GH4 ?? Constant lens noise -- is that normal?

K

kb99

Active member
First: O.I.S. is *off*, body is set to MF.

I've just noticed that both of my lenses (Panasonic's 12-35 and 35-100) constantly make an odd noise while the camera body is on. The 35-100 is much louder -- I discovered that by just being in a quiet room with the camera being very near me. The 12-35 I can hear only if I put my ear right up next to the lens.

The best I can do to describe the noise is that it sounds much like the static you hear between radio stations.

I'm wondering if this is unusual or not? If it's normal, what the heck is it? With OIS off and using MF, why is the lens doing anything? Then again, if it isn't normal, what the heck is it?!

TIA,

Ken
 
I just tried with OIS on, but it didn't make a difference.

Have you tried putting your ear on the barrel of the lens? I know that sounds silly, but that's the only way I can hear the 12-35. Maybe my 35-100 is just noisier than most, but they all do it? Or maybe there's something strange with my GH4 body.
 
Is there someone here with a GH4 and a 12-35 or (especially) a 35-100 who can turn their camera on and place their ear on the lens barrel?

I tried recording a video with the audio gain all the way up to see if I could record the noise with the built-in mic, but nope.
 
kb99 said:
Is there someone here with a GH4 and a 12-35 or (especially) a 35-100 who can turn their camera on and place their ear on the lens barrel?
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With my 12-35mm lens I hear absolutely nothing when in manual focusing mode and the OIS set to the OFF position.

With my 35-100mm lens I hear some faint sound from the OIS system, even with the OIS is set to the OFF position.

I would not worry about either of these situations unless you can hear this noise with your ear at least a foot away from the lens, because this sound will NEVER be recorded by the camera or your external mics.
 
Thanks, I really appreciate your help.

My primary concern was that it might indicate some problem with the body and/or lenses that might worsen over time.

My secondary concern was that while everyone seems to say battery life is fantastic, my experience has been the opposite. I have 3 batteries, and none last for more than a half a day of shooting (mostly walking around NOT shooting). I was wondering if perhaps this constant noise might be the source of the relatively poor battery life (relative to what others report, that is).

I can't hear the sound a foot away, but with the 35-100 I can hear it when I am looking through the VF. But you're right, it isn't loud enough to be recorded.

Thanks again.
 
I've never had this issue with either of those lenses. If it doesn't effect shooting, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're still concerned you could call Panasonic and ship it in. They're really helpful with issues and concerns like this.
 
Keep in mind that with the GH2 you would get about 90 minutes out of one battery, while the GH3 and GH4 you are getting at least 180 minutes.

Compare this to a Blackmagic Pocket Cine camera where you are lucky if you can get 30 minutes out of one battery.
 
@Daniel Brown, I'll keep in mind the idea of contacting Panasonic -- thanks.

@TheDingo, when you say 180 minutes, do you mean of continuous shooting? I don't think I have enough SD cards to test that, but I can do 120 just to see how long the battery would last.
 
kb99 said:
@TheDingo, when you say 180 minutes, do you mean of continuous shooting?
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Yes. If you use fully manual lenses you can shoot for more than 4 hours, so it's possible to shoot for the entire day on just 2 batteries.

The Canon C100 is the only other video camera I've used that can get this kind of battery life.
 
TheDingo said:
Yes. If you use fully manual lenses you can shoot for more than 4 hours
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm going to do a test with the 35-100 using manual focus with OIS off and see what happens. I'll even let the lcd go to sleep. That should tell me whether this noise is related to battery drain or not.
 
Thanks, everyone. I'm not going to worry about this, as suggested.

I just stopped my test recording after 2 hours straight (without using the lcd). The battery began at 100% (or it was when I recharged it a few weeks ago; it's been sitting since so it's probably down a bit from that). When I stopped recording, the battery indicator was still showing 3 bars (I miss Canon's % display), but by the time I transferred one 4GB file, it was down to 2 bars. Still, that's enough to prove the lens noise isn't a battery drain issue. So, fuhgetaboutit. :smile:
 
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