As I shot the lens more and more I was very surprised at how capable of a lens it really is. But let’s not get too crazy. One thing I did notice next to my Leica M9 setup is the lens does not give me that Leica quality I love so much. Of course I do not and would never expect it to either. I do see some guys online trying to claim the m4/3 cameras are equal to the M9. That is BS hogwash right there. I am now a big fan and love the M4/3 cameras, plus I have been shooting the hell out of the E-P2 and 20 1.7 and yes, it’s insanely fun. But my M9 gives me those files that make my jaw drop sometimes, and it should for the insane amounts of money I have spent on it! When shooting bright light sources at stopped-down apertures – like in the F16 shot above – the 'spikes' of the sunstar are soft-edged and not all that well pronounced. Lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberration (fringing) This is something of a niche lens – do many shooters need a weather-sealed fisheye? Not many.But if this is your niche, you’re in for a treat. Pros The smaller sensor size of the Micro Four Thirds camera sensors incurs what’s called a crop factor. This refers to the ratio of the sensor size to a full-size full-frame sensor – a sensor with a smaller imaging area incurs a smaller field of view where the edges of the image appear to be chopped off, or cropped. In turn, this causes lenses to provide a narrower field of view than they otherwise would. It would take an adapter, but in theory you should be able to mount the 4/3ds version of the 30mm ƒ/1.4 on a micro-four thirds body. The result would be an effective 60mm ƒ/1.4, though the combination might look a little ungainly (the 30mm ƒ/1.4 is a large lens when compared to the small size of the m4/3 bodies). That said, the 20mm offers a wider field of view, and looks to be sharper than the 30mm.

According to DxOMark, this lens isn’t as sharp as its predecessor, and we sort of feel the same way. However, when stopped down to f4, you’ll reach the lens’s sweet spot that you’ll really appreciate. In full frame terms, you’ll hit the equivalent of around f8 and that means that you’ll have perfectly sharp images. There is really no need to stop down beyond this. Bokeh The 'cats-eye' bokeh is mostly gone by F4. However, bokeh discs becomes less rounded. Specifically, the polygonal shape of the lens's 7-blade aperture becomes more pronounced in the out-of-focus highlights, when you stop down past F2.8, and this can have a slightly negative impact on bokeh in general.

I now own a G1 & GF1 with the 20mm F1.7 which is real easy to get hold of in the UK, also the 14-45mm & the 45-200mm & soon to add the 7-14mm. This entry in the feather-weight category of Micro Four Thirds lenses has been around a good while, but we re-tested it recently to see how it holds up and found ourselves summarily impressed. The Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f1.7 II, which somehow weighs about the same as a couple of boxes of matches, is a crisp, fast and punchy lens that makes for an excellent day-to-day shooter. Its equivalent focal length of 40mm makes it a natural choice for general, all-purpose photography, providing a similarly naturalistic perspective to a nifty-fifty but getting that little bit more of the scene in the frame. Although the original was highly regarded, the range of rival offerings has increased dramatically. Olympus introduced a high-grade 17mm f1.8 model to compete directly, and Panasonic added a Leica branded 25mm f1.4 that must surely be tempting sales away from the diminutive 20mm. Macro performance is nothing to write home about here: just 0.13x magnification, with a minimum close-focusing distance of 20cm (about 8 inches).

The Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN is part of a range of compact prime lenses designed for APS-C and Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras. With a bright f/1.4 aperture, this is a great portrait lens, giving a 112mm equivalent on Micro Four Thirds cameras. It’s also relatively compact, and would make a great choice for anyone needing to shoot in low-light conditions, or for portrait photography. One of the main complaints against the 20 is its focusing speed. I think we've all been spoiled by how fast many m4/3 lenses are at focusing, because when using my friend's T3i with a couple of lenses a few weeks ago, I was surprised to find it focused generally slower than my 20mm did, especially in low light! The thing is the 20mm isn't actually a "slow" lens per se, and most certainly not when compared to lenses across different systems. It's only slow relative to the newer M4/3 lenses(particularly on newer bodies).As I said the only flaw is the vignetting wide open at f/1.7 to around f/2. You can eliminate vignetting at f/4 or you can just correct it later in post processing (something very easy and 100% efficient with a good software). BTW, the first digit or 'X' is the dust resistance measure, and the second digit or 'X' is the water resistance measure. It is only with the OM-1 did OM start mentioning the dust resistance on micro 4/3rds cameras (the TG-6 is rated IP68). We haven't yet tested this lens, but with an adapter it should mount on a micro-four thirds camera body. The result would be effectively a 50mm ƒ/1.4, though with the adapter it could be a fairly bulky combination, especially compared to the 20mm ƒ/1.7.

