This seems to be a very compact lens. Can anyone tell me whats the difference or advantage in picture quality between this and a non pancake lens?
1565962
In my opinion the only disadvantage is that sometimes it is a little difficult to hold the camera body on the larger cameras.This would not be a big issue on the NX system because the cameras are compact. As far as image quality, I feel for the most part that optically they are fairly good and there is little trade off. In the reviews I have read on this specific lens, they report it to be sharp. They do say there is a bit of distortion if you are shooting RAW but that can be corrected in most software with lens correction. Hope that helps!
1565963
Actually the image quality may be the same as a normal lens. The difference between pancake lens and normal lens is mainly the size. Pancake lens are thinner and lighter. I recommend you to search reviews of the lens that may fit your budget and choose the appropriated one for your use. Im enjoying this lens mainly because image quality and reduced size.
927465
This is not a bad lens at all. It is certainly not the fastest or sharpest, but a very sharp and fast zoom with this range would be very expensive and bulky. I use it for bird photography with decent results. I would not get same results with any available point and shoot camera.
756011
Only difference is image stabilization. You might prefer IS on your crop sensor. On full frame the lens is wide enough to not need it. This is a great lens.
382374
I have both lenses and they are both pretty good. I probably like the 50mm a bit more than the 35mm. The real question for you to answer is what will I be my primary use for the lens ? Remember, we're shooting with a crop-sensor camera, so the lenses convert from a 35mm to a 52mm, and the 50mm converts to a 75mm lens. My recommendation for General Purpose Shooting would be to go with the 50mm ! A great bang for the buck and terrific bokeh !
1746182
I don't have experience with those other lenses but I can tell you it is an amazing lens and worth every penny. I use it to shoot weddings and also do a lot of artistic shooting with it of flowers and stuff like that. The background blur is incredible.
390643
If you use a pancake lens and have a sturdy pocket. I've done it before but not often. The Pany or OLy pancakes do well and take up little space. The best and most fun is the Oly lens cap lens, inexpensive, f/8 and manual focus (though at f/8 focusing is not needed all that much).
219910
Its a great lens but obviously very different from the 10-18mm f4. I use the 24mm Zeiss almost exclusively indoors because it gets me to an equivalent focal length close to 35mm and helps with low light because of the wide 1.8 aperture. It also gets the nice shallow depth of field with that wide aperture and nice bokeh. I would love to own the 10-18 f4 but it would really be for a totally different purpose - super wide outdoor landscapes. Also, it's a slower lens with that f4 aperture and won't get a shallow depth of field under really any circumstances.
1838718
M. Clouse, I have both the 35mm L lens and the 50mm non-L lens. Like you, I love the 50mm lens but it is not sharp wide open. It sharpens up pretty well in the center by f/2.8, but the corners are soft even at f/5.6. The 35mm L lens is not in the same league. It is almost 4 times as expensive, built like a tank, has a completely different lens formula, ring USM focusing system rather than the old design in the 50mm, and is sharp at f/1.4 even out to the edge of the field. Like the 50mm, it gets a little sharper stopped down, but it is so sharp at f/1.4, there is not much room for improvement. You will not be disappointed with the 35mm L. It is a very fine lens optically and mechanically. M. Clouse, I have both the 35mm L lens and the 50mm non-L lens. Like you, I love the 50mm lens but it is not sharp wide open. It sharpens up pretty well in the center by f/2.8, but the corners are soft even at f/5.6. The 35mm L lens is not in the same league. It is almost 4 times as expensive, built like a tank, has a completely different lens formula, ring USM focusing system rather than the old design in the 50mm, and is sharp at f/1.4 even out to the edge of the field. Like the 50mm, it gets a little sharper stopped down, but it is so sharp at f/1.4, there is not much room for... » Read More M. Clouse, I have both the 35mm L lens and the 50mm non-L lens. Like you, I love the 50mm lens but it is not sharp wide open. It sharpens up pretty well in the center by f/2.8, but the corners are soft even at f/5.6. The 35mm L lens is not in the same league. It is almost 4 times as expensive, built like a tank, has a completely different lens formula, ring USM focusing system rather than the old design in the 50mm, and is sharp at f/1.4 even out to the edge of the field. Like the 50mm, it gets a little sharper stopped down, but it is so sharp at f/1.4, there is not much room for improvement. You will not be disappointed with the 35mm L. It is a very fine lens optically and mechanically. « Show Less
604837
Hi Jack - to be honest I've not had hands on with this lens. It was bought for my Son for his birthday. And from what I do know about it it is smaller and with the Macro capability - a more useful lens, also the 18-200 has less focal range then the newer Macro Lens. Seems to have pretty good reviews and as my son uses it for digital video - he's pretty happy thus far. Sorry I can't be of more help.Chuck
1293197
The IS feature the only real difference. That can be useful depending on the type of photography you're doing. Since it's a prime and not a telephoto lens I personally have never missed having the image stabilization. I do a lot of macro work and use fast shutter speeds.
1967981
A small aperture bino will suffer somewhat in low light conditions. It does well for it's size but that is always going to be the limiting factor in a compact bino. The views are stellar however. The best compact I've ever looked through and would compare well with something costing three times as much in my opinion.
1078008
Even though I have the kit lens and one zoom lens and have not yet acquired the pancake lens, I am very satisfied with my low light photos. I don't take many indoor pictures, but my sunsets and evenings in low light are beautiful. I also did take some very low light pictures of an art show, not using a flash, and they turned out much better than I thought they would. This camera is my second favorite - my "big" camera is a Pentax K-5 with some great pancake lenses, and still, this Panasonic performs very well under very varied conditions and is a great travel camera.
131464
The reviews I have seen (the in-depth for real ones, not the ones on sales sites) talk about the P80's lens slowness while trying to take pictures. I'm sure it's not as slow as the old (3-4 years ago) digital cameras but evidently it is a glaring issue in certain light situations. I am a Nikon shooter for over 30 years and have D200 DSLR now which I am very happy with, but I bought a FZ28K for a trip to Paris and am so far very happy with it. The iA mode is really pretty amazing - great exposure in almost all situations.
1061953
I would say it depends on your style shooting street photography. This lens is very very good for landscape and I use it primarily for landscape. If you like to shoot shallow DOF on street, this is not ideal. You already have a very good lens for that but without zoom. But then I like my street lens to be a fix-focal length.Also this lens is kinda big so you do attract a lot more attention than with the 50/1.4. Thankfully it's not white in color.Hope that helps.
267125
Well I must say I love my G1!! I was thinking the pancake 20mm f1.7 should be my next purchase, it just hard to convince myself about cashing $400 for it, but for what I have read it's the most versatile of them all. Now that the EZ zoom is based on digital zoom right? I try not to use the digital zoom since I don't like the lost of quality. I'm not big into telephoto as of now at least, so I think I'll go for the pancake. It's suppose to be 40mm as equivalent to a 35mm camera. And the reviews say it's versatile enough for dimly lit scenarios.Thanks for your reply!!
49031
I haven't run into the sharpness issue using the lens first on a Panasonic GX1 and now on an Olympus EM-5. I try to keep the maximum focal length at less than 40mm. I prefer other Panny lenses if I am traveling heavy, but using that lens with either of the two bodies gives me a fine and very compact outfit.
543828
The lens is good, but prime lenses are not flexible in terms of what picture you are trying to capture. Both lenses are very good and are similar but not, obviously, the focal length. Really it depends on the photographer, but I say go to a camera store such as samy's camera or calumet to demo both lenses and for sure that is where you make your decision of which is better.