GH4 Olympus 12mm Stepping Focus Normal?

B

Benjobe

Well-known member
Can anyone with an Olympus 12mm check to see if their lens has a stepping focus when in manual mode? Please let me know if this is a normal characteristic of this lens. Thanks.

Here's an example of the stepping focus.

http://youtu.be/NqqFzXi1IuA
 
Check for a lens firmware update from Olympus. My 17mm f/1.8 doesn't do that in any way shape or form. It has one of the smoothest manual focus rings on any digital lens I've tried.

Merry Christmas,
Pete
 
Here's a review that mentions the "focus by wire" characteristics of the lens, even while in manual mode.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/olympus_m_zuiko_digital_ed_12mm_f_2_review/


Quote:

"Pulling the focus ring back sends the lens to manual focus mode, irrespective of what focusing method you have set on the camera. In this position, the focus ring stops when you reach infinity or the close-focus point, much like on a classic manual-focus lens. Although you are still focusing by wire – which becomes especially obvious if you magnify into the live view feed while focusing –, the experience is closer to using a purely manual lens."

Here's an even more in-depth review of the lens which specifically mentions the stepping focus in manual mode:

http://admiringlight.com/blog/olympus-m-zuiko-12mm-f2-review/


Quote:

"When pulled back, the camera will immediately switch to manual focus mode, regardless of the camera autofocus setting, and the lens will set to whatever distance is shown on the mark. When in this mode, focus is still by wire, but the distance scale is accurate and the ring has hard stops slightly past infinity and at the minimum focus distance. When in this mode, the ring gets some extra damping and the feel is outstanding. Despite being by wire, the feel is like a precision crafted manual focus lens.

There is a downside to this mode, however, though a minor one. When the ring is pulled back, focus occurs in discrete steps. You can actually watch the lens step through the focus range while turning the ring. When the camera is in manual focus mode and the ring is forward, the manual focus is continuous, without steps. It’s an odd behavior, and I really don’t see much of a reason for it. It would be nice if Olympus would release a firmware update to address this, though in a practical sense it’s not really an issue, as with a lens this wide, even with the fast aperture, depth of field is generally sufficient to cover the area between steps."
 
No, "stepping" is not normal. Run some more tests to verify there is no user error going on (although, I can't comprehend what a "user error" might be), and if the problem persists do what you need to do to exchange it for another unit.

Let me be clear -- those Olympus MSC prime lenses are the absolute best on every level of the MFT lens offerings. "Stepping" in manual focus mode is not an issue with these lenses.
 
Annoyingly the manual focus position of the 12mm is steppy but if you push the focus ring to the auto position and turn the camera to manual focus you get smooth focus changes - I don't know what they were thinking when they designed that.
 
Andrew Gupta said:
No, "stepping" is not normal. Run some more tests to verify there is no user error going on (although, I can't comprehend what a "user error" might be), and if the problem persists do what you need to do to exchange it for another unit.

Let me be clear -- those Olympus MSC prime lenses are the absolute best on every level of the MFT lens offerings. "Stepping" in manual focus mode is not an issue with these lenses.
Click to expand...

Yes that's my video showing the examples of the stepping. I just can't comprehend how it could be smooth with the ring forward, and steppy with the ring back. Both modes are focus by wire. Andrew, do you have this lens? Can you absolutely verify yours does not do it? In the video I had the GH4 set to manual focus, and dialed the focus as smoothly as I could. I first noticed it from the way the peaking display exhibited the stepping, but I thought it was just the peaking until I was shooting some LED lights in the dark. It's quite prevalent! I also wonder if maybe newer versions of this lens don't have the issue. Anyone have the new black version of this lens?
 
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