lens..?

watchfull wrote:

What would be your recommendation for best "Pancake" lens (35mm Equiv.) AND Zoom- for the GX7 ??

35mm EFoV would be about a 17mm lens, and I've not tried one of those specifically. I use both the Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 (28mm EFoV) and M.Zuiko 14-42/3.5-5.6 EZ (28 to 85mm EFoV) with the E-PL7 and E-M1.

Unlike some other comments I've read here, I find the 14/2.5 to be an excellent performer. I've been using it since 2013 and have not found anything to complain about with its imaging qualities. It's very light and small, it focuses very quickly and quietly.

The 14-42 EZ lens I obtained recently. It is about the same size as the 14/2.5 when collapsed (add a quarter inch for the auto-opening lens cap) and extends to twice that length when shooting. It's about double the weight of the 14/2.5. The zoom action is powered; it supports manual focusing. I've made a few hundred exposures with it: looking at the focal length settings in Lightroom, I tend to be a 14mm, 42mm, and 25mm most of the time (in that order). So far, I'm impressed with its imaging performance: it's sharp and contrasty, produces pleasing bokeh. It makes the E-M1 or E-PL7 a handy, compact setup as long as you're not going for ultra-shallow DoF.

I've also been using the very inexpensive Olympus Body Cap Lens 15mm f/8. This lens is manual focus only and is as small as you can get for a pancake lens. Its imaging performance is remarkably good for a simple triplet, and it weighs barely more than a standard body cap. Fitted to the E-PL7 along with an accessory optical viewfinder, it's very handy and very fast.

In the past, I owned one of the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 lenses. It was a good performer, but once I bought the Summilux-DG 25/1.4 ASPH, I sold it.

G