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12-35mm F2.8 Panasonic lens topic
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  • Hi mates for completeness of information about jitter panasonic lenses issue , I wanted to tell you that I had this same problem since September 2012 also on my panasonic 14/45mm OIS zoom check discussion here : http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/4771/flickering-issue-on-gh2#Item_11 but at the time I thought it was a problem with my GH2 body, I was one of the first GH2 users who has noticed this strange problem , but no one has ever been able to answer! So thank again johnmw for that ! one more help, since I have not received any answer from panasonic centers , please keep me informed if the problem is solved by . Thx

  • Anyone heard anything back from Panasonic at this point?

  • On a different tack, I've been using one of these on a GH3 with the LA7200 attached and I get high performance and no vinegetting at any focal length. Pretty cool stuff.

  • @Kellar42 You can post something

  • I haven't heard anything from Panasonic yet. Panasonic Japan got samples of the 12-35mm displaying the jitter about a week ago. Apparently they did not know that this problem existed. Hang tight, and hopefully they will find a solution...

  • David Thorpe review: "You get what you pay for"

  • i just bought this lens, and i did the jitter test. ON GH3, 12-35mm @35mm , IS off, on tripod , tilted down 45 degress.

    No problem at all!

  • Can someone sync these video tests to the Harlem Shake song?

  • anyone know if tox's lens is a later serial#?? i know that a lot of XT2.. #'s have shown this problem..

  • whatever - i need this lens. just called b&h and they said they could put a note on my order asking for serial#XT3 or later... we'll see what happens...

  • @Zaz good call.

    I have this lens now for less than a week, never checked the jitter issue. Just took photos. It's dam fast on AF and with OIS, it's just sick. I was originally planning on an Oly 17mm f1.8, but might explore that option a bit later. For now, this lens does what I need.

  • I just got ridiculous news from Panasonic Japan (I am in Tokyo and my lens is with them). After 24 days i gave my lens they said that this is normal functioning of the lens. It's a joke. I am trying to send them the links to the YouTube videos I took (posted here as well on p.11 of this thread), they told me "can you bring us any video you have?" What about using YouTube links and email?

    I am shocked

    I have to say that this comes from the big shop where I took my lens, they are dealing directly with Panasonic, not me.

    Will keep you posted...

  • wow, panasonic b trippin. I will be getting my lens sometime next week and will post my results then. hope you are able to get a working replacement.

    has anyone tried this with stills? seems that any longer exposure photo should come out pretty shit with this issue...

  • @Nakame78 !! WTF Panasonic !!!! ..."can you bring us any video you have?".... probably they are taking time because they do not know what to say .

    @Zaz ! i got 3 copy repleaced ( XT2F / XT2G/ XT2H) all with that issue , Tox got XT3 so could be , But there are a lot of people of this forum with XT2 series solid as rock !!

    Anyway I'm still very angry

  • Hi.

    Just registered here to share my experience. Got my lense in GH3A kit 14.03.2013 in Helsinki. Serial number starts with XT3AD..... Did video test on tripod 45, 15, 0 degrees down, 35mm and 12mm focal length in next modes: AVCHD(1080, 50i) and AVCHD(1080, 50p) with OIS On and Off. Same time I bought X G PZ 45-175 lense and did same tests for 45mm (45 degrees) and 175mm (45, 15, 0 degrees) OIS On and Off. All was shot with ISO800, Continuos AF ON, Video Exposure mode P. Then copied the video on PC and played back with Zoom player ffdshow video encoder. Deinterlacing switched on for interlaced clips only. There is easy to zoom in by pressing right-side +/- buttons (like in Photoshop). So I checked 100% and up to 400%.

    Here are my subjective results:

    • At angles 15 and 0 both lenses are rock stable with or without IOS. I cannot see any movement at 400%.
    • The 12-35 lense at angle 45 has no jitter at 12mm but at 35mm it does have a circular jitter around one pixel when 300% zoom. In 100% nobody would notice it. OIS On or Off does not matter. At 50i it seems less noticable than 50p. Even 2 of my clips had no jitter in 50i but I guess this just proves the jitter is not always there and not related to the mode.
    • The 45-175 lense at angle 45 has no jitter with OIS off. When OIS is On it does have about 1 pixel jitter at 45 and 175 but it is not circullar. It is side to side and has faster frequency at 175.

