OM-D with the 20mm f/1.7

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jbot

Jared Krause
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So we've had some discussion regarding this combination and it's "issues" in other threads, but I wanted to start up a thread for discussion specific to this setup. A few thoughts..

1) I've noticed that this lens has really struggles to find focus about 1 in 10 times when shooting at night. It seems to focus in the wrong direction initially before reversing to lock focus. It doesn't seem to happen during the day. What have you guys experienced?

2) The lens tends to shut the camera down without reason from time to time. Apparently pulling out the battery and reinserting it will solve the problem. I find this to be totally unacceptable, but haven't heard much talk from anyone regarding a fix. Has Olympus addressed this issue?

3) Banding, I currently haven't experienced this issue at all, but I don't tend to shoot at very high ISO's.

Any additional thoughts?
 
Hi, Jbot, I don't have that lens and can't speak to those issues. However, you might want to join/post about it over at mu-43.com; there are some real m4/3 experts over there whom I am sure would be glad to help. Good luck!
 
Jared, I have the OM-D with the same lenses as you.
I haven't actually noticed any of the issues with the panasonic 20mm f1.7 that people seem to complain about.

Since I've owned it, my camera has only shut down once. It was probably on the second day of use, and all I did was remove and re-insert the battery. Ithas not happened since then.

I've shot high iso, never specifically seen banding.

I've shot extremely low and confusing light (club environment), and given the lighting, it didn't focus terribly.

Is it a certain batch of the 20's that are affected, or supposedly all of them? After all of the complaints I've been hearing, I almost considered upgrading to the panaleica 25, but then realized that I wasn't actually experiencing the problems that others were.
 
The people complaining about the lens are the same people who complain about the focus speed of the XP1 ie: people who don't own one!
 
I just got this camera a week ago but so far have not noticed any probs using it with that lens. I've used the lens on the E-P2 extensively as well. I will be shooting a lot with it on the E-M5 in the next few days and will report back if it acts up!
 
Well, my OMD shut-down twice tonight while using the 20 f/1.7. It caught me off-guard but removing the battery for a moment cured it. Hopefully this just needs a firmware update.
 
It did it again while in a shoot, I noticed if you leave the OMD with the 20 on without acitivty, it is prone to shutting down and freezing. The usual remove the battery alesys fix it but quite annoying. Oly should look st this maybe firmware or something else is causing the issue.
 
Is this a Panasonic Lens??

Is this a Panasonic Lens??

If this is a Panasonic lens, as it seems in one of the posts here, IN WHAT WAY is this an Olympus problem to "fix".

Come on folks.... Two different manufacturers. Gee, maybe I should rant on Olympus for not having a "firmware" fix to focus my Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f1.2 lens from the mid 70's. At least it's an Oly lens.

Wow... I think this is one of those, "at your own risk" situations.

Olympus and Panasonic are partners in the 4/3 arena. I don't see any guarantees about cross platform compatability of their lenses, simply because the mount is the same.

If any other manufacturers were to join the 4/3 venture, I certainly would not expect Oly and Pana lenses to work cross platform to the new system. Perhaps this is why there have been no takers from the original agreement. Having to build a new lens system?

The efforts of Oly and Panasonic to accomodate cross platform use have been far beyond the call of duty up to this point anyway.

Have you considered asking Panasonic for a "fix" on the lens?
 
The two manufacturers announced inter-compatibility of their lenses. The Panasonic works on other Olympus M 43 cameras; the onus is indeed on Olympus.
 
Sorry, not buying it.

Sorry, not buying it.

There may be such an agreement... I don't doubt you.

The sad state of our world is just so because of broken and unrealistic agreements.

It does not surprise me that the problem exists, given two different manufacturing systems, this is a case of the unrealistic in play.

Pity those who believe in such agreements.

The onus being on Olympus is worth what, when you have the problem?

Attorneys and such?
 
Well, you've stated your opinion, and I've stated mine. I don't see the point in Internet back and forth.

But jointly announcing a standard would imply to me that you intend to stick to it rather than bringing out a camera which doesn't work with the preceding generation of lenses. If nothing else, Olympus will update their firmware because they will otherwise lose sales.
 
I have older Olympus and Panasonic mft cameras and a few lenses from both manufacturers and all seem to work together well.

Maybe it's a problem with the OMD? You know with that Sony sensor and all, that camera may be incompatible with the older lenses.
 
Olympus currently relies on Panasonic to provide fast normal lenses for the MFT system. I don't buy for a moment the Olympus-does-not-care-about-Panasonic-lenses argument. Let's face it, MFT is not much of a system without Panasonic 20 and Panasonic Leica 25 for most serious users. These are the cornerstone lenses. Now, this does not guarantee that Olympus is working on the problem or that there is good collaboration between the companies. Bad business decisions are being made every single hour of the day. But perhaps they make good ones, too.
 
Ya know, compatibility might be a "real" issue, even though it is not supposed to be. I have been using the Panasonic 14/2.5 on my OMD for awhile now, and it seems that in the last week the number of AF "misses" have increased. At first I thought it was my imagination, but it is starting to be a real issue. The camera does sometimes seem, well, a little hesitant or sluggish. I was reading somewhere recently, and damn if I can remember where, that there is a real issue developing between the compatibility of Panasonic lenses on Olympus bodies, and vice-versa. The best results obtained with using the same lenses and bodies from the same manufacturer. Using one manufacturers lenses on another's body, if the firmware is not updated and corrected, can cause problems. I know that Panasonic does update their firmware for lenses periodically, but Olympus? I'm not sure. I am not blaming anyone, but if there is supposed to be a sharing of compatibility, Panasonic and Olympus have to share in this responsibility and step up to the plate. I am just sort of worried with the jump in IQ and technology with the OMD, Olympus might not care anymore if Panasonic lenses don't function up to their potential on their bodies.
 
I believe that Olympus has ackowledged the problem, but I do not recall where I read it.

Being a brand new proud owner of an OM-D, I will not purchase a Panasonic lens until the issue is resolved. But then, I already have an Oly 17/f2.8 and 45/f1.8 so I'm good to go. Never have been much of a user of normal focal length lenses and if I wanted that wider focal length, I would go for the Oly 12/f2.0.
 
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