7-14mm Lumix lens

stoney

@Tommyboy You meant PTool on the firmware 1.1? Even if that's possible, i would wait for the newer PTool.

I thought @Mark_the_Harp meant going back to firmware 1.0 based.

Ptchaw

@5thwall @pvjames This is not so much an ommision of the lens, this is a consequence of using an ultra-wide angle. You simply cannot have a such a wide angle lens with filters threads without vignetting or using very large filters, which is why lens manufacturers don't include them; the same goes for 14mm FF lenses. Unfortunately it does lack a rear gel holder. Just stop down; you're not going to get a shallow DOF with this lens.

Benibube

@stonebat:......Once 1.1, you can't go back to 1.0. ???????

stop giving wrong advices !!!! You can change as often as you want to....

stoney

Sorry. That shows how much I've been out of touch with the latest forum topics. GH1 official firmwares have been irreversible. I guess this new GH2 firmware is reversible. Nice. That means I can go back to hacked mode.

Mark_the_Harp

Hi all - thanks for clarifying. I will probably go back to v1.0 until ptools is available for v1.1 as I had a nice setting going there (a modified driftwood one). However, v1.1 has some good features like instant start-up, and I think it's less noisy too - but maybe that's for another topic.

It's confusing because I was also talking about updating the lens from 1.0 to 1.1, and that made a huge difference in the AF operation (like, it worked where it didn't before!)

5thwall

@pvjames @Mark_the_Harp @killagram So I finally go the lens hood and fader filter today. Some good, some not so good. But overall, it's all good.

Per the instructions on the Chinese site I mentioned before, I bought some 4.76mm (3/16" I think) rubber weatherstripping. One layer of it wasn't enough, so I just doubled it up and it fits pretty snug. I shook the cam and it didn't slip. Overall, I'm not worried so much that it will slip off on it's own, but rather that something could knock it off. So, I just plan on being a little extra careful when using it.

Next up... the fader filter. You have to mount the fader backwards, so be sure you have a fader with a front female filter ring of 77mm. I had purchased a 77mm el-cheap-o Neewer fader filter from Amazon which unfortunately didn't have a front ring. Optically, it seems acceptable, but unfortunately I'll have to return it.

Luckily, I have a 72mm Fader brand filter which, as my luck would have it, it has a 77mm front female filter mount. Woohoo! (and phew, now don't have to do more research or spend more money! ;)

The verdict: it works very well at 12mm on up. There might be some vignetting, but mostly noticeable at the high end of the ND. It's enough for me to live with. I can probably zoom out a little wider but 12mm is safe. I'm very happy because I find 12mm to be the sweet spot with this lens for moving around. And the good news is that at F4, I have a decent amount of DOF. Can get real close to objects and rack to objects farther off.

One happy and unexpected side effect was that I now have the ability to turn the entire fader filter. At the high end of the faders, you can get uneven darkening of the image. This gives me the ability to level it out with the horizon by turning the whole filter x number of degrees right or left.

For the price of these parts, this is a great way to eek out a little more usefulness with this lens. A 77mm filter would have been nice, but I can live without it. I'll post some tests with it another day.

jasantana

Rather than start a new topic, well..."Let's see what happens." Can anyone here share their experience using this Panasonic 7-14mm lens, with the GH2, with the, "GH2 + 16mm Tri-X B&W reversal trick?" (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?230947-GH2-16mm-Tri-X-B-amp-W-reversal-trick)

Since it's such an expensive lens, I'm trying to find out from others if it can work to shot at approximately 35mm and 50mm in (35mm terms). And to get an idea about the results.

Thank you.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

It is wonderful for landscapes, cityscapes, and wide scenes at the shorter end of the lens. But when you zoom it, it becomes one of two classical street photography focal lengths. And you really can’t go wrong.

It’s sharp, contrasty, has wonderful color rendition, focuses quickly, feels well built and is highly portable. The only thing that it is missing is weather-sealing, but that doesn’t really break our hearts too much.

http://www.thephoblographer.com/2013/07/05/review-panasonic-7-14mm-f4-micro-four-thirds/

larsarus

I find that when I use this lens and want to record video on my GH3 (just the auto-everything mode), the camera is hardly ever ready to start recording and needs a few seconds. This was very annoying on a recent trip, and it works fine for the 12-35. I guess the camera is setting up some in-camera image correction for the video pipeline, but it ought to do that when the camera is turned on, not when I want to start recording...

It also looks like it continues to record for a second or two after I stop the recording as well (don't know if it ends up in the recording though).

Are these issues everyone else's (GH3-owners) experience as well?

Walker

@larsarus

Thanks for your report.

This lens has been around for a while now. It will have been well and truly put through its paces. How has it been holding up in the field? Have users really found that (as predicted, for landscape and architecture shots) they've kept this lens permanently attached to their camera?

5thwall

I had the lens and loved it. Had some slight halo-ing at night, but frankly that could've just been a dirty lens. I decided to sell it to get the 12-35mm. This is only because the 12-35 was more practical for the kinds of shooting I was doing. If I had been able to afford it, I would have kept the lens. A great addition to any lens arsenal.

peaceonearth

I am pretty impressed about the Lumix 7-14. Only handicap is a missing filter mount as sometimes in 200ASA and bright sunlight f=22 ain't enough. Mr Bloom adapted a filter by putting it over the sunshade - does anybody know what size the ring should have?

http://instagram.com/p/dkBibnKKi3/#

A 67mm filter thread fit inside of the hood very snug but you need a big filter outside and you have to cover light leakage. Outside mount would probably more useful