    Also I did a long exposure still shots with 12-35 at 35mm, 45 degrees, 6 sec. I do think the results are as sharp as with same scene and fast shutter speed. Still it appears that with electronic shutter the image is sharper. I did not make many tests with stills because the result satisfied me and I did them before video tests because it was worried me more. I was expecting to find there a blurred result and was happy it was not there. I'm a bit confused why long exposure shots are sharp. Maybe it proves that in video mode there is going something that could be fixed with firmware. But again, I did just 4 shots with shutter speeds 1/25, 4, 4 (mechanical) and 1/50 (electronical). Not a huge statistics.

    I was really worried while ordering the camera. At the moment my feeling is that the issue is there but it is not real life issue for my lense copy. But I believe that certain copies may have the jitter more evident. It is a shame if Panasonic would insist that the lense works properly for those users.

    I do not publish my clips but if anybody needs them, then tell please which mode, angle etc.. you would like to see.

  • @ge0rge thanks for the detailed tests, it would be good to see the 45 degrees test with the 12-35 lens @35mm if possible (the one with jitter).

    A bit of updates on my side: I went to the shop today to complain, it's been more than 1 month since I gave them my lens and last week I sent them evidence (videos) of the issue, but still no answer, so today I went there and asked them to give me a new copy of the lens. Eventually after a lot of complains they gave me a new one (serial starts with XT3), they still claim this could be normal behavior. I haven't done any test yet with this new lens, will do and let everyone know. Also the guy from Panasonic US replied to me saying that most likely this is a firmware issue, so let's see..

  • Nakame78, if you still have problems, and are in the tokyo area, you should go to Panasonics office in Akihabara, it is a little tricky to find, but not too hard. I may be going there soon, and plan on mentioning the 12-35 issues.

    I am guessing you have been dealing with Yodobashi. I have never had a simple return even for little items, with them. I have had them tell me stuff that I know had 90day in store warranty was credit only, but soon after they gave me cash because I refused to play their game. It seems to be their policy to make up stories. I suspect often they aren't really talking to Panasonic, just pretending they did thinking it will get you out of their shop. For those in the US, imagine Walmart but instead of their easy no questions ask return system, they go to their manager three times each time coming back with a different excuse why they can't give you a refund or exchange, until finally they do the right thing simply because you are too stubborn to except their BS and understand their policy better than they do. Unfortunately many Japanese are too polite and trusting, and except the BS.

  • Hi, Just got my 12-35 and GH3. I did a short test and could not see any jitters. Is my lens solid or am I not testing it correctly? I know this might not be a real life issue if I cannot see it, but would apprecitae your feedback. Here is video with lens on GH3, tripod, OIS off, tilted down about 45 degrees:

  • Nakame78, Here is my clip:

    My first video uploaded to youtube. I uploaded 40MB MTS. Youtube transcoded the video to bitrate 4 mbps. So it looks more blurry. But if you download and zoom, the effect looks almost same as in original. Less noticable because of extra blur.

  • @test12 and @ge0rge I can't see any jitter on both videos ,or rather not the kind of jitter we are complain ! would you tell me what serial number your lenses got? just the start , XT2 or XT3 ?

    and @Nakame78 I'm waiting for your XT3 lens test outcome ; ) ) thanx a lot

  • @valpopando thanks for your reply. My lens serial # prefix is actually XT2 and it is from Japanese seller on eBay. So should I not worry, then? Are there any further tests I should run? Did you watch it on 200% or more? I noticed above this is common test? I did another test with text so you can see clearer. Note movement in first and last seconds is from my movement turning video on and off:

  • Valpopando, Serial number starts with XT3AD..... See my post above

  • @test12 thank You ,

    Your lens is solid as rock , as ge0rge copy , at this point I dunno , Is not about serial , is not about seller or certain lots or geographical area , is just random ... I was unlucky

    @ge0rge yah sorry I miss that in your previous post

  • @valpopando, thanks. This is reassuring! Now I can start learning about this gh3 finally with a lens.