Anyone here use the Panasonic 20/1.7 with their Pen?

Better update your firmware - it's even faster now, very close to Panasonic focusing speed.

E-P1 firmware 1.2 released - improves CDAF speed.

Cheers

Brian

 

I use the Pen 1 with the 20 and it's THE street camera.
I will update the firmware tonight but won't post my excitement for fear of being called a hobbyist.......

 

Hi guys! My first post to this forum  

I'm in the same boat as you chylld.. I'm looking to buy the e-p2 and I'm also planning to pair it with the panny 20mm f1.7. So.. any comments on this combo would be welcome  

I'm all new to the m43-world, so any advise here would be great!

 

EP1 and 20mm.....is cool.

I use this combo for indoor and nightime lowlight handheld shooting. I find it awesome due to two factors....my type of shooting, and camera stabilization. I shoot static (cityscapes) or semi-posed subjects (restaurant/bar shots) mostly. The camera stabilization and this fast lens lets me shoot at very low ISOs keeping my IQ at a higher level.

I had the GF1 before the EP1, which I enjoyed. But I found that I would be using ISOs of 800 and 1600 on a lot of occasions, which was pushing my IQ to the limit with this type of camera. With the EP1....I find that a lot of my shots now are in about the ISO200-400 range which are far better, IQ wise.

The new firmware has increased focus speed too which is now a bonus. The only way I can describe the experience now is that before, you felt that the EP1 was no quicker than the P&S experience of a G10 (and at times even slower!). Now I don't get that feeling anymore and you feel it is a step up from a P&S now. It is a lot more responsive and sure.
But it still isn't as fast as a GF1....so one will need to decide on their priorities first. For my type of shooting, I discoved that the EP1 offers more benefits to me with camera stabilization. Others will find the faster AF of the GF1 will offer them more benefits.
It's also worth noting that there is an Olympus promotion on in Europe at the moment where they are given away a free flash (FL14), which I availed of. This offer runs until February, I think.

 

This is my main lens on the E-P1 and yes, it is a lot quicker after upgrading the E-P1 to firmware v 1.2

Before upgrade, 1.0 to 1.2 seconds on S-AF, after upgrade around 0.6s!!!!

Nice!

 

thanks for your thoughts guys  
the slower AF will be no problem for me as the e-p2 will be my 2nd cam.. for action and fast moving stuff i will use my slr  

But does the e-p1 have faster AF than the e-p2 now?? or are the improvements already incorporated into the e-p2's firmware?

Bikenut: do you have any more info on the free flash??

 

Not got the EP-2 I'm still enjoying the EP-1, but it works a treat with the 20/1.7
Really sharp, very quick to focus, manual focus is very bright too and much easier in low light.
Not sure it looks as nice as the 17mm thought on the silver body.

 

I don't think it will look funny - what colour E-P1 have you ordered?

This is a killer combination... the E-P2 will be nice for legacy lens focusing, but the E-P1 is unbelievably well matched with this lens.

Cheers

Brian

 

Ah, an aftermarket chrome, eh?

 

The silver E-P1 is beautiful - I'm only half tempted to apply the leatherette kit... the camera works so well 'bare' so to speak. :smile:

Cheers

Brian

 

Congrats on your new camera and wonderful lens! Very exciting!

 

I don't have this lens. I've also never used any M43 camera/lens combination for more than a couple of dozen photographs. (As explained in another thread, after taking that number on my brand new G1, I half destroyed it. It's now on its way back to the factory.)

But I'm surprised about worries about focusing time for street photography. 20mm is short enough for considerable DoF outdoors in the daytime. Why not just set it at 3 metres or whatever (depending on the place and your style) and bang away?