Review of Panasonic LUMIX G 1: 1.7 / 20 ASHP. (second version, H-H020A)

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Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Navigation

  1. In short
  2. History
  3. Main Specifications
  4. Assembly
  5. Focusing
  6. Image quality
  7. Sample Photos
  8. My experience
  9. All Panasonic Micro 4/3 Lenses
  10. Price
  11. Results
  12. User Comments
  13. Add your review or question on the lens

It's important: This review shows the second version of the lens, labeled H-H020A. In the review, I will abbreviate it as Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II.

Panasonic LUMIX G 1: 1.7 / 20 ASHP. (second version, H-H020A)

Panasonic LUMIX G 1: 1.7 / 20 ASHP. (second version, H-H020A)

In short

Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II is a pancake lens, compact, lightweight, fast. In general, the Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II can be used as a 'versatile' prime lens for everyday use. A good combination of focal length, aperture and lens capabilities makes it very popular among Micro 4/3 users.

Of the obvious shortcomings, I would only single out the price tag, which is in the region of $ 300, as well as the low speed of auto focus.

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

History

The lens exists in two versions:

  1. H-H020 announced 2 September 2009 years. It is easy to distinguish by the gray part of the body near the lens mount. Looks like this (the link has a 3D visualization of the lens). The lens was announced with the camera Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1.
  2. H-H020A announced 27 2013 June, Available July 29, 2013, in black or silver. Easy to distinguish by full black or full silver body. Looks like this (the link has a 3D visualization of the lens).

The new version is distinguished by a new design of the metal case, an updated color and design of the case. The new version has become a little easier and there is an option in the silver case, there are no other significant changes.

It's important: There are no digits / numbers '2 / II' in the name of the lens written on its body. When written, it is added simply for convenience.

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Main technical characteristics of Panasonic LUMIX G 1: 1.7 / 20 ASHP.

Review Instance Name On the case: Panasonic H-H020A Made in Japan Fabrique au Japon 0.2m / 0.66ft-∞ 20 Lumix

Near the front lens: LUMIX G 1: 1.7 / 20 ASHP. Ø46mm 0.2m / 0.66ft-∞

Bayonet Serial Number

Basic properties
  • LUMIX G - lens designed for Micro 4/3 cameras
  • H-H020A - second version of the lens
  • Electronic focus ring
  • The frame under the filter does not rotate
  • Multi-Enlightened Optics
  • Metal mount
  • ASHP. (Aspherical) - the optical design uses aspherical elements
  • Compact size
Front Filter Diameter 46 mm, plastic thread for filters
Focal length 20 mm, EGF is 40 mm
Zoom ratio 1 X (this is a fixed lens, it does not have a zoom)
Designed by for cameras of the Micro 4/3 system
Number of aperture blades 7 rounded petals
Tags Bayonet Mount Only
Diaphragm F / 1.7 to F / 16
MDF 0.2 m, maximum magnification factor 0.13x (1: 7.7)
The weight November 87, XNUMX
Optical design 7 elements in 5 groups, including 2 aspherical elements

Optical design Panasonic 20mm F1.7 IIThe image is clickable. Pink color indicates aspherical elements.

Lens hood Screws into the thread of the front filter, type unknown
Manufacturer country MADE IN JAPAN (Made in Japan)
Period Since summer 2013
Instructions See
Price See

In terms of full frame EGF the lens is 40 mm, and the equivalent aperture in terms of depth of field is F / 3.4, as a result, in terms of viewing angle and depth of field, this is a '40 / 3.4' lens.

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Assembly

Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II uses metal mount mount. The focus ring is small, plastic. The lens case is made of metal, there are no special complaints about the build quality.

The Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II lens weighs just 87 grams. Light weight and compact dimensions are very important for a pancake lens.

The Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II is really a pancake, but there are much smaller pancakes even for APS-C sensors (for example, Pentax SMC DA 40mm f / 2.8 XS etc.).

