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Olympus 25mm 1.8 or Panasonic 20mm 1.7?

Started Feb 16, 2016 | Discussions thread
Jason Contributing Member • Posts: 541
Re: Olympus 25mm 1.8 or Panasonic 20mm 1.7?

I have owned the 20 for several years, and it's my favorite lens (although my new PL 15mm is currently giving it a run for its money). I recently bought the 25 because it was $100 off with a purchase of a body.

20mm pros:
Pancake
Slightly superior contrast

20mm cons:
Front element moves while focusing

25mm pros:
Quick, silent AF
Nicer build quality (although I have no long-term experience to back this up)
Hood included

25mm cons:
Longer/bulky in comparison (although still very small)

I found the AF reliability of the two lenses equal on both Olympus and Panasonic bodies with the 25 being slightly faster, although not enough faster to be a significant consideration for me. In the end, I returned the 25 because it was equal to the 20 for my purposes. If I owned neither of them, I would buy whichever is cheaper. The focal lengths are close enough that it's silly to own both.

 Jason's gear list:Jason's gear list
Olympus OM-D E-M10 II Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm F1.8 Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 O.I.S Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ
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