The Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

F

flinty

Veteran
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/panasonic_20_1p7_o20/ yes i have ordered the lens but am i correct that it is the second best micro lens for low light the other being the very expensive 25mm voightlander,what worries me is that 20mm is not very wide in micro four third terms ,so i am worried about coping without more width and will this lens give me a big improvement low light wise over my 14-140mm and olympus 9-18mm .
 
Its pretty wide for me. There are times its not wide enough but most of the time i use it i find it wide enough
 
terra1 said:
i love the 20mm pancake! its not very good for manual focus tho.

i picked up the 14mm f2.5 pancake too, attached a wide angle adapter and wow! it worked well for my needs.

check the link below theres a few black & white grabs of the 14mm with wide adapter and then the normal 14mm! big differance! and its fast.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?240733-LA7200-Anamorphic-14mm-f2.5-Pancake-GF13
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for that,i am a tad confused am i correct the 20mm has the best low light so why did you put a wide angle on the wider 14mm,is there no adaptor for the 20mm and do they simply work like camcorder screw on adaptors,cheers a lot

Edit its not to late to reorder a 14mm 2.5 and cancel the 20mm 1.7
is the difference in low light great as the extra wide angle would meen a lot .
 
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I would still get the 20mm lens. It's 1 stop faster than the 14mm. It does suck to manual focus like terra1 said but its sharp and fast.
 
reeldeal said:
I would still get the 20mm lens. It's 1 stop faster than the 14mm. It does suck to manual focus like terra1 said but its sharp and fast.
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i totally agree :smile: the 20mm f1.7 is way better, faster, sharper & has a beautiful look & feel, id get the 20mm! (i got a good deal so picked up the 14mm too) :smile:


the filter thread & front element on the 20mm pancake lens actually moves in & out externally of the lens body, so screwing anything to heavy onto it could possibly damage the lens mechanism.

the filter thread on the 14mm pancake is fixed and part of the lens body, the focus mechanism is fully internal so you can screw adapters on with no worries.


yeah you can screw anything to the front as long as you have the right step up ring/s.

(both the 14mm & 20mm have a 46mm filter thread.)


i use the 20mm f1.7 on its own because its rocking as it is!

i use the 14mm f2.5 because its faster than my 14-140mm f4!

bonus of the 14mm is i can screw on heavy adapters without stressing the mechanics of the lens.


have a read of this other thread...
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?239994-Cheap-wide-angle-adapter-for-20mm-f1.7.-Suggestions
 
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terra1 said:
i totally agree :smile: the 20mm f1.7 is way better, faster, sharper & has a beautiful look & feel, id get the 20mm! (i got a good deal so picked up the 14mm too) :smile:


the filter thread & front element on the 20mm pancake lens actually moves in & out externally of the lens body, so screwing anything to heavy onto it could possibly damage the lens mechanism.

the filter thread on the 14mm pancake is fixed and part of the lens body, the focus mechanism is fully internal so you can screw adapters on with no worries.



yeah you can screw anything to the front as long as you have the right step up ring/s.

(both the 14mm & 20mm have a 46mm filter thread.)


i use the 20mm f1.7 on its own because its rocking as it is!

i use the 14mm f2.5 because its faster than my 14-140mm f4!

bonus of the 14mm is i can screw on heavy adapters without stressing the mechanics of the lens.


have a read of this other thread...
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?239994-Cheap-wide-angle-adapter-for-20mm-f1.7.-Suggestions
Click to expand...

Thank a lot for that detailed reply,so you can only put an adaptor on the 14mm which would turn it more like a 9/10mm,any idea how the 14mm f2.5 will be compared to my olympus 9-18mm as far as low light goes

Edit i have one of these would it be ok with the 14mm
http://www.product-reviews.co.uk/ca...hopping&utm_medium=Freelistings&utm_campaign=
I know stepping up rather than down is not the best way.

Thans as well reeldeal
 
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flinty said:
Thank a lot for that detailed reply,so you can only put an adaptor on the 14mm which would turn it more like a 9/10mm,any idea how the 14mm f2.5 will be compared to my olympus 9-18mm as far as low light goes

Edit i have one of these would it be ok with the 14mm
http://www.product-reviews.co.uk/ca...hopping&utm_medium=Freelistings&utm_campaign=
I know stepping up rather than down is not the best way.

Thans as well reeldeal
Click to expand...

no probs :smile:

you can put the wide angle adapter on the 20mm pancake if you really want but i didn't like the sounds it made when focusing... crunch! i tried it once then thought nahh il not risk it as the 20mm is my favourite auto lens.

if you have a rails system you could probably mount the adapter independently from the lens, and the lens focuses behind it, a bit like this...
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?228455-LA7200-anamorphic-20mm-pancake

olympus 9-18mm f4 vs. 14mm f2.5 with wide angle adapter

when using a wide angle adapter you lose a little bit of sharpness (especially at the corners) & a little bit of light.

im not too sure how much light... id guess it might take the f2.5 to being more like f3.

yeah you could use the canon WDH43 adapter, it has a 43mm rear thread so you would need a 46 to 43mm step down ring, as this adapter is pretty small the edges of the footage might have more blur like i mentioned, would have to try it to know for sure tho.

if i need to shoot in low light/dark small room for example id probably just shoot when there is more light and then darken it down in post :smile:
 
thanks i wont try an adaptor with the 20mm,all i wondered is how the 20 and 14mm compare filming in low light streets at night etc i filmed this with a 550D and TAMRON 10-22 MM
http://vimeo.com/17487969 so as long as they could do that fine, i dont think my olympus 9-18mm could though.
 
I generally prefer to use the 14mm now...just sold my 20mm (for a jumped up price) and getting the nokton.
Im using the 14mm with a canon WD-55 on a film shoot and appears to lose no light but does vignette just a touch. It works beautifully.
20mm f1.7 optics are great but I hate the fly by wire motor focusing (which strains when adding wide converters)...makes me feel it wont last as a investment...could be wrong though!
 
the 20mm f1.7 excels in shallow dof interviews, but also as a great compact travelling lens that performs well for both video and stills. if you shoot a lot of interviews, the 20mm is perfect. a 14mm with a wide angle adapter would require you to put the camera waaaay too close to your subject for them to be comfortable.

what i'm trying to say is, you need to be really clear on what you want this lens to do. if you are shooting a lot of wide landscape vistas or are in extremely close quarters, then you really need 14mm or wider. otherwise, the 20mm is amazing and will get you through most situations.
 
It really is incredible for interview conditions! Set your focus and get ready for incredible quality.
 
Thanks guys,like i said i specificaly wanted better low light abilty that is why i have gone for these lenses,the 14mm has already come today[i wont get the 20mm delivered for a month]compared to my other lenses i can tell the 14mm f 2.5 is better low light wise,i am fairly new to dslr fiming and dont get some things ,its said i need a high ISO for low light but auto ISO lets most light through for me and only 3200 lets enough light other than auto to see in dark areas but still auto is far brighter,different shutter speeds does not stop auto iso having best low light.
 
Million dollar question...

Million dollar question...

Where can one buy the Lumix 20mm f/1.7 today?

Seems to be on BO everywhere.
 
My 20mm came last week and i spent a day testing,great indoors,i idid a lot ot outdoor comparrisons with my 14-140mm set at 20mm,i always took with a pinch of salt what i have read from some that the 20mm gives better color and is sharper outdoors,my own conclusion was all the tests were identical between the two lenses,the 20mm will be my indoor lens and any low light lens.
 
B&HVideo had them available for a very short time one day last week. Fortunately, I signed on and bought in the morning. That afternoon they were sold out.
 
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