New 20mm f/1.7 lens is less noisy!

The Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 pancake is a classic Micro Four Thirds lens. Being the first Panasonic prime lens, it is widely considered to be very well performing. But it has some shortcomings: Due to the old fashioned focus design, where the whole lens assembly moves back and forth during focusing, the autofocus is rather slow. Also, the large focus assembly makes it very noisy when focusing.

Also, when using the lens on some cameras at high ISO, many users report annoying horizontal stripes. Some believe this is due to a spiral coil spring inside the lens, which is one of the ways in which it is different from other lenses that don't exhibit this aberration.

In 2013, Panasonic updated the lens. It is well known that the new lens is largely a cosmetic redesign: The optical layout is the same, and the focus method is the same. But is the new lens better? The new lens is available in black and silver, and you can see the silver version to the right below:

Old (left) and new (right) versions of the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7

Lens	Lumix G 20mm f/1.7	Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 II
Lens elements/groups	7/5	7/5
Aperture diaphragm blades	7	7
Minimum focus	0.20m	0.20m
Diameter	63mm	63mm
Length	26mm	26mm
Filter thread	46mm	46mm
Weight	100g	87g
Hood included	No	No
Optical image stabilisation	No	No

As the noise and autofocus speed is the achilles heel of the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7, I have tested them head to head in these aspects. I used an Iphone to test the noise, and tested the focus speed on a Lumix GM1. This was done by checking the focus delay when changing the focus from infinity down to 0.20m, the closest focus distance. Here is a video summary of the test:



And a summary of the findings:

Lens	Lumix G 20mm f/1.7	Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 II
Focus delay	0.80s	0.84s
Focus noise	57dB	50dB
Aperture change noise	70dB	72dB

Conclusion

The focus speed is very similar between the lenses. The difference I found is most likely not significant, it could be just due to random differences in the testing parameters. So my conclusion is: The lenses have exactly the same focus motor/assembly.

The focus noise, though, shows a significant difference. Both lenses are still noisy, by modern standards, but the new one less so than the old lens. Perhaps this is due to the use of different materials in some components. Whatever the cause, this is good news: Focus noise is less likely to be a problem with the new lens.

The aperture change noise shows some difference in my measuring, but I would say it's hardly significant. This noise is on a quite normal level for Micro Four Thirds prime lenses. Zoom lenses tend to be less noisy, as they have smaller apertures. I've found the most noisy aperture on the Leica 25mm f/1.4, not surprising since it has a very large aperture.

Focus assembly

A closeup of the two lenses shows that they have the same outwards appearance in the focus assembly:

In both lenses, you'll see a small gap between the outer chassis, and the lens assembly. The inner tube moves in and out when changing the focus. Hence, you cannot mount a step up ring on the lens: It can cause the focus assembly to lock up. It has happened with me, so take care.

You can, however, mount a 46mm to 37mm step down ring as hood. This gives some basic protection of the front lens element, while keeping the overall package compact. If you go down this route, you also need a 37mm front lens cap.: