Other AF lenses that work on the GH1/GH2?

A

AKED

Well-known member
Hi,

I saw this test on the 43rumors page:

http://www.43rumors.com/three-very-interesting-panasonic-gh2-af-speed-test-videos/

I was a bit surprised, that autofocus works also with other lenses but those from Panasonic.

I am looking for a fast lens with AF that is around 30 - 35 mm.

I have the GH1 kit lens but is sometimes not fast enough.
I have the 20mm 1.7 pancake but this is sometimes too much of a wide angel.

i also have a canon 50mm 1.4, which is great, but sometimes too much tele (100 mm on the GH1) and has no autofocus.

I was thinking about the Panasonic 14-45, because it is supposed to be good, but it is not very fast though.


So what lens can you suggest to me?
 
I don't think the GH1/GH2 has an AF prime in the range you mentioned. The Sigma 30mm 4/3s is I believe MF. (Which is why I did not buy it - I would love to hear if someone has a different experience)

I have the 14-45 and it's great (sharp, a bit faster than the 14-140 and much lighter)

I also really like the 25mm leica (panny) f/1.4 4/3 lens but it is not so different in focal length than the 20mm f/1.7.

Have you considered the 45mm f/2.8 m43 macro from panny? I use it as a walking around lens and I think it has the best IQ (along with the 20mm) of the panny m43 lenses. (Though do wish it was a bit wider sometimes)
 
AKED said:
http://www.43rumors.com/three-very-interesting-panasonic-gh2-af-speed-test-videos/

I was a bit surprised, that autofocus works also with other lenses but those from Panasonic.
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Very interesting indeed -- the FT Panny 25/f1.4 lens is manual focus only on GH1. Perhaps with Live View mode running at 120fps they were able to improve autofocus performance on these older FT lenses to where it is suitable enough to be enabled. This also gives us hope that other Olympus 4/3 lenses may become autofocus lenses when used with GH2, such as the 12-60/f2.8-4.0 or the SHG lenses with constant f/2.0 aperture.

I am looking for a fast lens with AF that is around 30 - 35 mm.
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The only lens I know of that fits that bill ATM is Olympus 14-54/2.8-3.5 V2.

It's quite fast, optically (1 to 1.5 EV advantage over kit) and autofocus-wise, not as fast as kit, but better than pancake.
 
Also note the continuing confusion about AFS and AFC modes in video. In the first video (AFS mode) the camera does performs the exact same way as in the third video (AFC mode); i.e. continuously keeps subject in center frame in focus.
 
Actually, the 25mm Panny will AF on the GH1 but AFS only and pretty loud. (That video must have used a much quieter version of the 25mm than I have!)

I believe Panasonic released a firmware update some time ago that allowed the 25mm to work with CDAF. While the slow AFS AF on the 25mm is not really useful for video (though I try to use it that way sometimes) overall the 25mm is quite nice for stills.

svecher said:
Very interesting indeed -- the FT Panny 25/f1.4 lens is manual focus only on GH1.
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TempTag said:
Actually, the 25mm Panny will AF on the GH1 but AFS only and pretty loud. (That video must have used a much quieter version of the 25mm than I have!)

I believe Panasonic released a firmware update some time ago that allowed the 25mm to work with CDAF. While the slow AFS AF on the 25mm is not really useful for video (though I try to use it that way sometimes) overall the 25mm is quite nice for stills.
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Yes, you are right. I confused it with Panasonic 14-45/f2.8-3.5 which I was interested in at some point.

So how does it compare in autofocus performance to the pancake (if you have one)? Also, in video mode will it focus continuously to keep the subject in center-frame sharp, like it does in the video on GH2?
 
Hard to compare them, neither is comparable to the kit lens in AF speed, I guess they both seem about the same in terms of speed. Sometimes, the 20mm seems a bit slower to focus but that may be all the noise the 25mm is making causing me to think it is faster... :smile: However, I definitely have experienced some front focus issues with the 25mm especially at f/1.4. (But DoF at f/1.4 is so shallow AF is a PIA anyway) (Though at some point I may contact Panasonic about it)

For me they both require a half-press of the shutter to focus unless I have PRE AF on and then both will re-focus as I move the camera around. The 25mm seems more sensitive to changes and more willing to re-focus than the 20mm but that just may be the aperature setting I was using when testing it. Neither lens will actually-refocus for me while shooting video though even with PRE AF on. (If you know a way to do this please pass it along)

I had the 20mm first and loved it. I picked up the 25mm only as I had a chance to get it at a great price and it is the lens I tend to leave on the camera.
 
svecher said:
The only lens I know of that fits that bill ATM is Olympus 14-54/2.8-3.5 V2.

