GH1 malfunction

[jpygmy]

My GH1 has stopped working. Every time I turn it on I get an error message “please check that the lens is attached correctly”. I have taken the kit lens off and reattached it several times and I have carefully wiped the lens contacts clean and it still won’t work. I called Panasonic and they suggested I take the battery out and wait five minutes and then try again. It’s still broken. Does anyone have any experience with their GH1 malfunctioning in the above way?

[Ben_B]

Try turning on shoot without lens option? See if it will turn on all the way and then see if the lens functions properly.

Some of the settings on the top knob (custom scene modes, etc) will read with that error if a non-kit lens is attached. Try turning the knob to M and turning on shoot without lens.

[commanderspike]

My GH1 has stopped working. Every time I turn it on I get an error message “please check that the lens is attached correctly”. I have taken the kit lens off and reattached it several times and I have carefully wiped the lens contacts clean and it still won’t work. I called Panasonic and they suggested I take the battery out and wait five minutes and then try again. It’s still broken. Does anyone have any experience with their GH1 malfunctioning in the above way?

What Ben says will fix the error message.

I had this problem as well. There does seem to be some kind of quality control issue with the lens attachment mechanism.

Sometimes the error would stay for a long time, and eventually randomly fix itself. You cannot shoot without the kit lens in full intelligent auto mode, so you need to wait for the camera to right itself before having a fully functional GH1 again!

Make sure the lens clicks fully into place, and try pressing in the lens dismount button several times to make sure it is working ok.

[Mike@AF]

I get the error once in a while as well. Seems to never happen in Creative Movie Mode, but I do get it in other modes, including normal M, even with the "Shoot w/o Lens" option enabled. Only occurs with non-kit lenses and since I only go to those other modes for stills it never affects me when shooting video.

[Rayzrsharp]

Whew... thought I was going to have to return my Nikon adapter. Thanks Ben B for the tip.

[jpygmy]

Hi Ben, Mike & Spike, thanks for responding. I own a Canon FD 50mm 1.4f lens and already had the "shoot without lens" option on. I also tried M, S, A and IA modes and nothing I tried worked. Yesterday morning I turned it on and it worked for about 30 seconds - enough for a couple of shots, and then it went on the fritz again. This evening when I sat down to read these posts, I turned it on and it is working again!!???. I'll take a few pictures and keep you posted on how long it continues to work.

[jpygmy]

Well, that didn't last long. I turned the camera off for a half hour and read a bunch of dvxuser.com posts. Just turned it on again and - guess what - got that nasty "PLEASE CHECK THAT THE LENS IS ATTACHED CORRECTLY" message and once again have a non working $1500 camera. damn.

[Ben_B]

Have you updated the camera and lens firmware? If so was it recently?

Maybe something went wrong?

Try updating the Lens firmware again? If you haven't already.

[jpygmy]

Yeah, good question! After my last post I checked the camera's firmware version. I discovered my GH1 had version 1.0 and I downloaded the new firmware. The lens upgrade wouldn't install. The body firmware did. Now I have 1.0 in the lens and 1.1 in the body and the camera is still on the fritz. I think I'm ready to send it to Panasonic for warranty repair. Bummer.

[Ben_B]

What happened when you tried to run the lens upgrade? Wouldn't work cause it can't read the lens?

Hmm...if you know anyone else with a M 4/3 camera try the lens on their body and some of their lenses on yours lol.

[NikP]

I was just in Yodobashi Camera today trying out the panaleica summilux 25mm f1.4, got one of the sales clerks to stick the lense on one of their demo GH-1s but the lense was not working.
Had to switch the camera to "shoot without lense" mode, but then the aperture and focusing were dead in the water. The sales clerk simply took the lense out and put it back in quite violently a few times and suddenly it started working as normal.
It got me a bit scared. The lense is to die for, but if it's going to give me this kind of grief, I'm a bit worried, especially at that price range.
Unfortunalely, I have no idea if it came from the lense, the adapter or the camera.

From the looks of it it could be the camera though, the ones in store do take a battering if the way this clerk was handling it was anything to go by.

