I had read lots of reviews about this lens and decided I wouldn't go for it because of its bulk and weight . BUT - I soon got over that when I started using the lens. In fact by using a sling type shoulder strap, I don't notice the weight as much. The 1.7 aperture and the quality of the lens is absolutely stunning. I'm very pleased. In fact, the lens feels comfortable and easy to use on a GH5 body. Also with Panasonic's cashback and Amazon's competitive price, I am starting to get over the shock of how expensive it was. Beautiful lens which I will never sell!

Highly recommended. Although it’s big and very expensive (for MFT), it’s very capable too – and I got it with an RRP discount and winter cashback from Panasonic to soften the blow. In effect it replaces a multitude of lenses – but it still costs as much as all of them put together. What you’re paying for is the convenience of one wide-to-standard lens to rule them all, and remarkable sharpness. For me this has replaced a 7-14mm f/2.8 zoom (93% of my usable shots were 10mm+ anyway), a 17mm f/1.8 prime and a 25mm f/1.4 prime. But you could add almost any other sub 25mm MFT prime into that mix. The constant f/1.7 aperture and incredible sharpness even wide open beats all of my other lenses – even Olympus’ own sharp 12-40mm f/2.8. Reviews have said you’d have to go to an Olympus f/1.2 Pro prime to equal or beat this, and I can believe it. Also, for me the DOF and bokeh doesn’t suffer much vs f/1.2 – in fact its slightly larger in-focus range is a little more forgiving in the real world.Speaking of focus, I don’t think there’s a faster or more reliable focusing lens in the entire MFT range, even on Olympus and certainly not a zoom. Shutter speed-wise, indoors at a constant ISO and aperture and at the same focal length as the prime it consistently gives a faster shutter speed on my EM-1 Mk2 than an Olympus f/1.8, despite the miniscule aperture difference, and the same shutter speed as my Panasonic f/1.4 – wondering if this might be because of the huge 77mm front element physically gathering more light.I also compared it to a colleague’s Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 with a Metabones 0.64 Speedbooster for MFT (taking it to f/1.2). That’s a very popular web pro video combo. This Sigma combo gives a similar focal range of about 12-24mm in MFT terms, but vignettes very noticeably (unusable without post processing) at f/1.2 in the 12-15mm range. And although at f/1.2 the Sigma/Metabones gives a faster shutter speed vs this lens’ f/1.7, there’s not much in it and the PanaLeica has more neutral native colour reproduction, a small edge

Highly recommended. Although it’s big and very expensive (for MFT), it’s very capable too – and I got it with an RRP discount and winter cashback from Panasonic to soften the blow. In effect it replaces a multitude of lenses – but it still costs as much as all of them put together. What you’re paying for is the convenience of one wide-to-standard lens to rule them all, and remarkable sharpness. For me this has replaced a 7-14mm f/2.8 zoom (93% of my usable shots were 10mm+ anyway), a 17mm f/1.8 prime and a 25mm f/1.4 prime. But you could add almost any other sub 25mm MFT prime into that mix. The constant f/1.7 aperture and incredible sharpness even wide open beats all of my other lenses – even Olympus’ own sharp 12-40mm f/2.8. Reviews have said you’d have to go to an Olympus f/1.2 Pro prime to equal or beat this, and I can believe it. Also, for me the DOF and bokeh doesn’t suffer much vs f/1.2 – in fact its slightly larger in-focus range is a little more forgiving in the real world.

Speaking of focus, I don’t think there’s a faster or more reliable focusing lens in the entire MFT range, even on Olympus and certainly not a zoom. Shutter speed-wise, indoors at a constant ISO and aperture and at the same focal length as the prime it consistently gives a faster shutter speed on my EM-1 Mk2 than an Olympus f/1.8, despite the miniscule aperture difference, and the same shutter speed as my Panasonic f/1.4 – wondering if this might be because of the huge 77mm front element physically gathering more light.

I also compared it to a colleague’s Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 with a Metabones 0.64 Speedbooster for MFT (taking it to f/1.2). That’s a very popular web pro video combo. This Sigma combo gives a similar focal range of about 12-24mm in MFT terms, but vignettes very noticeably (unusable without post processing) at f/1.2 in the 12-15mm range. And although at f/1.2 the Sigma/Metabones gives a faster shutter speed vs this lens’ f/1.7, there’s not much in it and the PanaLeica has more neutral native colour reproductio