Diaphragm consists of 7 petals, on the strongly covered diaphragms the aperture opening has the shape of an irregular heptagon.

The hood is not a bayonet type and must be screwed into the thread of the front filter. The instructions do not indicate the marking of the original lens hood. It is not known which hood is suitable (a trifle, but unpleasant).

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Focusing

For focusing the Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II uses micro focus motor. Auto focus should work with all Micro 4/3 cameras.

Focus speed average (closer to slow), but quite comfortable for some photo tasks. Focusing speed is significantly lower than that of a similar one. OLYMPUS M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 25mm 1: 1.8 MSC. On camera PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-G5 I had no major focus issues with the Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II. Sometimes the camera didn’t want to focus on the right subjects, but this is rather an old problem G5. The focusing power of the Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II is highly dependent on the camera used and shooting conditions.

Important: while turning the camera on and off, the lens goes through a certain initialization / on / off, which is accompanied by refocusing to infinity or a certain focusing distance. It takes a little time.

Auto focus is enough noisy. When shooting a video using auto focus and a microphone built into the camera, noise will be heard on the video. It is unfortunate that the lens does not use some modern stepper / ultrasound / other similar fast and quiet motor.

Lens uses electronic focus ring. The focus ring is plastic, not wide. When extreme positions are reached, the ring does not abut, but continues to rotate. Manual focus very comfortably. The focus ring rotates very easily. I did not observe delays when changing the direction of rotation. Nevertheless, one should get used to the electronic focusing ring for some time after switching from lenses with a mechanical focusing ring.

During auto focus focus ring remains stationaryMoreover, it can be freely rotated 360 degrees without any effect on focus (if the corresponding function is enabled in the camera menu). Lens supports continuous manual focus controlbut only if allowed by the camera settings.

Lens does not have internal focus, during focusing, the front and rear lenses move forward and backward, while the thread under the filters does not rotate. The trunk of the lens moves about half a centimeter.

The minimum focusing distance is 20 cm, while the maximum magnification for macro photography of 1: 7.7 can be obtained.

The Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II has a small 'Focus Breathing' effect (changing the viewing angle during focusing). During focusing towards the MDF, the viewing angle decreases.

There are no useful marks on the focusing distance, depth of field, or anything else on the lens.

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Image quality

Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II easily copes with 16 MP Live CMOS sensor PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-G5. Optically, this is a balanced lens with no obvious flaws.

Sharpness

  • confident sharpness at the open aperture in the center of the frame
  • in the corners of the frame, sharpness becomes acceptable after F / 2.2
  • good resolution in the center of the frame on covered apertures in the area of ​​F / 2.8

Distortion

  • Distortion is palpable, but is automatically corrected by some cameras
  • the nature of distortion is unified, easily corrected in the editor

Vignetting

  • vignetting is most pronounced on F / 1.8 and focusing on infinity
  • vignetting almost disappears at f / 2.8-4
  • vignetting is easily fixable in the editor

Aberration

  • chromatic aberration fixed well enough
  • general level HA is at the level typical for such lenses
  • there is a small friging (color of contrast zones of blur in green and purple)

Rest

  • the effect of the rays of the star is not pronounced (14 rays, example)
  • Blur discs on heavily covered diaphragms are in the shape of polygons (example)
  • Blur discs have small concentric circles (most likely due to aspherical elements, example)
  • the lens works well in backlight, only in the most difficult conditions can you get tangible glare

The methods of image correction built into Panasonic cameras correct quite well some of the lens flaws.

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Sample Photos

Photos in the gallery below were taken with a camera. PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-G5, on-camera JPEG. Some photos were taken using protective filter Kenko PRO1 D PROTECTOR (W) 46mm made in Japan.


Original JPEG '.JPG' photos can be download from this link (64 photos, 300 MB). Original RAW '.RW2' photos can be download from this link (64 photos, 1 GB).

