Panasonic LUMIX G Lens, 25mm, F1.7 ASPH, Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds, H-H025K (USA Black)

This is an inexpensive mass market lens targeting casual photographers looking for something more versatile than a P&S but less expensive than a 1st tier major manufacture's medium to long telephoto zoom. Judged as such it is a pretty nice lens capable of producing some very nice photographs as evidenced by user contributions. It is conveniently small, focuses fast and does a pretty good job focusing in low light situations. It's basic design is attractive but its general build quality belies its modest pricing. It has only modest close up capabilities and is not suitable for macro work. As I recall there is about a 3 or 3.5ft minimum focusing distance which is fine for blossoms, insects or other relatively large "small items" but using it for close up work can be a bit frustrating especially at maximum zoom and stopped down a little. To Panasonic's credit they do not promote it as a macro lens.Despite some reviewers questioning the efficiency of the OIS capabilities, my personal experience is that it works very well *with the potential* of producing sharp hand held shots down to 1/10th of a second at full zoom, a feat that I would not have believed was possible but have meta-data to confirm. (Photo w/notes attached to lens main page)It's small size and general competency make it an ideal component of an *relatively* inexpensive but capable travel or walk around kit when paired with a 14-45mm Lumix zoom and a Panasonic G Series M4/3 camera. It seems to me that the Panasonic "kit lenses" represent some of the better performing budget minded lenses available and it would appear that most photographers in its target market would be very pleased with a non-defective copy of this lens. Why some enthusiast, purist or pro wannabes would be first attracted to buy and subsequently apply unrealistic performance expectations to an under $300 zoom, (I got mine for $250) and dismiss the lens as a poor performer puzzles me. Those individuals would be better advised to look at some of the remainder of the Lumix lens line bearing the Leica badge. As it stands, The 45-200 appears to be a bargain when price/performance is a determining factor.

This lens is a perfect match for the G series cameras (I use it with a Panny G1), though it can be used with any m4/3 camera, and is a superb value. It doesn't get any better than this - a stabilized, high quality 45-200mm zoom for less than 300 dollars? You bet! Sure the aperture is f/4.0-5.6, but that's pretty typical for a low cost zoom. What's not so typical is the superb image quality, great stabilization, and quality build.It gives you good coverage at the long end up to a nice 400mm equivalent, perfect for wildlife and nature photography. The short end is a nice portrait length and you can easily go tight when you need to. It's easy to handle and fairly smooth in operation. It's mostly all been covered in the other reviews here, so I won't repeat all that, but this is a superb value and a great lens.I matched this up with the great Panasonic 14-45mm zoom to cover the short end and the highly regarded panny 20mm f/1.7 pancake prime (for best available light close-in shooting) together with my G1 and really feel like I have it covered. Possibly the nicest, lightest, most compact kit I've ever assembled (not to mention low cost as well).I am able to get some great hand-held shots and overall sharpness is very good. The OIS stabilization seems to work very well and this is definitely the easiest lens I have ever used hand-held at the full 200mm (400mm).2012-02-19 Update: See the comments for some good info (thanks, Les!) on the "extended zoom" features -- hand-held shots at 800mm - wow! ;)2012-04-29 Update: Still loving this lens. Wonderfully useful range, if I only take one lens, this is often my choice, though the 14-45mm is pretty handy as well. The 20mm is also very nice, but, obviously, for more specific uses. (If you're in situations where you can "zoom with your feet" it's great. Also wonderful in low light.)2012-07-07 Update: I love this lens! I get an impressively high percentage of good shots with this lens. The quality is superb and it is a joy to shoot with. When you shoot with a fine lens, it really does make a difference. For the price asked, this one is hard to beat.

Panasonic apparently do not believe in catchy names for their lenses. But it does at least tell you exactly what you're getting.Since this is a micro four thirds lens you're looking at a zoom of 90mm to 400mm on the standard 35mm scale. That's a pretty good range and certainly brings things much closer to you.I got the chance to really put this lens through its paces during my Disney World trip. I was regularly switching between this and my standard 14-45 kit lens.Obviously it was great in the animal kingdom for getting really close to animals, but it also works rather well for parades when your view angles are somewhat limited due to the crowds. You can also take unposed shots without shoving your camera in people's faces. I got pretty good at doing on the fly swapping of the two lenses and it's certainly very practical to have them both handy even on long outings like that.Of course like any zoom lens it does weigh quite a bit more than the smaller lenses and inevitably it makes the camera front heavy. Since it's a micro 4/3rds it's not really that heavy in comparison to mirror lenses, but this lens easily weighs more than the camera it's attached to.That said, it's light enough that you absolutely can handhold and shoot even at relatively slow shutter speeds. I don't know if I would go much below 1/50th at full zoom if I wanted to be sure of getting a shot though.As far as shot quality is concerned there's nothing but good things to say. Images come out sharp and I haven't noticed any distortions or fringing. It may be a budget price, but it's a quality lens.If you're looking for a zoom lens for your micro four thirds camera this is the one you want.