GH4 OIS Jitters Owners' Poll

OIS Jitters Owners' Poll

  • Lumix 12-35 2.8 Updated Firmware :Definitely Yes

    Votes: 5 17.9%

  • Lumix 12-35 2.8 Updated Firmware :Definitely No

    Votes: 11 39.3%

  • Lumix 35-100 2.8 :Definitely Yes

    Votes: 9 32.1%

  • Lumix 35-100 2.8 :Definitely No

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • Lumix 14-140 3.5-5.6 :Definitely Yes

    Votes: 5 17.9%

  • Lumix 14-140 3.5-5.6 :Definitely No

    Votes: 3 10.7%

  • Any of the above lenses: I'm not sure.

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • Other Lumix Mega or Power OIS (Please post which) Yes

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • Other Lumix Mega or Power OIS (Please postwhich) No

    Votes: 6 21.4%
  • Total voters
    28
Did he say if he was on the latest firmware? I find mine excellent with v1.2 (although will agree that isn't a statistically significant sample size). The 35-100 is just plain annoying though...
 
New 35-100 f2.8 firmware is out...
"Improved the stability of O.I.S.[Optical Image Stabilizer] in Motion Picture recording (When using DMC-GH3/GH4)"
Happy Happy Happy :-)
 
Dr_Jon said:
Happy Happy Happy :-)
Click to expand...
So was I ... until I tested it out.

It's definitely improved, but there is still micro-jittering visible in my sample:
http://vimeo.com/117542619

I'm also not happy about the way they treated my reporting of the problem. Despite my best attempts (and I can be pretty persistent), I could not get the issue escalated to someone who might actually understand what I was complaining about. It was a solid brick wall.
 
I had the same thing with a design fault on a Panasonic TV I bought recently (plus a firmware bug), I thought they might pass it on but they were just not interested. (I chased it and they suggested that teh TV was "perhaps not for me" and I should contact my supplier. Which was most odd. (I've kept it BTW and hope they will sort it out.)

I do mention the OIS shimmer on the 35-100 to the Panasonic people I meet from time-to-time and wasn't sure it was getting anywhere, but at least they've done something. (I last mentioned it at the Society's show about a week ago, but didn't get any hints something might be coming - although the most senior guy there did give me a card and tell me to get in touch, so maybe he just wanted to get a bit closer to the 21st before spilling any beans...
 
FWIW, I have both the 12-35 and 35-100 Panasonic lenses, which I use with a GH3. I got all three products when they were new and have used them for 2+ years or so, and have done all updates to the camera and lenses. The 12-35 is a sweetheart for video, with no jitter -- even at the 35mm end. On the other hand, the 35-100 lens is useless for handheld video, even with the latest update. (The update made it better but it's still far from good.) The 35-100 is worse at the 35mm end than the 12-35 lens is. Both work fine for photographs and they are clean lenses in that regard. But I am very disappointed in the expensive 35-100 lens for video -- unless it's on a tripod, shots with it are useless.
 
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Thanks for all the feedback. I'd forgotten about this a little. I'd love to have the reasonably fast 12-35 and 35-100 as my 1-2 punch, but just haven't brought myself to buy either. I have the 14-140 4.0-5.6, and it gets me by. If I need more light, I use my manual Minolta's on the Speedbooster. If autofocus was better and reliable in 4K, I'd have gotten the 12-35 long ago.
 
For those still frustrated by OIS jitter with Panasonic's f2.8 zooms, the legacy Four Thirds Leicasonic 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 zoom is still serving me well for handheld video on the GH2. While this lens is far from perfect (e.g. focus breathing), its optics and image stabilization are absolutely luxurious. It will also auto-focus accurately, given a second or two, and it's just barely fast enough for night-time event videography. Having a manual aperture ring on a Panasonic lens is a rare treat as well.

 
I have both 12-35 & 35-100 and I'm not sure if what I describe is jitters:

When I go to use autofocus, it hunts, but the picture shifts imperceptibly while it's looking for the focus point...is that the same ? Is there a visual demonstration ?
 
bigmouthmedia said:
I have both 12-35 & 35-100 and I'm not sure if what I describe is jitters:

When I go to use autofocus, it hunts, but the picture shifts imperceptibly while it's looking for the focus point...is that the same ? Is there a visual demonstration ?
Click to expand...

No, this is just focus hunting, which unfortunately is the norm for most of these lenses in video mode. What we are talking about is tiny shifts in the image horizontally and vertically as the power OIS tries to stabilize the image, but introduces its own little instabilities due to improperly implemented image stabilization motors or software controllers (or both).
 
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