Lenses

Lens Sharpness Test: Sony 16mm F2.8 vs Panasonic 20mm F1.7

Chris Gampat
No Comments
09/05/2010
2 Mins read
Picture 1

Last Updated on 07/28/2011 by Chris Gampat

F2.8

And so the battle of the pancake lenses commences! In one corner, we’ve got the 16mm F2.8 on the Sony NEX 5camera. In the other, the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 on the GF-1Micro Four Thirds camera. Each camera was shot in aperture priority at ISO 200 and tested on a Home Depot flier. Further, each camera was also focused on the Husky Logo in the center. Let’s see how they did.

Just for reference: Sony is on the left and Panasonic is on the right for each image. Each lens was not tested at F22 because the Panasonic lens only goes up to F16. Each camera was shot on a tripod.

F2.8
F4
F4
F5.6
F8
F11

Please note that in no way is this a scientific test. Also keep in mind that only center sharpness is being tested.

Conclusions

F2.8- Panasonic has an edge.

F4- Panasonic has a slight edge and the Sony is starting the catch up.

F5.6- Pretty much even with the Sony now taking a slight edge.

F8- In my eyes, dead even.

F11- No idea what happened here. The Sony is starting to become problematic. The Panasonic is still holding strong.

Please Support the Phoblographer

We love to bring you guys the latest and greatest news and gear related stuff. However, we can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of the items mentioned, please do so by clicking our link and then purchasing the items as we then get a small portion of the sale to help run the website.

20mm f1.7 camera gf-1 lens sharpness lenses NEX-5 16mm F2.8 panasonic reviews sony
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.