Does anyone still use Panasonic 20mm f/1.7?

bs1946 wrote:

Anders W wrote:

bs1946 wrote:

When I began selling off my Leica gear and returned to MFT last December, I bought a GM5, then a GX7, and months later a GX9. I also went on a prime lens buying spree and that included a 20mm f1.7 II. The only difference here is that version II has a newer all black metal body and more recent coatings of the lens.

No changes to the coatings AFAIK. Not that it was necessary. No problem with the original ones.

I didn't think so either until I read in one of the forums that Panasonic would use the same current coatings they were using for all their lenses when they made the 20mm VII which were probably updated several times since they released the original 20mm.

New coatings are routinely mentioned in announcements when changes are in fact made (e.g. the Zero coatings of some new versions of Oly lenses). And I wouldn’t take a mention on some forum as reliable info if it wasn’t accompanied by a link to an authoritative source.

Now, as I mentioned, there are no problems with the coatings of the 20/1.7 as far as I know. One early lens which does have such problems though is the 7-14/4, where the coatings on one or more lens elements gives rise to troublesome purple flare when the lens is used on Oly bodies (which have weaker on-sensor UV filters than Pany bodies). Still, I have seen no indication that Panasonic have updated the coatings although it would clearly be in their self-interest to do so. And Panasonic has certainly not made any announcement to that effect.

Only cosmetic differences between mark I and II.

As far as I know, the interior is unchanged, including the notorious slow and noisy autofocus motor. Since I almost exclusively shoot landscapes and historic colonial houses from the outside, neither issue bothered me and the image quality with the 20mm is excellent. I used it a lot on the GM5 and some on the GX7 but for whatever reason not on the GX9.

The 20mm was actually a perfect match for the GM5, which has the same sensor and processor used in the GX7. However, eventually I got control of myself, stopped buying, and did a major downsizing by selling everything except the GX9, PL 15mm f1.7, and Lumix Macro 30mm f2.8.

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Bill S.
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