Panasonic LUMIX G LENS, 42.5MM, F1.7 ASPH., MIRRORLESS MICRO FOUR THIRDS, POWER OPTICAL I.S., H-HS043K (USA BLACK)

I researched this product a lot before buying. It is a photography game changer. It creates such a great look to images - nice subject focus with beautiful background blur. Love it. It has improved my overall photography standard massively. It is also a very good price considering how great it is. It is basically as good as everyone says it is.

Lens received with rare and front cap along with lens hood. The mount is metallic but the rest of the lens is plastic but seems to be durable. Used as portrait lens, produced very sharp, contrasty and saturated colours. It is quite sharp at f1.7 & produced beautiful blurred background. The focus is instantaneous, even in poor light. Videos were good, specially when shot in good light. Excellent buy, price is reasonable. Thanks.

Took this lens out for the first time to shoot a college cheer team at a football game and I am in love with it. The game was in the evening and it did fantastic in low light. Crystal clear and at 1.7 the bokeh is stunning. I am not a professional and did the shoot as a favor, the team and coach loved the results. The only thing I found lacking was that at 85mm M4/3 equivalent you won't be getting great close-ups unless you can move in close to your subject, luckily I had free reign to move around as they cheered. Getting whole-team pictures also meant going way up into the stands or switching lenses. This is not the lens' fault, just a friendly FYI to help you pick the right lens for your application. This is a great mid range lens that takes beautiful run and gun portraits when you have to be fast and everyone is constantly moving. Very glad I bought this lens and the price is a bargain for what you get.

Great lens ...

This is a great lens - it's small, is good in low light, and is well built. It's one of my favorite lens for my GH3 and produces fantastic images. I tend to shoot with the aperture more open due to m4/3 larger depth of field. In anecdotal use, I haven't noticed any corner softness or vignetting. I'm not sure how well it will hold up in a lab but that's for a professional reviewer to determine. It's a good lens for video as well. Autofocus is fast enough for slower moving items (again, GH3 so no DFD tech). Its reach is long enough to get a tight shot without being too close to the subject.

I've been very impressed by this lens so far. I use it on my Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GM5 . For me it's more of a "specialty" lens. If I'm going on vacation, or doing portraits, etc., then I'll use it. If it's just another day, commute across campus or whatever, then it's too large for my needs. I prefer a pancake lens for general purpose. Anyway, for the price, it's a great performer. In the video the lens was at minimum focusing distance, ~12 inches. No hood attached. Tripod mounted. The subject here was a large brown carpenter bee. I wonder if he may have been exhausted or sick. Eventually, he flew away. Hope he's OK.