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12mm f/1.6 Noktor
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  • nomadnomad

    Seems so. BTW, most lenses go a tad beyond infinity to compensate for variations by temperature. Wide angle is difficult – while they have a deeper DOF in front, the flange distance is more critical.

  • dtrdtr

    Andrew told me they make the lenses focus a little past infinity now to prevent these problems.

    So they do acknowledge the problem?

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Well, just woke up and shot a few more quick things. Transcoding now. So far it looks pretty good. The build quality is damn good too! Feels like a tank and it's smooth. Not sure if this is how CCTV lenses feel. I really don't use them and so far no problems with that step up either. Andrew told me they make the lenses focus a little past infinity now to prevent these problems. As for Noktor, besides them not informing me of shipping and the unfriendly return policy, Andrew has been in communication with me daily about my concerns and damn that shipping was fast. 2-3 days from China! That's a good sign but I'll talk to him about that step up ring deal. He says a studio sent him the test results of the problems with some adapters. That's probably true but charging people $50-$80 for a $1 part kinda sucks.

  • dtrdtr

    I'm in Rotterdam, with a GH2 and noktor 12mm. If useful, I'm up for getting together for a comparative test.

  • RawBRawB

    @DirkVoorhoeve I am about 165km away from Zeeland, in Hilversum, not so close... A test on both camera's is what we need right now. Hopefully CameraNu.nl can do this test on both camera's.

    CameraNu.nl will send me another Slr 12mm, If I still have focus problems on my GH2 I can return it, free of posting cost. On my request they gonna test the new lens on a GH2 before sending it to me.

    @vicharris For a quick infinity focus test, I used manual focus assist.

    Update: Message from Panasonic - Update the firmware. - Setup, enable use without lens.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @vicharris

    SLR magic send me some strange email concerning vingetting. Don't really know that they don't like, I think they don't like you presonally :-). Suggested them to respond here in public as their current marketing is just crap.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Ok, don't have much time right now but just got the lens in. One things for sure, they ship fast as hell! Or the fact that I asked for a refund might have made them pretty much overnight it from China. Anyways on a VERY basic and rough test, it looks ok. But I need to record some challenging stuff and check it out on my monitor. I'll post as soon as I do. One thing I will say for sure and am pretty pissed at. They pressure you into that damn $50 step up adapter by telling you that it will be $80 if not purchased with the lens, BS Andrew Chan!!!!!!! BS!!!!! I bought a $5 dollar one off of Ebay, S&W photo accessory is the brand and it works perfect! It's the 58-77 step up and I have a Lightcraft Fader ND on it and it works perfectly. So that alone tells you something about this company. The fact they charge $50-$80 for a $5 adapter. Really hope I don't have a reworked $550 CCTV lens.

  • DirkVoorhoeveDirkVoorhoeve

    @rawB of you are close to Zeeland and get a new one we could test on my gh2 and also on af100...

  • vicharrisvicharris

    I'm wondering if I should just refuse service, get my money back from my credit card company and spend that $550 somewhere else?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    There are many fast wide lenses out there, e.g. the Oly 12 F2.0 or 14(-35) F2.0 - which is heavy as hell and does foucs to infinity without problems

    Don't know about your lenses, but 14mm and 20mm I have both focus well past infinity, so they can't have such problems by default.

  • RawBRawB

    @vicharris No, this was not Noktor, it was cameranu.nl , great services, no extra costs or what so ever. I call this person tomorrow, maybe he can test again, this time on a gh2 and another camera.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @RawB, was this at Noktor?

  • RawBRawB

    Contacted the person who tested the lens and asked him for the test pictures and asked on which body he did the test. His answer: did't save the images and forgot what camera I used. Pffff.....

  • peternappeternap

    @vicharris I'm watching this thread closely but I think they've lost a customer anyway. I don't need more shoddy customer support. BTW, this is the exact reason I refuse to deal with a company that doesn't accept AmEx, If you have this kind of trouble, just let them take care of it. I had to do it once and the company gave AmEx the same S. AmEx just pulled the money out of their account. They had already refunded me.

  • PsycoPsyco

    Its not the camera mount. There are many fast wide lenses out there, e.g. the Oly 12 F2.0 or 14(-35) F2.0 - which is heavy as hell and does foucs to infinity without problems even with the m4/3-4/3 adapter in between. If there were problems with the GH2 mount, the forums would be flooded by complains.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @dtr I wouldn't trust any tests at Noktor. My lens should be in today, maybe. I'll test it in the real world and see what happens since it seems like it's going to cost me $150 just to send it back to them even if I don't open it! Great customer service!! Like I said, I'll try to get over to samys camera and test it out there. I would love for this lens work but too many people are having problems. Who here had a good working production lens they've received in the past few months?

  • dtrdtr

    Sounds like a bunch of BS to me from Noktor.

    +1

    I guess the ultimate test is someone sending both lens and GH2 back to noktor for testing and see what they come up with...

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Just talked to Pana and they checked with upper support management and they've never heard of the lens mounts being loose. Not sure if they are just hiding info because I haven't dealt with their customer support in that manner. Sounds like a bunch of BS to me from Noktor. I would hold off buying one of these lens unless it's from a brick and mortar still till this is figured out.

  • RawBRawB

    I bought mine GH2 (pal version) in november 2011, it was te body + 14-140mm kit. Serialnr: WE1FA001197 The infinity focus problem shows better on a photo than on video. Will send an e-mail to Panasonic NL later today. The test I did was NOT with original Firmware.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @fosterchen Going to download the file and check it out right now

  • vicharrisvicharris

    I'll call em tomorrow too to see if it's some sort of normal issue as SLR states. I've used my GH2 on one shoot and this body is pretty new so it will be interesting to see what happens. I'm going to head to Samy's when it comes in and do a test on their shop AF100. That should settle the issue!

    The returns and customer service issue seems to be a problem regardless of the situation. They make a mistake and I have to pay over $100 for their error? Really?

  • CrazyPeteCrazyPete

    Has anyone tried sending an e-mail to Panasonic about this yet? I will try contacting them this evening.

  • CrazyPeteCrazyPete

    @fosterchen That's a good idea. I got my GH2 earlier this month. I got it through e-bay from Shueido, they separated out the 14-140 mm lens from the kit and sold me the rest as new. I can't say how long ago it was manufactured. Is there a way to tell from the serial number (WE1GA001178)?

  • fosterchenfosterchen

    Same Video on Vimeo, so you can download original file.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    I hope I'm not being to much of a dumbass here since I don't even have the lens yet. The fact that so many people have problems and that I can't cancel due to an error by them has me kind of geared up. Also the fact that he is blaming all the problems on GH2 cameras is sort of weird. Anyone try theirs out on a AF100?

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