Just ordered the 20mm from adorama for the gh2. Its on backorder so I dont expect to get it for quite a while but thats ok since I still need practice with the camera.

If I remember correctly Jeff said good things about adorama so wanted to thank jeff for that. My experience with them has been nothing short of stellar A+ all the way. Fast shipping, brand new product etc so I have no complaints whatsoever with my dealings with them and helen seems like if there ever is a problem she will be there to help.

Ive been ripped in the past by online merchants so its nice not having to worry about all the bs some of the stores try to pull.


Cant wait to get the lens!

+1 on Adorama.

A stand up company -- I ordered something from them that their website said was in stock -- turned out that the website was wrong. They immediately apologized, cancelled the order and refunded my money. No questions asked -- no asking me to wait for the item to come in -- no whining. I checked the website soon thereafter and the error was fixed.

I've had luck with Video Direct, B&H, Adorama, and Samy's in L.A. Samy's has some nice deals, and is a great backup merchant when you can't find things other places.

I've also heard great things about H&B in Brooklyn, and have talked with them, they seem to be cool, but I've not ordered from them yet.

Contrats, Mike, you'll love your new lens!

thanks. I cant wait to test the 20.

Since Ive been using the 14-42 my main desire is a lens better suited for low light.

It would seem you made the right choice!

plus the price was about what my budget was so it worked out.

Some of the online stores have really inflated the price of the lenses. Saw one selling it for 799 recently. Such a shame how some places gouge these days.

I see that yes they are back in stock for $399 at b&h. That's great news. adorama is probably the same price.

yes same price.

Don't stay up all night waiting for the UPS driver, cause they don't deliver at night. Try and get some sleep tonight! It is exciting though, I know. I ordered about 20 itmes or so over a 2 month period and it felt like Christmas every week. Now the money's gone and I can't buy anything much over $100, which is kind of a bummer.

Just ordered the 20mm from adorama for the gh2. .......My experience with them has been nothing short of stellar A+ all the way. Fast shipping, brand new product etc so I have no complaints whatsoever with my dealings with them and helen seems like if there ever is a problem she will be there to help.



+1 on Adorama.

A stand up company -- I ordered something from them that their website said was in stock -- turned out that the website was wrong. They immediately apologized, cancelled the order and refunded my money. No questions asked -- no asking me to wait for the item to come in -- no whining. I checked the website soon thereafter and the error was fixed.

It's been a very long and busy day so I really appreciate your kind comments at the end of it - thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback.

thanks. I cant wait to test the 20.


Here was my first test with the GH2 + 20mm pancake:

20mm Pancake GH2 Test on Vimeo

And here it is in real work (the interview shots, the rest was with the 14-140 on a monopod):

Sgt. Curtis Davis at R.O.C.K. on Vimeo

It is a great lens. And makes the camera nearly pocketable (or at least wife's purse-able ...)

Nice stuff, John, really nice.

yeah the 20 looks great in the videos. I think I will be able to use it more than other lenses for what I want to do. I love it for indoors.

Dont have to worry about me waiting for ups, had to pick the cheaper option and go with carrier pigeons.

Actually the 20mm looks much better than the 14-42 so im happy with my choice to get it.

I've been using the 20mm pretty exclusively for indoors, and it's worlds better than the 14-42mm. However, I'll still use the kit lens for some outdoor work, especially since I have that small amount of zoom at my disposal.

But all in all, the 20mm is fantastic. Just missing that MegaOIS.

The more I get to paying for and then fiddling with all these wide/normal primes - 14, 20, 30, 35 - I'm more and more tempted to just sell the lot of them and invest in the Oly Zuiko 14-35/2.

You can understand why I run five cameras now for weddings, even with two of them being outfitted with zoom!

The Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 is not up to the quality of the Zuiko, of course, Kevin. But I certainly do recommend it as a fine inexpensive lens to have in your kit. At F/2.8 is is suitable for most situations. I shot an entire video two days ago with it, and it worked just great.

I had shot similar videos using all primes, and like you I decided the other day to give up and go with my Sigma, and it worked out real well. I only had to install/remove my polarizer as needed. It was a lot easier than carrying my bag around. One camera, one lens and a tripod. Piece of cake.

that looks like a spectacular lens. The money you could spend on lenses adds up thats for sure. I sometimes wonder if I should have gotten something like the xa10 and call it a day.

Then i see some gh1/gh2 footage that blows me away and then I realize I made the right choice.

For narrative I think I can do everything I want with the 14-42, 20, and a 50.

FYI - the 20mm is in stock at Adorama as of today for $399.95 (http://www.adorama.com/IPC2017.html) -- don't know how long they'll last...

Of course, if you want to emulate the smart people in this thread, and don't want to carry around a bunch of primes, you'll want to skip the 20mm and get the Olympus 14-54mm f2.8 (http://www.adorama.com/IOM14542.html?kbid=66297) and a 4/3 to m4/3 adapter (http://www.adorama.com/IOMMMF2.html?kbid=66297) ;-)

Olympus looks nice lens Bill, but if you can find the Sigma 18-50 F/2.8 you'll have F/2.8 all the way through, for between $100 and $200 less. Your thinking along the right track, for sure.

