Strange Panasonic 12-35mm shakiness -- possible lemon? Any others see this?

[jbklynnyc]

I encountered a major problem with my Panasonic 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH X lens. When mounted on my GH3 and placed on a tripod, even with Power Image Stabilization OFF, the image frequently shimmers. There's a lateral movement in the image. This happens more frequently when the camera is angled downward. The camera is mounted on a Sachtler FSB8 head and Gitzo legs. It's sturdy and totally locked down, and there is no movement near the camera to cause camera shake.

It's as if the image stabilization is on or the lens motors are moving, when obviously they shouldn't be. When the IS switch on the lens is set in the "off" position, the camera correctly reports that image stabilization is off. Lens firmware v1.1 (the latest as of this writing).

I see the shakiness / jitter via HDMI out to my DP6 monitor in 1:1 mode, so it's definitely in the lens-to-record chain itself, and not in post-record or post-processing.

I can recreate the problem with my GH2 that I thankfully still have for testing.

The camera is on full manual mode, 1920x1080/24 fps. Changing between 50MBps or 72MBps All-I makes no difference -- same results. It's really strange.

Link to video:
http://vimeo.com/59358100
(Apologies for the composition and exposure, this is just one example of my many tests with similar results.)


EDITED Feb 11:
I did much more testing, and I think this is a problem that is present in many (if not most or all, as it's probably inherent in the firmware or design of the lens) versions of the 12-35mm lens. I've come to the conclusion that this lens is not very suitable for tripod work or still photography with long exposures, and I've written about that in this post:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread...post1986277444

[ErikTande]

Whoa, that's crazy. How long have you had the lens? If it's under 30 days, I would just get a replacement.

[jbklynnyc]

Yeah, it's bad, isn't it?

I bought the lens with my GH3 just a few weeks ago. So yes, I'll exchange it. (Although already there is another Vimeo user who also sees this problem.)

But the weird thing is that it doesn't happen on all shots. I can make the problem occur more easily if the camera is tilted downward at an angle. I've been shooting mostly handheld, so I only noticed it now, when I was about to devote the afternoon to testing my picture profiles. I'm glad I caught it!

I'm harnessing the hivemind of DVXUSER here. Hopefully someone with this camera and lens combo can perform a test to see if this occurs in other samples.

[MR Fanny]

wow, i just quickly did a desk test with firmware 1.0 and with IS off it shakes and with IS on it doesnt.

[jbklynnyc]

I tested with IS off, and just for the sake of it, IS on. Lots of lateral shakes in both.

[OldCorpse]

Wow. I'm becoming ever more leery of buying this lens. What with the exposure flicker that Eric Naso describes here, and now this, it seems this lens is very troubled. In fact, I'm definitely staying away. It looks like the Olympus 14-35 f/2 will have to be the alternative, even if we give up some niceties such as IS - but what use are those niceties when the lens is seriously flawed.

[P13]

Is this lens on the latest firmware? I've got the same lens, I've not had any problems in video mode, albeit I've only used it for 1 whole day of filming so far and no more than that.

[jbklynnyc]

Is this lens on the latest firmware? I've got the same lens, I've not had any problems in video mode, albeit I've only used it for 1 whole day of filming so far and no more than that.

Yes, as mentioned above, the lens is using the latest firmware as of today, v1.1.

Can you try replicating my test? Place it on a tripod or other perch, set the lens to 35mm, and turn IS off. Repeat the test with the lens pointed downward about 30 degree.

[jbklynnyc]

A user on Personal View also reports this problem.

http://vimeo.com/55215642
password : jitter

[jbklynnyc]

can the shimmering be related to autofocus? have you tried turning autofocus on and off?

As mentioned above, I am using manual mode. No auto-anything. (I did however just test it with AF and the problem still occurs.)