Panasonic Lumix G 42.5mm F1.7 ASPH. POWER OIS / H-HS043E, reviewed by lucky_shot

My first review...

I have been playing around with the M43 platform for a couple of years just for the convenience factor. I started with Olympus but preferred having an articulated screen and a viewfinder, so I switched to Panasonic.

This is the second time I've had this lens, I don't remember why I returned the first one, but in hindsight, it was a big mistake.

There is a place for the M43's in my bag for the simple reason of how precious the lenses are, especially this one! The level of sharpness and micro contrast is unmatched on any platform I've tried, the bokeh can only be described as dreamy, and the colors... man 'o man... I am continuously amazed at the vividness of the raw files when imported into Lightroom.

The lens focuses close and you can easily get decent shots of larger insects like bee's or beetles with very little cropping necessary to make them the center of interest. I did purchase a dedicated macro lens for the 7D and returned it as I prefer using this lens with a macro extension tube for the really close-up work. Images are better than 1 to 1 and it just blew the macro out of the water on every level, and with the touch screen, focus stacking is a breeze. AF is instantaneous on my Panasonic body and again, razor sharp.

If you can't tell, I like this lens and highly recommend it for the M43 shooters out there.

I attached a quick snap of the Lantana in the backyard. I know you can't zoom in but if you could, you can see all the finest little hairs on the center buds. I applied a vignette but did not add any saturation. I used a 16mm extension tube, the center square petals are the size of a dime, if that...