Panny to correct all|most of the deficiencies of the old 20/1.7, they would probably have had to abandon the pancake design to optimize everything else. So now I am back to hoping Oly ZD releases a 20/1.4 (or thereabouts) design where resolution and overall sharpness are the design priorities. Hell, I would even accept a 20/1.7 design as long as sharpness is king.
20/1.7 is actually pretty sharp, which is not super hard to do in a small package given the lens sits right above the flange distance and mounts allow to go a little inside of it (see Sony E and Samsung NX 20mm, Canon M 22mm, Canon EF and Pentax K 40mm pancake designs for other examples).
My guess is that m43 standard allows a rear element go as far back as to provide cheap designs starting from 14mm (see most kits and Pana 14/2.5).
I call B.S. on that statement. Panasonic’s own 14/2.5 is a SMALLER and THINNER pancake than 20/1.7 and has a silent flying speed autofocus speed. So there was enough room in 14 (which, being a wide angle lens, is inherently harder to make glass wise than a 20 which is a normal 40mm lens) and not enough room in 20 to fix atrocious af? Oh and Panasonic upped the price with 20/1.7 II. Great going, Panasonic!!!!
David B, you are right. And to fix electronic noise thing, you need ground or a capacitor somewhere. But for that, and for replacement of the focusing motor by more powerful part, you need actually an electrical/electronics engineer. Much simpler just to replace body and call it #2.
What a missed opportunity to fix the one weak aspect of this lens: focus speed.
Don’t hold your breath on an Oly 20mm. That is covered by their 17mm. They need to work instead on fast zooms, especially on the wide end.
Poor effort. Typical.
Lol Panasonic
This lens was already optically excellent and did not need replacing. So they didn’t. That it focusses not silently is a minor point for me. This remains my favorite M43 lens as it is.
The Panasonic 20mm optically is an excellent lens. The second version is better, because it has slightly increased contrast. The results just look better and of course the barrel is now all metal and black. Very nice! It hardly leaves my E-M5.