@Ptchaw Yeap the distortion correction occurs for sure. But I didn't see any noticeable sharpening. Can you prove your oversharpening theory?

I was right, the sharpening (or at least some) is happening during distortion correction. That explains why AF lenses look sharper than manual lenses, and often _too_ sharp:

All pics shot on the Panny 20mm, Chris' 44mb(AQ4) | F1.7, 1/60, ISO 320 | Con -2, Sharp -2, Sat -1, NR -2

1) 24H normal (ie. with distortion correction)
2) 24H with contacts covered (no distortion correction)
3) 60i

4) shows an animated blowup of each shot (in a different order).

The distortion correction clearly applies sharpening - but it's more pronounced on already high-contrast areas (it's either intelligent, or threshold based in some way). That's why it's not obvious on all shots.

The 60i version is interesting: first it does seem to apply some vertical filtering - notice how the image is slightly stretched vertically (in the old interlaced CRT days this was done to eliminate flickering - for example NLE fonts were deliberately blurry back then to avoid it -but I don't understand why that would be necessary now). It looks like it's then even more heavily sharpened to compensate (check the blowup).

Also interesting are the interlace-type artifacts on colours, particularly noticable on the red areas (EDIT: ignore, this may be due to Premiere not upsampling the chroma channels of each field before weaving them).

(I've also attached the chart I used, I posted this some time ago but I don't think anybody used it).

Here it is.
It seems also to add a bit of contrast. This makes my panny lenses not useful to shoot video. I hate it.

Thanks guys. Maybe V. will find a way to defeat/reduce it.

@Elenion, yep digital sharpening is really just increasing the contrast around edges. In fact sharpness in general = contrast. For example if light is bleeding into adjacent sensor pixels, then the darks become lighter = blurrier = less contrast.

Good test, gl.
Question: When you cover the contacts, can you still manually focus the Panasonic lens?
Also, what exactly did you use to cover the contacts?

Yay _gl!!!

+1 LPowell idea.

@Elenion

> The real issue is that this ugly sharpening completely destroys the gentleness of the highlight roll off. Everything appears digital and videoish and the strobe effect is more evident.

Agreed on all counts, I think it's a big reason why people complain that the GH2 strobes (LCDs pixels hate switching quickly dark <-> bright).

@Ralph_B, it only works if you lock focus first, then remove the lens, cover the contacts, and attach it again all while the body is still powered. When the body powers up (or maybe when it powers down), it resets the focus. I used standard electrical insulation tape, the soft slightly stretchy stuff you get on small rolls in different colours (see pic). It has a very light adhesive that comes off easily & doesn't leave a residue behind. I cut it in a thin round shape so it just covered the contacts (on the lens) without getting in the way of the mount.

> It would be very useful to shut that off while still maintaining electronic aperture and focusing control over the lens.

@LPowell interesting, maybe someone else can have a go at that. It may not work, as the body might insist on communicating fully with the lens before it will control it (educated guess).

Certainly explains some if not all of the weird look. Thanks for the insight.

Red Epic vs GH2

RED Epic verus Panasonic GH2
If only that digital sharpening could be avoided...

Great insights guys, thanks!

Has anybody tried Olympus 4/3 lenses with the Panasonic or Olympus adapter?

It would be interesting if the 14-35mm F2.0 with the adapter also triggers that sharpening. As far as I know there is no distortion correction with this lens, as it is optically corrected. It also has a manual fokus ring, only aperture is controlled electronically. So it might work even with the contacts taped (except aperture).

What about the GH1 - I would gess there is the same distortion correction and sharpening going on as with the GH2...right?

So, how do you check for it? I have the Leica 25mm Summilux D 4/3 and Olympus adapter.

@Psyco
I have both the Olympus 12mm F2 and 45mm F1.8. I have noticed the effect of excess edge sharpening identical to my Panasonic lenses. I do not notice this effect with my Voigtlander 25mm F0.95, incidentally.

From what I have read, both Panny and Olympus bodies will distortion-correct any native m43 (and maybe 43?) lens, unless I guess the lens is programmed not to be corrected, like the Leicas. The difference is that Panny bodies also correct for chromatic aberration, but Olympus don't.

It would be interesting to see if Olympus bodies also sharpen their correction. And also if other Panny bodies do it too (most likely).