20mm F1.7 Pancake lens -is- fairly noisy

Kevin I

Kevin I

Active member
I picked up the 20mm F1.7 "pancake" lens this morning and have done a bit of casual testing with it.

Conclusion: It's noisy. Not nearly as bad as the Olympus 17mm lens, but not anywhere near as good as the 14-140 kit lens.

My camera is updated with the v1.2 firmware, for better performance with this lens... but it's still noisy enough to get into the audio track when using the built-in microphone.

I'm attaching a .ZIP file that contains a short MP3 from my camera. This was recorded in the quietest place in the house. You can hear some handling noise (probably my shirt as I moved the camera)... and the noise from focus motor is loud and clear. It registers at about -30db.

The lens even makes this noise when manual focusing, since the focus ring is really a motorized servo and not a mechanical focus mechanism.

I'll try to do some "real world" testing later on.

On the bright side, it's wonderfully compact and very sharp with minimal purple fringing.
 

Attachments

AF for stills is great. Quick and accurate. Depth of field can be very shallow, so you do have to be a little careful on where the camera is focusing.
 
Follow up on the noise.

The sample I posted earlier had a background noise level of roughly -60db... Can't be sure on the exact number because the audio meter scale goes from -30db to Infinity in Premiere. And in such a quiet environment, the focus motor's noise is relatively loud.

I did some recording in an area with some background noise through an open window. The GH1's AGC placed that level around -20db and I couldn't hear the focus motor noise above the din at all.

So all is not lost for this lens and on-camera audio! :)
 
Thanks Kevin, would love to see some samples if you get a chance. I think I'm definitely gonna go for this lens, I'm only using the on cam audio for reference or for family stuff, so the small amount of noise isn't a problem for me.
 
where did you buy the lens from? its not available on panasonic's site and only preorder at amazon. is it really worth 400 bucks?
 
paulgandersman said:
where did you buy the lens from? its not available on panasonic's site and only preorder at amazon. is it really worth 400 bucks?
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I plan to buy the whole lot... sell the GF1 body for £500.. the lens can be yours for £70.

How come? GF1 20mm F1.7 kit can be had for just £570 in Japan :) :) :)

That's a lot of saving on the lens...
 
what does that translate to in USD? and how do you know you can sell the body for that much?

[edit - okay i just did the conversion, its around the same amount as the US version, so i guess my question is: how do you know you can sell the body only for so much?]
 
paulgandersman said:
what does that translate to in USD? and how do you know you can sell the body for that much?

[edit - okay i just did the conversion, its around the same amount as the US version, so i guess my question is: how do you know you can sell the body only for so much?]
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The GF1 price in the US is pretty good.

I am speaking more from a European perspective, esp. UK... Body only here is £550 and I expect availability issues to rear their head. But of course, the Japanese body has Japanese only menus so maybe not £500. Maybe £450. It is a new, sought after model. I am sure there will be someone who doesn't mind the Japanese menus and wants to save £100 on the body's UK RRP.

I may even end up keeping the body and the pancake... I have a Leica 25mm F1.4 and it is an amazing lens, but a quality 20mm F1.7 is not far off the mark and the small size is a huge advantage especially for the Hague Mini Motion steadicam. The Leica is worth nearly £600 alone. It pays for a GF1 body AND the 20mm pancake.

Footnote: anyone else feel UK camera prices are a bit crazy right now? I could understand it a few months back when our currency dipped so low, but now theres 150 yen to the pound and 1.6 dollars to the pound, how can they justify a RRP which is the same in dollars as it is in pounds? Case in point: Canon S90 will be $399 and £399... CRAZY!!
 
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Just to clarify, as it seems there is conflicting/unclear information out there. Does this lens indeed continuously Autofocus while shooting video? And does it continuously autofocus in all video modes (1080p 24p)?

Thanks!
 
Anyone knows if this lens has been delayed? GF1 kit lens is showing as discontinued on most camera shops and it hasn't even been out yet? Panasonic direct also showing not available. I see GF1 with 14-45mm is available now.
 
dojoman said:
Anyone knows if this lens has been delayed? GF1 kit lens is showing as discontinued on most camera shops and it hasn't even been out yet? Panasonic direct also showing not available. I see GF1 with 14-45mm is available now.
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Not sure, but there are several available directly from Japanese retailers selling on eBay. Price is a little higher...but if you need it now it's an option.
 
haojan said:
I am ordering from Adorama and they replied that it should be shipping next week.
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Odd. Based on the above, I just went to their website to preorder, and when I viewed the contents of my shopping cart, I got the following:

Adorama Holiday Schedule:
Adorama Shipping department will be closed for the Succoth Holiday from Friday, October 2 at 1:00pm, and will reopen on Monday, October 12 at 9:00am.
(Orders submitted before our closing time will be processed on that same day)
Please Note: Orders submitted to us during the holiday, will be delivered to to you on the week of October 12. Where necessary, we'll upgrade the shipping method at our expense*
Thank You for your understanding, and for your business.
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And yes, I'm sure I was on Adorama, NOT B&H - Mark

 
This is the one lens I want right now.

Found this footage on flickr (link to youtube) by Weylyn.

actually it appears to be a mixture of two lenses, the 20mm f/1.7 and the 14-45mm
 
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