Panasonic 20mm 1.7 pancake or Canon FD's?
- Thread starter rundavids
- Start date
I just bought it this morning, and I've been using FDs. I'll let you know how it goes after some testing tonight. It's pretty nice, and doesn't seem too noisy. F1.8 isn't F1.4 though, and there is a lovely bokeh to the older lenses. We'll see what happens. Frankly, there are some situations where I need to be able to hand the camera to other people, inexperienced people, so the ability to auto-everything is important.
Jonathan12uiz
Well-known member
I was acutally about to post about this lens. I found it here:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/651751-REG/Panasonic_H_H020_Lumix_20mm_f_1_7_Aspheric.html, and was wondering if it would be better than a canon 50mm f/1.4. considering after i buy a canon lense and the adapter I'd be roughly at the same price. I'm actually looking for a great lens for great night shots and moving night shots.
there is a big difference from 2.8 to 2. I'm still quite new and i find that f2 seems to work best for me in most situations. 1.4 sometimes gives me too shallow DOF but it is really nice to have when you need it.
I'm considering the pancake purely cause its fairly fast and is auto to quickly shoot on the fly and handing it over to others.
I'm considering the pancake purely cause its fairly fast and is auto to quickly shoot on the fly and handing it over to others.
thisisapocalypse
Well-known member
Yes, those are 1 stop increments. 1 stop from 1.4 to 2, and 1 stop from 2 to 2.8.
If you are at f1.4, and close down to f2, you lose half the light you had at 1.4, so you have to either increase your iso by 1 stop, or decrease your shutter speed by 1 stop in order to compensate for the difference, which is not always possible. Same thing happens from f2 to f2.8, you lose half of the light you had at f2.
thisisapocalypse
Well-known member
It shouldn't cost you $400 for a Canon 50mm f/1.4 + adapter...unless you're looking at Canon EOS lenses, but if you're using the GH1, you'd be better off getting a pre-owned Canon FD (not eos) 50mm f/1.4 off of eBay + adapter. You should be able to find a Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 + adapter in the realm of about $100 total.
FDs are easier to use on the GH1 because they have manual aperture rings and are easier to focus (they were designed to be manually focused) whereas the EOS mount lenses do not have manual aperture rings and are a bit tougher to focus.
Jonathan12uiz
Well-known member
chrismagicc
Well-known member
If your looking to save money, but loose the auto features, go for the canon FD lenses. `i love my 35mm f2 and 50 f1.4 FD's. they are great and very cheap!
designbydave
Active member
If you are going for an FD 50, get the 1.4 over the 1.8. Not just faster, but a much nicer, sharper overall lens and still pretty cheap. I got one for ~$60
Lately I have been using an FD 24 1.4L. Still pretty expensive and hard to find, but absolutely gorgeous on the GH1!
I still want the pancake though, its so small and light it would be an excellent "take every where" lens. The 24 1.4L is a bit heavy and with adapter sticks out the front of the camera body pretty far.
Lately I have been using an FD 24 1.4L. Still pretty expensive and hard to find, but absolutely gorgeous on the GH1!
I still want the pancake though, its so small and light it would be an excellent "take every where" lens. The 24 1.4L is a bit heavy and with adapter sticks out the front of the camera body pretty far.
thisisapocalypse
Well-known member
+1
I've got the Canon FD 24mm 1.4L as well - what an awesome lens on the GH1 and I'm so glad to see someone else here on DVXuser is using one as they are indeed very hard to find! Same thinking as you too - I'm also going to grab the pancake for all the reasons you mentioned, it being a little wider and almost as fast + autofocus ain't too shabby either, but I still see it being worthwhile to have both of them, the 24 1.4L is gorgeous on the GH1.
thisisapocalypse
Well-known member
Get the 1.4 or if you're feeling daring, one of the 1.2s - I've got the FL (pre-dates the FD mount but the FLs work fine on the FD adapters) 55mm 1.2 and it's excellent and quite sharp even wide open. Don't get the 1.8, the 1.4 is probably the sharpest all around, but if you'd like even more low-light performance grab a 1.2.
Sorry, I don't have any footage up yet, but I like the little pancake. (Wish I had that L lens too, though)
As fun and educational as it is to work with the manual focus on the FDs, I have to admit it's nice to be able to use the GH1 like a video camera, pointing and shooting when necessary. You've still got manual everything at your fingertips, but it's very versatile. The 20mm focal length is a lot easier to handheld than my 50mm FD, also. I wish the 1.7 were a hair faster, but it's still pretty awesome. The GH1 is my favorite camera in the world, I just wish I could push the ISO and underexpose without getting vertical FPN...that's the only thing that I envy the 7D for.
Overall, worth the $400 for this little lens! Another factor is that it'll fit in your girlfriend's purse...very stealth. I don't feel the autofocus is nastily slow or noisy, not as awesome as the kit, but I've seen worse.
As fun and educational as it is to work with the manual focus on the FDs, I have to admit it's nice to be able to use the GH1 like a video camera, pointing and shooting when necessary. You've still got manual everything at your fingertips, but it's very versatile. The 20mm focal length is a lot easier to handheld than my 50mm FD, also. I wish the 1.7 were a hair faster, but it's still pretty awesome. The GH1 is my favorite camera in the world, I just wish I could push the ISO and underexpose without getting vertical FPN...that's the only thing that I envy the 7D for.
Overall, worth the $400 for this little lens! Another factor is that it'll fit in your girlfriend's purse...very stealth. I don't feel the autofocus is nastily slow or noisy, not as awesome as the kit, but I've seen worse.
Camera Expert
Well-known member
Check out my footage here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=195429
The auto focus works harder when it starts to get dark but it's not that bad.
The auto focus is slightly slower and nosier than the kit lens but still good nonetheless when you consider how tiny it is.
Still, I would hope people aren't comparing the 20mm lens at f/1.7 to the 14-140mm at f/4 because that would be a very unfair comparison. To make it fair, they should set both to f/4.0. If your going to be shooting closer to 4.0 than you should be using the kit lens anyway.
I'm very happy with the lens and I believe it should be the first extra lens you purchase for the GH1.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=195429
The auto focus works harder when it starts to get dark but it's not that bad.
The auto focus is slightly slower and nosier than the kit lens but still good nonetheless when you consider how tiny it is.
Still, I would hope people aren't comparing the 20mm lens at f/1.7 to the 14-140mm at f/4 because that would be a very unfair comparison. To make it fair, they should set both to f/4.0. If your going to be shooting closer to 4.0 than you should be using the kit lens anyway.
I'm very happy with the lens and I believe it should be the first extra lens you purchase for the GH1.
Bigmagic
Well-known member
I wish I would have read this thread before I purchased a 50mm 1.8 works nice though, I also bought a 28mm 2.8, I haven't shot enough with either of them to tell you much but The colors pop and focusing was a breeze. The 1.4s must be a little rarer as I don't see near as many of them on ebay. I have a couple of old vivitar lenses I'm gonna try I think the mount is the same.
Simon Höfer
Veteran
Is it possible to manually focus with the panasonic 20 1.7? Or is there not even a focus ring?
Of course its possible to manually focus. But there are no numbers to help you.