Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras

by Panasonic

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 4 x 5 inches ; 3.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002IKLJVE
• Item model number: H-H020PP
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (139 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 1, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Lumix G 20mm/F1.7 ASPH, a compact and lightweight "pancake" lens, is dramatically compact and lightweight, featuring an outstanding F1.7 brightness which allows consumers to create stunning photos with beautiful, soft focus. Comprised of seven lenses arranged in five groups, the Lumix G 20mm lens actually uses two aspherical lenses to effectively minimize distortion and achieve super high resolution. The versatile 20mm focal length (equivalent to 40mm on a 35mm film camera) is suitable for all applications--from scenery shots to dimly-lit indoor environments.

When mounted on Lumix G Micro System Cameras, the Lumix G 20mm/F1.7 ASPH lens allows for use of the advanced contrast Auto Focus (AF) system, which includes Panasonic’s Face Recognition functions. It's comprised of seven blades, which produce an attractive and smooth background blur effect when shooting at larger aperture settings. The lens also features a highly-reliable metal mount, and use multi-coated lens elements to minimize glare and further enhance optical performance.

Product Description

Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

135 of 135 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very solid performer; shows the potential of M4/3, May 6, 2010

By 

Jeremy Thornhill - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras (Camera)

I recently purchased an E-P2 as a portable option to complement my DSLR setup. I've been very happy with its performance in most respects, however it has no flash and the kit lens is slow; this means that indoor usage results in painfully high ISO and noise that is impossible to clean. That lead me to purchase this lens, which is the fastest thing going for M4/3 currently.

First off, this thing is wonderfully compact. Much thinner than the M.Zuiko 14-42mm kit lens, although a bit bigger in diameter, and it makes the E-P2 even more low profile when it's mounted. It balances well on the E-P2 and it looks right at home to me, even though it lacks the signature PEN silver accents. It has a massive manual focus ring which is a pleasure to use (once you get the hang of the micromotor manual focus mechanism, which it shares with the 14-42).

Unlike the newer, smaller Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 pancake, this guy has some very large lens caps that make it more bulky than it should be. A lens this size begs to be slipped into a pocket, but the huge caps just get in the way; you might want to look for aftermarket replacements.

As for IQ... well, you can read the charts, but suffice it to say that this is a very good performer. Unlike the M.Zuiko kit lens, this guy is sharp wide open, with perhaps only minor improvements by stopping down. This lens can really show what M4/3 is capable of from an IQ perspective in a way that the kit zooms just can't.

Autofocus is at least as accurate as any other lens I've tried on this body, and low light AF accuracy especially is quite good (thanks, no doubt, to the large aperture). AF speed though is mediocre at best, and it's also a good bit louder than would be ideal. The aperture also makes a very noticeable clicking sound, which is a little obnoxious with the E-P2 (which constantly fiddles with the aperture when you're using live view). Neither focus noise nor aperture noise is a real issue for stills, but they might cause some problems if shooting video with the internal mic.

There is one issue with using this lens specific to Olympus bodies: they don't do the software distortion compensation that Panasonic bodies do with Panasonic lenses. This means that, on Olympus bodies only, light falloff is visible towards the corners when shooting wide open (it goes away by around f/4). In practice it's not much of a problem, and the corners aren't that big a deal in most shots anyway, but if you're a PEN shooter you should be aware of it and stop down accordingly if/when the corners do matter.

I should mention that I also own the Olympus 17mm f/2.8, which many would consider an alternative to this lens. If you're new to photography and you're considering owning only one, I highly recommend the Panasonic, whose aperture advantage and longer focal length combine to give you much better options for DOF control. I still enjoy the Olympus (and indeed, it's even *smaller* than this lens), but I think for most people in most situations this is a better choice.

Bottom line: if you own a m4/3 body without a flash and care at all about low light shooting, stop reading and buy this lens right now. For everybody else, you're presumably here for IQ, f/1.7's narrower DOF, and portability, and on all counts this lens delivers. It's a great all around performer and the cost, although high, is not totally unreasonable for something of this quality.

As a side note, if you're used to 50mm as "normal" from the film era, I think you'll find 20mm quite pleasant; I've shot a lot with my 28mm prime on APS-C, and the Panny 20mm here provides a similar FOV to that.

