40mm effective is an FL I've shot for years/decades. I'm comfortable with it. As well as 28's and 50's which I also shoot. I don't believe this lens fills in for either a 28 or 50 equivalent. Its its own FL and I happen to be very comfortable shooting it. I also have the Panasonic-Leica 15/1.7 and Olympus 25/1.8. They are my only primes and I'm a prime shooter. All are used about the same amount. As most know and anyone interested should know, the AF is ancient. Its slow. It cannot use AFC. Which means it can't use face detection effectively. It can't use AF for video (but who uses AF for video anyway?) Its actually not bad in low light. It will rack a few times, but as long as there's a touch of contrast, it will lock and accurately focus. Edges of shadows work for contrast, flat white walls in low light do not. Basically, its effective, though slow, in low light. There are comments about noise. Apparently Panasonic forgot to manufacture the noise into my copy. Whatever noise there is is no different than most lenses. I don't consider any of my Panasonic or Olympus primes or zooms to be silent. Built quality, fit and finish is excellent. So far it seems impervious to ghosting or flare at any stop. I use a 46mm to 37mm step-down ring for a hood. Its sharp, though that's not a particularly important criteria for me. Any modern lens is sharp. The render is one big reason to buy this lens. Its superb. Excellent contrast, nice color balance and saturation. Involved somewhat like the PL15 versus boring like my O25/1.8 (or so many lenses these days). Read more

The autofocus functionality is extremely noisy. That being said, the quality of the glass is obvious. You could get some decent photography with this lens but I would not recommend for video capture either with auto or focus pulling. The pricing is also off. At first it seems like a decent budget camera for Panasonic until you realise Canon has better offerings below £150, or $200. Read more

So, this lens. I had the previous version of this lens, and gave it three stars because the AF speed was close to terrible. That was a few years ago. So have things changed? Yes, actually. Camera bodies got better, with better interfaces, better focusing systems, better touch screens, etc. So even though this lens is the same lens as it always was, now it's a better lens because it's part of a better system, and I feel pretty comfortable saying it's now a 5-star lens for 90% of situations, whereas maybe before, I did not feel it deserved 5 stars. This lens is still what it always was, and that's what's so wonderful about it. It's a very compact, inexpensive prime with SUPERB image quality. I think just about everyone agrees that this lens takes a better quality picture than any wide to normal MFT lens under a grand. Not only that, 20mm is a superb one-size-fits-all focal length, useful for street shooting, environmental portraits, group shots, even selfies (where the light weight is useful). It might be the most versatile focal length for someone who is primarily a night time shooter like myself. And this lens, it just oozes vibe, it just has mojo. There's real soul to this lens. I can't explain it, but the first time you nail that street night shot with this lens, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's sharp, yet flattering to people. It makes dull pictures look just a bit more interesting, and it makes good pictures look great. The Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 also does that, of course, but this lens has that vibe for less money in a smaller lens with a wider field of view. But you have to use it properly. You have to give it something to focus on. You can't let it hunt because it will never finish hunting. But with a modern MFT body (esp. a Panasonic with DFD), that's not hard. You can use the touchscreen or use buttons to make sure you're giving a good AF point. If you're the kind of person who lets the camera pick a focusing point all the time, don't get this lens. But then again, I would argue that one should be carefully focusing every shot at f/1.7. So, if you are ready to give your camera something to focus for every picture you take, then try this lens. Notice I said nothing about still life vs. action. You can take action shots with this lens. But you have to select a good AF box for every single shot, and if you slightly miss it and the lens starts hunting, pick a better AF point and try again. Yes, you might miss a couple of shots with this lens that you might not have missed with a faster focusing lens. But aside from a black cat running back and forth in a dark room, you should be fine if you're picking a good AF point for every single picture. Practice with it. The first time you shoot a concert with it, expect to miss some shots. But you'll get better, and the bouncer who turns away other "professional cameras" will probably not even realize what a monster you have with the 20mm. There are situations where this lens will not be so great, but you'll quickly learn what they are: 1) Video where you need the on-camera audio to be clean, because yes, this lens talks a bit. Of course, in a loud setting like a rock concert, AF noises are pretty minimal compared to other sounds. 2) C-AF. It can't do it. But on the other hand, what exactly would you have been doing with C-AF at 20mm anyway? Shooting basketball? You can fire off a burst in S-AF just fine at 20mm, where you're so far from the action that the depth of field is so deep, so a series of photos is highly unlikely to require refocusing. For video, C-AF in MFT is awful anyway, so just go manual or S-AF. 3) Trying to shoot scenes with minimal contrast. Thing is, though, unless it's an action scene, you can wait for the picture to get taken. But I guess some toddlers don't really wait around. 4) Handing off the camera to someone who is bad at cameras. But lately, this is less of an issue. Set it to touchscreen shutter, and tell them to touch the face on the LCD. Almost anyone can do that these days. 5) You want reasonably fast focus on an older MFT camera. If any of these points are deal breakers, just skip this lens and go to the Olympus 17mm f/1.8. However, I think a better idea is to spend the same money on a cheap used body + this 20mm f/1.7 because I think the picture is better. Plus, with all these other lenses out there where you can go crazy, I think this tiny, cheap, and superb lens is more important than ever to the Micro Four Thirds system. It's cheap enough that it doesn't have to be your only lens, so you can have other lenses that cover its weaknesses. This by itself makes a pretty decent kit. This + a kit zoom can make a good kit. This + any of the great MFT lenses out there (zoom or prime) can make a great kit. To summarize, don't get this lens if you have no desire to develop good habits for photography. But take care of your 20mm, and it will take care of you. Read more

El lente está excelente. Creo que es indispensable dentro de la colección. Me gusta mucho el mood brillante de las fotos que saca, que hacen la diferencia a la hora de imprimirlas. Read more

This lens is better than I expected. Usually, pancake lenses aren't sharp at all, but this lens is equally as sharp as the Leica 15mm f1.7 Micro 4/3rds lens that I had from before. Sometimes I think the Leica was sharper, but then sometimes I change my mind and realize the Vario G 20mm 1.7 is actually sharper. They are very close in sharpness, that is for sure. I ordered the Mark 1 version of this lens, but I received the Mark 2 version, which is metal and made in Japan. That's good. I would have still been happy with the Mark 1 version, which is plastic. The optical quality is the same regardless of whether you get the Mark 1 or Mark 2 version of this lens. The focusing quickness and number of in-focus points isn't as good as my previous Leica 15mm 1.7, but it isn't terrible either. I would put it on par with the focusing I used to get from my Pentax camera system. It's OK and isn't going to cause you to return it, unless you were shooting birds or sports action. But then if you were shooting birds or sports, you wouldn't be using a 20mm lens anyways. Overall, I think this is the best lens you can get for the Micro 4/3rds system. I can't get over how small and lightweight it is and yet how sharp it is. It is very hard to make a pancake lens this sharp and Panasonic has done a heck of a job with this design. If I had to keep just one lens for my M 4/3 system, it would be this lens. I highly recommend it. Read more