I have a range of lenses and adapters and switch lenses quite often on my GH1, I'm really hoping there is no weakness in the camera as far as that is concerned.

I guess in your case the easiest way to find out is to go into a store and stick your lense on one of the demo models and see if it has the same issue.

[Chibs]

Well, if it's giving you a "Lens not properly attached" with a 4/3rds lens and correct adapter, then most likely your lens just wasn't properly attached.

[commanderspike]

I was just in Yodobashi Camera today trying out the panaleica summilux 25mm f1.4, got one of the sales clerks to stick the lense on one of their demo GH-1s but the lense was not working.
Had to switch the camera to "shoot without lense" mode, but then the aperture and focusing were dead in the water. The sales clerk simply took the lense out and put it back in quite violently a few times and suddenly it started working as normal.
It got me a bit scared. The lense is to die for, but if it's going to give me this kind of grief, I'm a bit worried, especially at that price range.
Unfortunalely, I have no idea if it came from the lense, the adapter or the camera.

From the looks of it it could be the camera though, the ones in store do take a battering if the way this clerk was handling it was anything to go by.

I have a range of lenses and adapters and switch lenses quite often on my GH1, I'm really hoping there is no weakness in the camera as far as that is concerned.

I guess in your case the easiest way to find out is to go into a store and stick your lense on one of the demo models and see if it has the same issue.

That lens is top quality and the adapter too.

Wonder if they were using the official 4/3rds adapter or something else? AF and aperture work 100% on my Summilux via the Panasonic adapter.

Maybe they just don't respect the lens because it isn't there's, so feel the urge to treat it badly? I dunno. Store people!!

[jpygmy]

I shipped my GH1 off to Panasonic this morning for warranty repair. It will be at least 10 days before I get it back. I'll post an update when it comes in.

Nikp, I couldn't get mine to work no matter what I tried, but I'm glad I sent it off before reading your post about your store's solution of slamming the lens into place - it save me from being tempted to try that.

[NikP]

Well, if it's giving you a "Lens not properly attached" with a 4/3rds lens and correct adapter, then most likely your lens just wasn't properly attached.

No such message, lens in tight as well as the adapter, not functioning, no error message

That lens is top quality and the adapter too.

Wonder if they were using the official 4/3rds adapter or something else? AF and aperture work 100% on my Summilux via the Panasonic adapter.
I'm glad to hear that the lens is good, very very fond of it and have already ordered it in (the last one in Japan at the moment). The reason for going with this one over say a fast 25mm C-mount is for the auto-focus, and the focus assist which you don't get with other non 4/3 or m4/3 lenses.
It was an official adapter, but as I said, their gear handling is quite horrific, slamming things in etc.
The front of the lens was scratched, the adapter had obviously been dropped a few times etc. Not the kind of demo gear I'm used to seeing in that store!

[Chibs]

No such message, lens in tight as well as the adapter, not functioning, no error message


Then why did you have to put it in "shoot without lense" mode if there was no error?

[NikP]

Then why did you have to put it in "shoot without lense" mode if there was no error?
as a reflex, (I shoot mostly with my Nikon lenses), and this fixed the issue.

I have the panaleica 25mm now and it works just great on my GH1, so the gear in store must have been faulty to some degree.

[Friarwyer]

My GH1 has stopped working. Every time I turn it on I get an error message “please check that the lens is attached correctly”. I have taken the kit lens off and reattached it several times and I have carefully wiped the lens contacts clean and it still won’t work. I called Panasonic and they suggested I take the battery out and wait five minutes and then try again. It’s still broken. Does anyone have any experience with their GH1 malfunctioning in the above way?


I shipped my GH1 off to Panasonic this morning for warranty repair. It will be at least 10 days before I get it back. I'll post an update when it comes in.

My GH1 just started malfunctioning in this same way. Tries to focus, ends up moving out of focus, then gives the "please check that the lens is attached correctly" message every time now. Works for manual focus. Fails with auto focus on all my 4/3 lenses (stock-lens, 20mm, and 7-4mm).

What ended up happening with your repair, jpygmy?

After waiting on musical hold for hour for panasonic support, I ended up contacting them via their website. Hopefully, I'll hear from them soon.