** Update, 5/21/2010 **

My initial thoughts on this lens have proven to be spot on. This little guy spends much, much more time on my camera than the kit lens; the faster aperture is a godsend, and the smaller size is wonderful for portability. Image quality is impeccable and the light falloff is almost never a problem in real world scenarios. If you only buy one lens for your M4/3 body, make it this one.

** Update, 8/7/2011 **

Panasonic has announced a µ4/3 native version of the Leica-branded Panasonic 25mm f/1.4, which should clock in at about twice the price of this lens. I own (and reviewed) the regular Four Thirds version of that lens, and early accounts imply that the µ4/3 version should be nearly the same optically as its full sized cousin.

The 25mm f/1.4 is certainly better, but not by much; only half a stop faster, barely any sharper, and still suffering from corner softness and vignetting wide open. The focal length is a more traditional normal, which (combined with the aperture advantage) makes it more suitable for isolating your subject, but... at twice the cost and twice the size? Those advantages seem difficult to justify.

As far as I'm concerned, the 20mm f/1.7 here remains the first lens you should buy for a µ4/3 body. It plays to the strengths of the system without breaking the bank.

113 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars E-P1 owners, your dream lens has arrived - UPDATED, October 18, 2009

By 

Wat (SF, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras (Camera)

If you own an E-P1, you absolutely owe it to yourself to get this lens right now. I used to own the 17mm and loved its size, but found the image quality lacking. There are plenty of detailed reviews of this 20mm lens out there so I'll spare the tech details.

I've had this for a little over a week and the performance is just amazing. Auto focus speed is very good, not super speedy, but definitely not slow. Images look sharp even wide open with lovely bokeh. It's not quite as nice as the Panasonic/Leica 25mm 1.4 for 4/3, but it is half the price and 1/4 of the size.

I have some good glass like the Olympus 50mm f2 and Olympus 14-52 mark II 2.8-3.5 via the adapter, but those will probably stay on my E-620 since this Panasonic 20mm fits the E-P1 like a glove.

It's amazing how this lens makes the E-P1 come alive like no other lens I've used on it before.

UPDATE 7/12/2010
It's getting close to one year of full use and this lens is still unmatched for native micro four thirds. I now use it on an E-PL1 and it's still working it's magic. With the latest Olympus firmware update for the E-PL1 (available for E-P1 and EP2 as well) the autofocus speed of the 20mm is even faster! As my photographic skill have increased over the month, I've been able to get even better results.

87 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for narrow depth-of-field effect in a compact set, October 16, 2009

By 

Esaito - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Pancake Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras (Camera)

I originally bought the Panasonic Lumix GF1 with the 14-45mm kit lens, and then bought this 20mm pancake.

The pancake turns the GF1 into a really compact set, that I enjoy taking together anywhere. I keep the 20mm lens in the camera most of the times, and only when I know I'll need some telephoto I replace it by the 14-45mm lens.

I owned previously only point-and-shoot and superzooms, so I wanted to try some DSLR, but I was afraid I wouldn't take together because of the bulk. With the GF1 + this pancake lens I have a small camera that I don't mind carrying and that takes DSLR-quality photos.

It lacks OIS, but I don't really feel the need as this is a very fast lens. With the f/1.7 aperture, you can also create nice narrow depth-of-field effects, which are impossible on point-and-shoot cameras.

I just wanted it be a bit wider... notice that this pancake is actually a 40mm in a 35-mm equivalent focal length. Probably in the future Panasonic will release a wide pancake. They currently sell a wide zoom Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 Micro Four Thirds Lens for Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras, but that's too expensive.

Panasonic has other few lenses, but I believe this pancake 20mm is what makes more sense to use with the GF1 to have a real compact set.

I found this camera bag Lowepro Apex 60 AW (Black) is the smallest to fit only the GF1 + the 20mm pancake lens, if you're trying to have a real portable set like me, and I also recommend to protect your lens with a filter like this HOYA 46mm UV Filter for Camera Use.

Pros:
- fast f/1.7 lens, great for narrow depth-of-field pictures and low light shots
- fast autofocus
- very compact lens. It makes a lot of sense with the GF1 - as a compact set you'll carry with you all the time, as it fits your coat pocket.
- compact set = less obtrusive camera = more natural, candid photos

Cons:
- well, it's not as flexible as a zoom lens. It's fixed 20mm (40mm equivalent). But the pros outweigh the cons, so you'll end up using it more than the larger zoom lens.