It's quite fast, optically (1 to 1.5 EV advantage over kit) and autofocus-wise, not as fast as kit, but better than pancake.
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As Svecher noted, the Mark II version of this lens is the only non-Panasonic lens that auto-focuses in GH1 video modes.

In my experience, the Olympus 14-45mm f2.8-3.5 Mark II zoom has proven far more useful and versatile than any of Panasonic's Lumix lenses.
 
svecher said:
Also note the continuing confusion about AFS and AFC modes in video. In the first video (AFS mode) the camera does performs the exact same way as in the third video (AFC mode); i.e. continuously keeps subject in center frame in focus.
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There is no AFS when recording video - the camera automatically switches to AFC even if you have it set to AFS.
 
tflak said:
There is no AFS when recording video - the camera automatically switches to AFC even if you have it set to AFS.
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Yes, that has been my experience as well. Apparently, the confusion is all mine, because in the videos they test focus performance in stills not video mode. I guess I've been hanging out at DVXUser too much now and getting video-biased :)
 
lpowell said:
As Svecher noted, the Mark II version of this lens is the only non-Panasonic lens that auto-focuses in GH1 video modes.

In my experience, the Olympus 14-45mm f2.8-3.5 Mark II zoom has proven far more useful and versatile than any of Panasonic's Lumix lenses.
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BTW, how exactly does it autofocus in video mode? Continuously, like all Lumix lenses?
 
No, in all video modes, the Olympus 14-54mm Mark II zoom autofocuses when you press the shutter button half-way, and then holds that focus setting during the take.
 
lpowell said:
No, in all video modes, the Olympus 14-54mm Mark II zoom autofocuses when you press the shutter button half-way, and then holds that focus setting during the take.
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Interesting, that means it does "true AFS" in video mode, but not AFC. Well, at least we know there is a choice, even if it involves swapping lenses.
 
Here is the compatibilty list for the G2. This was given a boost that wasn't passed on to the GH1 and is probably more representative of what will work with the GH2. It seems most of the 4/3 lenses, even some of the Sigmas, will pre AF, but beyond that it looks like trial and error.

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/connect/g2_g10.html
I haven't tried the G2 out with any of these, so take this with a large pinch of salt:)
 
Thanks for posting this and very interesting! I was not aware the G2 and G10 had any more capability than the GH1 in this regard. If the list holds for the GH2 there is certainly one more reason to consider an upgrade...

AdrianF said:
Here is the compatibilty list for the G2...
Click to expand...
 
svecher said:
...that means it does "true AFS" in video mode, but not AFC.
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Here's a link to Panasonic's web page listing four-thirds lens compatibilities in thorough detail:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/connect/g1.html

Notice in the third column from the right, "Auto Continuous Operation", none of the four-thirds lenses from either Olympus or Panasonic support AFC during video recording. The listed lens that do support AFC are all micro four-thirds lenses from both Panasonic and Olympus.

One correction to the info on that web page: I've found that the Olympus 14-54mm Mark II lens does in fact auto-focus (in AFS mode) in FHD 1080p video mode as well as in all other video modes.
 
I was not aware the G2 and G10 had any more capability than the GH1 in this regard. If the list holds for the GH2 there is certainly one more reason to consider an upgrade...
Click to expand...

I would be very surprised if they downgraded the compatibility from the G2, but I was surprised they never added this to the GH1! Yep, good reason to upgrade, if you need AF.
 
TempTag said:
Thanks for posting this and very interesting! I was not aware the G2 and G10 had any more capability than the GH1 in this regard. If the list holds for the GH2 there is certainly one more reason to consider an upgrade...
Click to expand...

AdrianF said:
I would be very surprised if they downgraded the compatibility from the G2, but I was surprised they never added this to the GH1! Yep, good reason to upgrade, if you need AF.
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Agreed, a lot of people were turned off by the lack of available fast glass that could autofocus on GH1. Now I see almost all Olympus and Sigma FT lenses supporting AF, even if not as fast as native MFT lenses. That's very exciting news and thanks for bringing that list up, Adrian!

Now the question is will AF on these legacy lenses work with touch-focus?
 
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