I got my 20 f/1.7 today. So far, I'm really liking it. Focus is actually a bit slower than the 17/2.8, but it's fast enough for most stuff. It's optically superior, though. At f/1.7, the 20mm is sharper than the 17 at any aperture, and it does well at infinity too, which my 17 struggles with (I find the 17 very sharp close up, but it diminishes further away).

Some quick test pics. Crappy, dull, overcast day today, so nothing spectacular (and I didn't have all that much time to explore). Very impressed with the optics of this lens. It's nearly as sharp wide open as it is stopped down. Bokeh is very nice...best of the 3 m4/3 lenses I own. Purple fringing can be pretty bad at the corners on high contrast subjects, but I was mostly able to correct it in lightroom. It's really the only weakness of the lens that I can see so far. Very impressed.

The city, with a not so nice warning by the river, @ f/1.8:

Damn, I need to get the 20. Those are some nice samples

Note on a G series body, the 20 does AF faster than the 17, although both are reasonably fast (I've got the 17 on my G1 now, played some with the GF1/20 combo). The E-P1's AF system is completely different.

Hi Jordan,

If you can, please post a lanscape-type pic with some 100% crops so we can see how good it is @ infinity.

Thanks
Alexandre

I got to get that lens. I'm currently using the OM 18mm and OM 24mm f/2.8 on my E-P1. The panasonic 20mm is right in the middle of the two so they will become obsolete (but still be used on the 5D2

alexandre wrote:
Hi Jordan,

If you can, please post a lanscape-type pic with some 100% crops so we can see how good it is @ infinity.

Thanks
Alexandre

Here's a quick snap:

can you manually change the focus and aperture while shooting videos with this lens?

Focus, yes, aperture, no. Though I can do both with my 40/1.4 Nokton, which I prefer to any AF lens for video work.

This lens looks pretty darn good. Is there any way to mount it on a regular (not micro) four thirds camera somehow? I'm thinking no...

Mike Yamin wrote:
This lens looks pretty darn good. Is there any way to mount it on a regular (not micro) four thirds camera somehow? I'm thinking no...

Correct. Compat runs from FT to µFT, but due to the shortened register it doesn't run back the other way.

The closest equivalent you'll find in FT is the PanaLeica 25/1.4, which is a great performer but rare, expensive, and anything but a pancake.

Looks good! Did you correct distortion in the "landscape" shot? According to Dpreview the 20/1.7 distorts quite alot, which is compensated for with Panasonic software or in-camera wizardry.

Any chance you could portrait the camera with lens attached? It seems to be a bit larger than the 17/2.8 in diameter.

Makten wrote:
Looks good! Did you correct distortion in the "landscape" shot? According to Dpreview the 20/1.7 distorts quite alot, which is compensated for with Panasonic software or in-camera wizardry.

Any chance you could portrait the camera with lens attached? It seems to be a bit larger than the 17/2.8 in diameter.

DPReview noted specifically that the 20/1.7 distorts significantly less than any other m43 lens (around 2.6%) although both the G series and the E-P1 normally correct for this (as does ACR/LR and SilkyPix).

mawz wrote:
DPReview noted specifically that the 20/1.7 distorts significantly less than any other m43 lens (around 2.6%) although both the G series and the E-P1 normally correct for this (as does ACR/LR and SilkyPix).

Well, 2.6% is much for the angle of view, in my opinion. The 17/2.8 is useless without correction. But since there are no correction (I suppose?) when using a Panasonic lens on an Olympus camera, distortion could be an issue.

Edit: Post correction of distortion means you'll have to crop the image. I don't like that, even if I can live with it.

The E-P1 does distortion correction on the 20/1.7...the landscape shot has no postprocessing other than a resize.

Makten wrote:
mawz wrote:
DPReview noted specifically that the 20/1.7 distorts significantly less than any other m43 lens (around 2.6%) although both the G series and the E-P1 normally correct for this (as does ACR/LR and SilkyPix).

Well, 2.6% is much for the angle of view, in my opinion. The 17/2.8 is useless without correction. But since there are no correction (I suppose?) when using a Panasonic lens on an Olympus camera, distortion could be an issue.

Edit: Post correction of distortion means you'll have to crop the image. I don't like that, even if I can live with it.

The E-P1, like the G series, does correction with all m43 lenses. The difference is that the G series does CA and distortion correction while the E-P1 only does distortion correction.

ACR/LR and SilkyPix (as well as Olympus Studio, if you're a masochist) do automatic distortion correction for all m43 lenses on all m43 bodies.

Does Panasonic bundle a raw developer with CA and distortion correction? The GF1 is already expensive without having to update Photoshop from my ancient version...

Silkypix comes with the Panny cameras. I've never used it, but have been told it reads the RAW infor for CA and lens distortion.

brainiac wrote:
Does Panasonic bundle a raw developer with CA and distortion correction? The GF1 is already expensive without having to update Photoshop from my ancient version...

Yes, it comes with SilkyPix but as long as you have a version of PS that supports ACR (CS and later) you can get the correction via the latest version of Adobe DNG converter (just be sure to set it to ACR 2.4 and Later for the compatibility settings).

I personally use CS3 and use DNG converter to get support for my E-30 and G1.

Ok, so I think I love this lens. Took it out for some night shooting tonight, and so shot almost entirely at f/1.7, and it performed admirably. Bright light sources get some blooming, but overall not too bad in most cases. VERY sharp, and with the IS in the E-P1, I was able to keep ISO down (the bridge shot is at ISO 800 and 1/15sec, the church tower is ISO 1600 at 1/8 sec).

Lane Avenue Bridge with Geese Crossing (OSU Campus):

mawz wrote:
The E-P1, like the G series, does correction with all m43 lenses.

That's great news! I had no idea.

ACR/LR and SilkyPix (as well as Olympus Studio, if you're a masochist) do automatic distortion correction for all m43 lenses on all m43 bodies.


Not on my computer. The 17/2.8 distorts like hell, and it's very visible in ACR.

mawz wrote:
brainiac wrote:
Does Panasonic bundle a raw developer with CA and distortion correction? The GF1 is already expensive without having to update Photoshop from my ancient version...

Yes, it comes with SilkyPix but as long as you have a version of PS that supports ACR (CS and later) you can get the correction via the latest version of Adobe DNG converter (just be sure to set it to ACR 2.4 and Later for the compatibility settings).

I personally use CS3 and use DNG converter to get support for my E-30 and G1.



Do you prefer the results from CS3 over SilkyPix? I have a G1 but haven't tried processing in CS3. Wasn't overly impressed from the results from SilkyPix.