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14mm F2.5 Panasonic lens and comparison with 20mm 1.7
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  • Of course, now that I got the 14mm f2.5, the 20mm f1.7 keeps getting cheaper, lol. Last week it was $350 on amazon and now it's $340. It's dropping every week.
  • Finally: I've tried both panny 14/2.5 and oly 12/2.0. The oly focuses faster and is much, much sharper.
    However, it is also much, much more money. However, it does pair better with the 20.
  • Just got it. It was not as properly wrapped as I'd of liked. Manilla envelope, inside a plastic envelope, wrapped in the skinniest bubble wrap I've seen, but the lens is so small and solid it looks ok. Ordered it on the 22nd with expedited shipping and it got here on the 26th. Fastest overseas shipping I've done from HK.

    Put it on the cam and it's focusing, shooting, etc....but I have no idea how to work the auto lenses, ironically, lol. Time to read the manual.
  • I updated it brainlessly.
  • @stonebat
    any difference in quality compared to previous version ?
  • I already updated it :)
  • @stonebat ,
    did you try new lens firmware on 14mm ?
    or is it best to keep it AS IS ?
  • I bought 14mm 2.5 a new one kit part for 155 GBP, waiting for it next week :-)
  • Well....just ordered a Panny 14mm 2.5 off ebay for $230 with "expedited" shipping. Hong Kong seller so, we'll seen in a week or so if I just made a horrible mistake. The seller has no negative feedback and has months old feedback from similar lens sales, so..."fingers crossed"

    And for others feeling similarly adventurous, there are lots of 14mm for $210-250, supposedly new off kits, on ebay right now from oversees shippers.
  • No I haven't. I'm not a big fan of shallow DOF on wide angle. If I get blurred background, that's because I had to use f/2.5 in low lighting. By default I prefer deep DOF. Shallow DOF using 50mm or 85mm lens for special occasions.

    Look for GF2 kit deal. Soon or later it will be discontinued. Then get it at around $400. Keep the lens. Sell the body. That's how I've been buying m43 lenses.
  • @stonebit
    Thank you, so it is worth buying one 14mm too.
    Did you test shallow DOF ?
  • A pancake trio is complete. 14mm, 20mm, Hexanon 40mm.

    The 14mm seems weightless. 20mm has much better build quality. Other than that, I like the 14mm. Fast AF. Great for street photography. Silent focusing & much better AF-C for video. This lens deserves "HD" label.

    BTW I got this from GF2 kit. GF2 body going to ebay. It's so tiny. GF3 would be smaller. I don't like... tiny bodies. GH series is just right size.
    20110920-P1030867.jpg
    1000 x 750 - 522K
  • Finally able to find a decent vid of the Olympus 17mm 2.8 in real world conditions that looked good. This guy took it to IBC in 2009 and shot a lot of footage. This is part one of three:



    I believe that's pre-hack as well. EDIT: Doesn't look like video is embedding like normal. Here's the link so you can see the main page and see his related vids. vimeo.com/6537969
  • @No_SuRReNDeR

    it is great, very fast auto focus, faster than "follow focus" :-)
  • You can see the 20mm lens focusing in and out here in this video I shot goofing around with my girl on a lunch break---

  • Also thanks @Issac_B

    My problem is I don't like to look at still pictures for VIDEO lens choices. There some shots there of the stock 14-42 kit lens that look fabulous, way better than any video footage I've ever seen of the same lens. There's not much video footage with the Oly 17mm and what's there, is either badly compressed or meh in some other way.
  • @Issac_B ,
    thanks, great pictures.
    I like 12mm f/2.0 but the price is out of my budget at present time ...

    Below some pictures taken with my GH2 and 20mm 1.7 ...
  • If you want a good example of what the 20mm, 14mm, and 17mm Oly can do take a look at the flickr pages for each lens.

    http://www.flickr.com/groups/lumix-pancake/

    http://www.flickr.com/groups/lumix-14mm-pancake/

    http://www.flickr.com/groups/mzuiko17mm/

    I looked at a ton of photos before I went with the 14mm. The 14mm is sharp wide open at 2.5, and that extra bit of focal length is nice. It doesn't feel distorted and my decision was based on wanting to have a lens that could go as wide as possible without feeling ultrawide ( to offset the 4/3 sensor size limitation)

    The 14mm is a much better lens than the 14-42 kit lens. It autofocuses fast and in my experience the 14-42 can behave a little weird and add a little banding. No other lens does that, not my manual lenses or the 14mm prime so I'm convinced it's the behavior of the 14-42.

    The Oly looks decent for the price, but from looking at Flickr I thought a number of photos looked a little soft wide open.

    I haven't used the 20mm but have heard nothing but great things about it. I almost bought it and will probably pick one up soon.

    There's also the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 which is good but was a little too wide for me. Michael Mills on vimeo has shot a ton of stuff with the 12mm with a hacked GH2 and it's a very nice lens, just a little too ultrawide for my tastes.

    http://www.vimeo.com/user4047714/videos
  • What about the Olympus 17mm f2.8? I've seen some "new" ones(kit lenses sold separately) for $200. Philip Bloom wrote a good write up when it first came out, but I hear the Panny 14mm and 20mm are sharper. Anybody own the olympus and even if the panny's are better are they worth the extra $120-150?

    The 20mm price has been slowly dropping, but for $200 that Olympus 17mm is very tempting.
  • 14mm is on the way to my door tomorrow. After selling GF2, net cost would be $150.
  • Here is a simple test of AF and shallow DOF



    Great lens, would buy even 14mm 2.5 if I get it for good price ... :-)
  • @stonebit
    Yes it could be locked, but than it is Manual Focus ...
    I just need that focus is fast, as using/walking with "steadycam" you can't touch the camera or LCD ...
    Using Canon HFS100 don't have these problems, but want to use GH2 ...
  • 20.7's AF is fast enough for taking video. You would wanna lock the focus while taking video. It's quite noisy and hunts back and forth.
  • Yes, I think the lens AF speed would be fine, though we won't know without testing.
    Curious to test an old camera firmware to see how fast 20mm AF(in video) can be.
  • Ah, that means there is nothing wrong with lens it self as a "slow" :-)