My experience

For me personally, $ 300 for such a pancake is too much. For instance, Canon Lens EF-M 22mm 1: 2 STM It is two times cheaper and uses a stepping focus motor.

But working with the Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II is nice, and the quality of the final image is very stable. I would strongly recommend this lens to all those who want to touch the world of fixed lenses on Micro 4/3.

While shooting, the Panasonic 20/1.7 II still feels closer to EGF 35mm than 50mm, meaning it's more wide-angle than a standard/normal lens.

The Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II is one of those lenses that generally greatly affects the formation of the Micro 4/3 system.

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II

Panasonic 20mm f / 1.7 ASPH LUMIX G II


All Panasonic Lenses for Micro 4/3

  1. 8mm f / 3.5 Fisheye
  2. 9mm f / 1.7 LEICA
  3. 12mm f / 1.4 LEICA
  4. 12.5 f / 12 G 3D
  5. 14mm f / 2.5
  6. 14mm f / 2.5 II
  7. 15mm f / 1.7 LEICA
  8. 20mm f / 1.7
  9. 20mm f / 1.7 II
  10. 25mm f / 1.4 LEICA
  11. 25mm f / 1.4 LEICA II
  12. 25mm f / 1.7
  13. 30mm f / 2.8 MACRO OIS
  14. 42.5mm f / 1.2 LEICA OIS
  15. 42.5mm f / 1.7 OIS
  16. 45mm f / 2.8 LEICA MACRO OIS
  17. 200mm f / 2.8 LEICA OIS
  18. 7-14mm f / 4
  19. 8-18mm f / 2.8-4 LEICA
  20. 10-25mm f / 1.7 LEICA
  21. 12-32mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS
  22. 12-35mm f / 2.8 OIS
  23. 12-35mm f / 2.8 OIS II
  24. 12-35mm f / 2.8 OIS LEICA [2022]
  25. 12-60mm f / 2.8-4 LEICA OIS
  26. 12-60mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS
  27. 14-42mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS
  28. 14-42mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS II
  29. 14-42mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS PZ
  30. 14-45mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS
  31. 14-140mm f / 4-5.8 OIS
  32. 14-140mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS
  33. 14-140mm f / 3.5-5.6 OIS II
  34. 25-50mm f / 1.7 LEICA
  35. 35-100mm f / 2.8 OIS
  36. 35-100mm f / 2.8 OIS II
  37. 35-100mm f / 2.8 OIS LEICA
  38. 35-100mm f / 4-5.6 OIS
  39. 45-150mm f / 4-5.6 OIS
  40. 45-175mm f / 4-5.6 OIS PZ
  41. 45-200mm f / 4-5.6 OIS
  42. 45-200mm f / 4-5.6 OIS II
  43. 50-200mm f / 2.8-4 LEICA OIS
  44. 100-300mm f / 4-5.6 OIS
  45. 100-300mm f / 4-5.6 OIS II
  46. 100-400mm f / 4-6.3 LEICA OIS
  47. 100-400mm f / 4-6.3 LEICA OIS II

Price

Lens prices are available look here, or in the price block below.

Results

Panasonic 20 / 1.7 II is a good 'pancake' for all occasions. It is a balanced lens and is loved by many Micro 4/3 system users.

10 main advantages:

  1. compact size (pancake lens), small diameter filter
  2. light weight (only 87 grams, 13 grams less than the previous version 20mm f / 1.7)
  3. high-quality assembly, metal bayonet mount
  4. fixed focus ring during auto focus
  5. the frame under the filter does not rotate during focusing
  6. convenient manual focus, there is the possibility of constant manual control
  7. electronic focus ring (in this case, more plus than minus)
  8. not bad aperture (significantly more than, for example, Sigma 19mm 1: 2.8 DN ART)
  9. good optical performance. First of all - confident sharpness at F / 1.7 in the center of the frame. Moderate level of basic optical distortion (aberration, vignettingdistortion etc.)
  10. lens availability in the secondary market (one of Panasonic's best-selling and most popular fixed lenses)