I shoot with the Sigma a lot, but it doesn't compare in sharpness to the 20mm, that's for sure. I shot with them both Saturday, and the 20mm looked amazing. I never realize how great a lens it is till I see the footage later. It's really a remarkable lens for the money.

Jeff -- I'd love to buy the Sigma, but I've looked high and low for it in 4/3 mount, and, sadly, can't seem to find one.

I'd like to have auto aperture, so I really want the 4/3 mount.

They are "Currently Unavailable" at Amazon, no longer available at B&H and doesn't show up in search results at Adorama (or even eBay). Do you know where else they might be in stock?

Thanks,

Bill

The more I get to paying for and then fiddling with all these wide/normal primes - 14, 20, 30, 35 - I'm more and more tempted to just sell the lot of them and invest in the Oly Zuiko 14-35/2.

It's a great lens and I'm sure you'll love the range - I know I love mine! But I still reach for my Nikkor 35/1.4 for a lot of situations, esp those which require heavy use of a FF because the Oly puts a lot of strain on your FF and support systems since turning its glass requires a ton of torque (relative to your old 35mm manual focus primes).

Bill, not in stock anywhere, they are out of production. I found mine on Craigslist, and they show up on ebay. They run similarly to the 20mm, auto focus, etc. You want a Sigma for Olympus mount, of course, 18-55. Even at F/2.8 the Sigma is too slow at times, so the Olympus 14-54 would never make my short list unless it was for outdoor work.

Thanks, Jeff, you're right. The constant f2.8 is the way to go. That disqualifies the Olympus.

Bill

Bill, I looked for you on ebay, nothing. I'd try craigslist every day, if you want that lens. I had almost given up finding one, then two appeared on craigslist in one day. You can also check Adorama and B&H used departments

The 20 came in. I like it a lot and no regrets on getting it. I hope to really break it in this weekend unless it rains.

Bill, Here's the lens, maybe you can make something happen with this guy in Seattle:

REDUCED PRICE -- Olympus EVOLT E-500 8.0MP SLR Digital Camera w/ gear (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ele/2452767153.html)

The price is fair, and I wouldn't haggle too much, but rather snatch it up. I saw one on ebay go for $185 in March, but the lens is definitely worth $350. That's about the right price.

Thanks, Jeff!

Has anybody considered the Sigma 20mm f1.8? I picked it up on Ebay for about $400 for my GH2/AF-100 and it works GREAT. A little soft (as expected) at 1.8, but great from 2.8 on. I have however used it full open on close ups shallow DOF shots with great results. Will post some footage soon.
Any thoughts or any other people that have used this lens??

Carlo Zanella
The Santa Fe TV Show (http://www.santafetvshow.com)

The Panasonic 20mm F/1.7 is $399, is faster than the Sigma, and needs no adapter. Can't think of a single reason for buying the Sigma over the Panasonic, unless I'm missing something. Glad you found a nice lens though, Carlo.

I personally find the Panasonic sharper than my Sigma 30mm F/1.4, and I suspect it is also sharper than the Sigma 20mm, but I can't know that of course, since I've never used it. I like Sigmas, but they do tend to be soft, just as Tamrons seem to be.

One good reason is the ability to use a FF. Second, and this is just my opinion, to me Sigmas look more "organic" less "contrasty-digital" than the stock Panasonic lenses (I am referring to the 14-140 only). May be the Panny 20mm is different - I can't comment on that specific one because I don't have it. The 20mm Sigma is just a beautiful lens, a little soft full open, very usable with the NIkon to 4/3 adaptor and easy to operate with FF and matte box (internal focus, unlike some Prime FDs that I love, but they move back and forth while focusing (and have a quite noticeable amount of breathing).

Carlo Zanella
The Santa Fe TV Show (http://www.santafetvshow.com)

Carl, as I mentioned, (I think) have the Sigma 30mm F/1.4, and have had the 50mm F/1.4, and currently have the 18-50mm F/2.8 zoom, so I am a fan of Sigma lenses, mainly for their value.

The 30mm F/1.4 is a nice lens, but to me it is not a top notch lens. It is nice, and an good value. My Canon FD 50mm F/1.2 and the Panasonic 20mm produce superior images, by far. But of course that is just my experience and opinion. Your 20mm might be better than my 30mm.

The thing is, the Panasonic and especially the Canon need to be used a certain way to get the most out of them. They requires more care. They are not unlike the popular Canon 85mm F/1.2L that I sold recently. Many people buy that lens and become frustrated with it, as it is very difficult to shoot with properly. But when you get it right, it's stunning.

I have found that originally the 20mm seemed a bit cold, but as I've learned the lens, it has become my favorite. The 20mm is much more unforgiving than the Sigma, but when available light is utilized properly the Panasonic is just tremendous. There are better lenses, of course, many of them, but I love my 20mm.

The below image is from my 20mm, and is cropped, of course, but you can see that with soft focus and the right light, it looks great.

The day before I shot the same subject with my Sigma, and she looked cold and hard, and her blemishes were prominent. I wasn't untilizing available light properly, nor was I focusing properly. So it wasn't the lens that was the issue, it was me. But each lens requires a different technique to get your desired results.

You love your Sigma, and that is all that matters.