Crop factor– The Micro Four Thirds system has a 2x crop factor, so that means a 50mm lens used on a Micro Four Thirds camera, will actually give a 2x cropped view, giving the equivalent to a 100mm lens (in 35mm equivalent terms). Image quality is almost flawless. Shoot at f/2.8 for sharpest images and also at f/4 for eliminating the vignetting. I may have said that the lens is sharper at f/2.8 but you'll be surprised at the image quality at f/1.7! The out-of-focus regions in this F1.7 shot show some purple fringing in front of the subject, aka longitudinal CA (LoCA) Its focal length (40mm equivalent) makes it a perfect lens for general purpose. It is good for landscape, for street photography and its f/1.7 makes it very very good (but not perfect) for portraiture and some interior shots.The improved build quality should make the lens last longer, although unfortunately there has not been an improvement in focus speeds with both the old and new lens giving the same focus speeds in our testing. With the same excellent image quality, reasonable value for money, and compact size, this new model should be just as popu For portrait photography on Micro Four Thirds, really the first and last word is the Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 ASPH Power OIS. It gives you the style and glamour of an 85mm f/1.2 portrait lens and pairs it with the lightweight handling of a 50mm prime. The ability to shoot with extremely shallow depths of field at the maximum aperture allows you to create images with dreamlike bokeh – achieving a quality that lenses with narrower apertures just cannot match. We tested the Panasonic 20mm ƒ/1.7 on the Olympus E-P1, as we had that camera body standardized for lab testing. In our initial handling we had the impression the lens was quite sharp, and our full range of tests bear this out. On the 12mp E-PL1, Lenstip shows the 25mm and 20mm to have essentially equal center performance, with the 20mm leading in edge performance at wide apertures, but the former having better edge performance stopped down.

That being said, stopping down just a bit to F2 or F2.8 will result in the sharpest output. But sharpness will drop quite visibly by even F5.6 and certainly by F8, due to diffraction (remembering that F5.6 - F8 on Four Thirds is F11 - F22 in full-frame terms). So it's better to crank your shutter speed in bright light, rather than go beyond those apertures, if possible. Vignetting and distortion

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I do a lot of portraits when hanging out with friends. With the 20mm, I was pretty much obligated to switch to my 45mm for decent traditional portraits, which ended up with the 45mm being my most used lens. With the 25mm, thanks to the narrower angle of view and greater aperture contributing to less perspective distortion and more subject isolation, there are few occasions where I actually have to switch lenses. In fact, it's making me consider selling the 45mm to fund the 75mm, where there would be a larger FL and subject isolation difference against the 25mm. But of course, on the other hand, I have less of an ability to shoot landscapes and architecture in the crowded streets of NYC. For that I now use the wide end of my new 12-50 kit lens. Optically, this lens is like Mary Poppins: Practically perfect in every way. It's razor-sharp wide open (sharpenss is almost always limited by focus accuracy and camera handling) and has nice, smooth bokeh. The 40 mm focal length is just about perfect for a day-to-day lens, especially indoors. It shows little to no signs of flare or glare (with an aftermarket hood). I've shot straight into lights 5+ stops past being blown out, and never observed a flare. Fundamentally, I love the lens because I never need to worry that the lens will let me down optically. The D300s is great but I actually prefer the color from the E-P2/20 1.7! The Canon 7D… Well, it’s a nice DSLR no question and gives superior ISO, DR and color. But for all out fun when you go out for a day of shooting? I go with the E-P2 combo. If you do not need the fast FPS, improved high ISO or BULK the m4/3 cams are ideal. There are certainly some who think the format’s day in the sun is coming to an end. Earlier this year, Sigma announced it would no longer be developing Micro Four Thirds lenses, stating that its future priority would be full-frame lenses.