$710 for 17mm f/1.8? Crazy overpriced

Compared to Leica lenses, it is dirt cheap! Compared to any other quality lens, it is cheap.

It is right that it is more expensive than the Panasonic, which is a really a cheap and quite good lens. The construction is supposed to be much better though, and the AF should be much faster.

So your comparison is like taking a Nikkor pro lens to a Tamron cheap lens, and complaining that the Nikkor is more expensive... Really?!

Also this is based on an equal price, and as we all know, the US price will be much lower than the european price, so it will likely be less than $600 in the shops.