10 main disadvantages:

  1. relatively high cost (for 2019 about 300 dollars, at the start of sales the price tag was 400 dollars)
  2. the focus motor is noisy
  3. focus is not fast (closer to slow)
  4. during focusing, the front lens extends forward (focusing is not internal)
  5. noisy aperture
  6. no hood included; non-bayonet type hood
  7. on heavily covered apertures, the aperture has the shape of an irregular heptagon
  8. plastic focus ring, no focus mode switch
  9. there are no additional tags (DOF, focusing distance, etc.) OLYMPUS M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1: 1.8 MSC in this regard, it looks much richer)
  10. some minor optical imperfections, such as vignetting, glare, etc.

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Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

Add a comment: Valentine

 

 

Comments: 12, on the topic: Review of Panasonic LUMIX G 1: 1.7 / 20 ASHP. (second version, H-H020A)

  • goddess

    I bought a few years ago at a discount for 12 tr. on baby GF3. All this easily climbs into the caramel and is always with me.

  • B. R. P.

    Thanks for the review, very interesting.

  • Anonymous 2.0

    Thanks, really interesting)

  • Alexey

    There is the first version of this pancake. How relevant will it be in 2019?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      The review is relevant, since there are a lot of it on the secondary

    • Ivan

      The second version is no different from the first, except for the external design. Below is a detailed test. By the way, about the hood. Apparently, Panasonic does not provide hoods for all lenses, so Arkady did not find it in the description. True, there is a thread for filters and the author of the blog actively experimented with home-made lens hoods and, in particular, on this particular lens, he tried to put lens hoods on, but they gave easy vignetting. And on the blends on the site a lot of descriptions. His followers were very grateful for that.
      http://m43photo.blogspot.com/2009/12/lumix-g-20mm-f17-pancake.html

  • Valentine

    Precisely, this lens greatly influenced the popularity of the micro 4/3. It has really very good sharpness at its small size and good aperture. Two amateur high-aperture fixtures to look out for are the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 and the Olympus 45mm F1.8. I completely agree with the disadvantage of the old type of motor. Another, even more compact pancake, the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 is not as well balanced and is only recommended if you really like it (I didn't like it).

    • Eugene

      According to tests, the Olympus 45 1.8 is much worse at the edges than the Panasonic 42.5 1.7

  • Denis

    Overall a very good lens. Now on the secondary housing you can find from $ 150. Subjectively, from the shortcomings, the color rendition is not pleasant. Some kind of faded, faces are slightly grayish-bluish. Constantly dancing with RAW. Camera - Olympus E-P5. Maybe on Panasonic a different result, there is HA, distortion, vignetting is corrected automatically in the camera.

  • Eugene

    20 mm, in my opinion, gives the most correct angle of view. This is probably why they love him. I would not call it a wide-angle, both in terms of feel and formality - 20 mm is equal to the diagonal of the frame. And this is the criterion for a standard lens. In addition, when looking through the viewfinder with this lens, I see the proportions of the room I am in, the same as when looking with just my eyes. With 17 mm the room already seems elongated, and with 25 it seems flattened.

  • Hob

    “Sometimes the camera did not want to focus on the desired subjects, but this is more of a problem with the old G5”

    G5 (2012 release) – old?! There is only a year difference between G5 and LUMIX G 1: 1.7/20 II! And the first LUMIX G 1:1.7/20 was released in 2009. And the main thing is that this is not the case of non-native Sigma, Tampon, etc., here are both G5 and LUMIX G 1: 1.7/20 II... both PANASONIC!

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Yes, old. It doesn't matter that she is the same age with the lens. The important thing is that focusing problems may be related not so much to the lens, but to the camera.

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