DROPPED my GH1 on its lens. Need advice.

insanityfw

insanityfw

Ban Me Please!
Hey everybody.

My GH1 took a nasty 5 foot fall a couple of days ago and landed on the lens bezel on granite flooring. The bezel cracked, but the lens seemed OK (no chips).

Last night I was doing some shooting in slight low-light and the focus was doing weird things. It would be holding focus just fine and then for no reason go completely blurry (seemed more than usual). Could just be the lighting ( I will play around in the light today).

Also, the focus ring squeaks badly now, which I guess is to be expected.

Also, also the lens shifts very slightly at the camera mount (clockwise and counter clockwise), which I'm assuming is not normal.

I have never had a piece of gear go faulty on me before so I'm wondering what people might feel is the best course of action?????

Do I just take it right away to a Panasonic repair center and have them look at it. Do I find somebody else with some lenses and play around to see if it's the body or the lens that is giving me to most trouble. I have not registered it yet, so I'm not sure if that matters for warranty.

Or do I take it to a second-party service place?

I guess I just need to figure out what's really wrong and wonder how much can be figured out in a service center.

I feel as if I should order a backup really quickly since it seems hard to find just the lens to buy as well.

Thanks for any advice. I know it seems like it should be obvious, but since the camera still works (and it's not perfect to start with) I'm not sure what is in my head and what is true physical ailments :)

Best,

Jason
 
You don't seem to have a legitimate reason to order a backup camera. Just because it's hard to find where you live doesn't mean you have to buy another one.

My GH1 is also on repair but I haven't dropped it, it's another problem not caused by me.

Do some tests then send it to repair. Maybe the results of the drop will only appear after the 12th month and then your warranty will be over.
 
The lens does have a bit of give, rotating left and right a little on the mount. It shouldn't be loose but a bit of movement is normal. The squeeky focus ring is more of a worry. But to be honest it sounds like the lens is fine.
 
Since the lens is hurt badly, the repair wouldn't be covered by the warranty any way, and there is no way you can convince them that you only dropped the lens but not the camera.

If I understand correctly, the AF motor is in the lens and there is no AF motor in GH1. Thus your problem most likely is caused by broken or loose pieces in the lens. However you never know and it seems necessary to send in both as a kit for them to check it out. I too worry about the drop as the GH1 is not built like a tank the way dSLR is to take such impact. Good luck and sorry to hear that.
 
Thanks. It's good to know that the motion on the lens mount might be fine. I just don't remember it.

I just put it in full auto and started playing around and all seems OK. The lens is definitely not at 100%, but it's amazing that it's still working after such a fall :) Unless the focus ring on the lens can be fixed, I'll surely need a new lens. Plus, with the ring crushed, I can't put any filters, etc on it. Guess it might have helped had I had a filter in the first place.

I guess I should just take it somewhere and have it looked at.

Thanks,

Jason
 
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