Panny 20mm 1.7 hunts while Oly 17mm 1.8 does not???

Hi all. I have been using my G7 for a few years now filming videos in my woodworking shop. I have the G7 on a ball head attached to a 90 degree baby pin that is screwed to the wall. The Oly 17mm has been on the camera for the last year or so and has worked flawlessly. It is a little too wide for my area and I wanted little tighter view. I found a Panny 20mm 1.7 and that is the perfect perspective for the room. Problem is this lens wants to hunt a lot while the Oly just almost never does. Face detection is in use and I do see the square around my face while I am filming. I know the 20mm is older. I actually got it with an old GF1. basically free camera with lens purchase as I got the package for what the lens is selling for. Is this just normal for the older lens or is there an issue with it. It works fine as a stills lens, just hunts a lot in video. Any thoughts would be appreciated.... Thanks, John....

Forget about Panny 20/F1.7 for video. It is a nightmare. I like this focal length a lot, but just given up for video. I have no choice but use either the 12-40/f2.8, or the 14mm or the 25 primes if I need the extra light

The 20mm f/1.7 uses a design that moves all the lens elements to focus, which makes it focus quite slow and more roughly. That's why it would hunt more and generally is pretty terrible for video usage where you vary the focus.

Interesting, thanks Jake. I kinda figured there was some explanation for this. Since the camera never moves and I stay static at a workbench it should be easy to manual focus to get around the problem... thanks again....

photomangriz wrote:

Interesting, thanks Jake. I kinda figured there was some explanation for this. Since the camera never moves and I stay static at a workbench it should be easy to manual focus to get around the problem... thanks again....

You can also set it to autofocus on demand by half pressing the shutter button. That's what I do in my GX85 to avoid camera possibly hunting if I set it to continuously autofocus on its own.

When Olympus users complain about the Panny 20mm hunting for focus or producing images with horizontal bands, we're told the solution is to get a Panasonic body.  Interesting to hear that the lens doesn't work well on those either.

mount evans wrote:

When Olympus users complain about the Panny 20mm hunting for focus or producing images with horizontal bands, we're told the solution is to get a Panasonic body. Interesting to hear that the lens doesn't work well on those either.

It doesn't hunt for stills and doesn't give rise to banding.

If you check Panasonics compatibility table, you will find that the 20/1.7 is compatible with SAF only.

With some of my Panny bodies it hunts in bad light on SAY, others its OK.

mount evans wrote:

When Olympus users complain about the Panny 20mm hunting for focus or producing images with horizontal bands, we're told the solution is to get a Panasonic body. Interesting to hear that the lens doesn't work well on those either.

For stills, I expect it would better on some Panasonic bodies because DFD would allow it to do less focus movements (thus addressing the slow focus mechanism). I didn't follow the banding problems, but from what I found it was true that Olympus bodies are more susceptible for to it when used with this lens.

For video, this lens is just not good for it in general if you want it to continuously autofocus due to the fact you can see the focus movements during recording.

The 20/1.7 is one of the first MFT lens, available in 2010 or 2011.  It has an older, external focusing design, is not intended for video, and in fact is not recommended by Panasonic for CAF.  It is a very sharp, fast lens, good for stills, but not video.  In 2011, when I first started using this lens, it was sort of a nightmare in certain situations, always hunting.  With newer Panasonic cams, say 2013 GX7 onwards, I have had fewer and fewer problems, almost never any more.

The Oly 17/1.8 is a newer modern design, internal focusing lens rated MSC.  People love this lens, and rightly so.  One of the first Olympus lenses was the 17/2.8 and it was as slow and awkward as the 20/1.7....many say more so.

photomangriz wrote:

Hi all. I have been using my G7 for a few years now filming videos in my woodworking shop. I have the G7 on a ball head attached to a 90 degree baby pin that is screwed to the wall. The Oly 17mm has been on the camera for the last year or so and has worked flawlessly. It is a little too wide for my area and I wanted little tighter view. I found a Panny 20mm 1.7 and that is the perfect perspective for the room. Problem is this lens wants to hunt a lot while the Oly just almost never does. Face detection is in use and I do see the square around my face while I am filming. I know the 20mm is older. I actually got it with an old GF1. basically free camera with lens purchase as I got the package for what the lens is selling for. Is this just normal for the older lens or is there an issue with it. It works fine as a stills lens, just hunts a lot in video. Any thoughts would be appreciated.... Thanks, John....

Hunts like a banshee in low light, sounds like a Model T crank starter,, but for stills shooting in decent light it produces smooth sharp images. Not everyone likes its rendering but I remember it fondly.