Best IQ prime for E-P2

[andyw]

What would be the best for image quality on a E-P2? I had a E-P1 with the panny 20mm f1.7 which was pretty damn good but is there better with similar focal distance?

 

[Streetshooter]

The 20's it brother. To date, nothing else compares.
The 17 is a very close second.
Hopefully shortly a few new lenses will be available.
Hopefully!

 

[hmpws]

Some say the panny leica 25mm on 4/3 mount is even better than the 20mm pancake..

 

[Gwendal]

I'll ditto on that (Streetshooter's message) - having recently switched from the 17mm to the 20mm. Still, if you're ready to ditch AF, there are nice legacy lenses, the Zeiss etc, in similar/slightly longer focal lengths ?
Just curious, have you noticed anything in the 20mm that you already own that makes you think you could get better IQ ?

 

[Gwendal]

Some say the panny leica 25mm on 4/3 mount is even better than the 20mm pancake..

True - I admit I'm looking forward to see a natively m43 equivalent to it - we'll see what Photokina brings...

 

[Streetshooter]

See, for me to stay in this format, I need to see dedicated lenses.
Of course legacy stuff opens the horizon but the dedicated is where the manufacturers make the commitment.

 

[Rudi]

See, for me to stay in this format, I need to see dedicated lenses.

Ditto! I didn't buy into :43: for old manual focus lenses that are harder to use with the new cameras than they were in the old film days, not to mention that they are severely crippled by the sensor crop. For :43: to succeed, more lenses are needed, and I'm not talking about slow superzooms! We have plenty of those already...

 

[Streetshooter]

The thing for me is... Many complain about fast lenses having to get bigger.
True, optical physics over rule..... But....
Would a 14mm 2.0 be bigger than a Canon/Nikon 28mm f2?
I don't think so. So even if it were close to the same size, the dedicated advantages would outweigh the differences to using legacy glass.

Legacy glass should be seen as a nice option but not the only option.

 

[andyw]

I have been down the manual focus route and even started the manual focus lenses on GF1 group on Flickr and to be honest I'm not interested in that side of things any more. I know they are cheap but I dunno, perhaps I'm getting lazy in my old age

I have seen a few image examples of the 25mm f1.4 Leica and they pretty much blew me away! I was very impressed. If I go for another 4/3 camera it will probably be the E-P2 and a decent prime maybe all I would need most of the time with a macro lens to add at some point.

Alternative is the Leica X1 but you are stuck with one lens!

Also would the 25mm f1.4 fit straight onto a E=P2 and work fully like the panno lenses?

 

[Rudi]

The Panny 20mm f/1.7 is one sweet lens! And (don't tell Panasonic this!), a great bang for the buck...

 

[andyw]

The Panny 20mm f/1.7 is one sweet lens! And (don't tell Panasonic this!), a great bang for the buck...

Amen to that!!! I was asked once what camera/lens I would have if I could only have one of each and I chose the GF1 and 20mm f1.7 but that was before the E-P1 came into my possession

 

[Muntjack]

Constant Dilemmas

Well I have the E-P2 with the kit zoom and the Panny 45-200. I really thought I had 95% of all I'd ever need. Then I realised I just had to have a quick lens for indoor stuff and low light in general. So I got the Panny pancake.
What a mistake that was...... everything is now measured against that fabulous lens and falls short.
I lurch this way, then that way, as to what I now need..... Should I hang out for a faster short zoom (which still won't be very fast and no better for portraits) or should I wait for a couple of primes (12mm & 50mm maybe). But then I'm carrying around all these lenses which isn't what I'd planned..... help me somebody for God's sake.... what to do?
M 8-(

 

[andyw]

Just keep what you have and enjoy!

 

[ilexno3]

For :43: to succeed, more lenses are needed, and I'm not talking about slow superzooms! We have plenty of those already...

I've given up on Olympus to realize that. How can a company so smart in designing ground-breaking camera systems be so dumb at the same time.

 

[khollister]

Just got the 20/1.7 myself today for my EP2 - wow! A little slow on focus, noisy and it does vignette below f2.8 some, but it is fantastically sharp. I was having concerns that the EP2 was not critically sharp like my Nikon DSLR images until I used the Panasonic 20mm. Very impressive sharpness.

 

[elshaneo]

I have to say that the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 is the current best prime for Micro 4/3 cameras, since I got it altogether with the Olympus EP2 + Pancake lens kit, my Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens has stayed in the box...

 

[feppe]

I have to say that the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 is the current best prime for Micro 4/3 cameras, since I got it altogether with the Olympus EP2 + Pancake lens kit, my Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens has stayed in the box...

So you are saying that the Panasonic is the best prime, although that's the only prime you have tested?