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GH4 and 14-140 mk2 bad stabilization


Vesku
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I dont know if my new 14-140 mk2 lens is broken but the stabilization in video mode is bad. It smooths big movements but leaves fast "micro jitter" or vibration which looks bad in big screen.

 

When just looking through EVF image is stable but when I start recording image starts to vibrate and wobble.

 

I downloaded my tests to Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/user23310531/videos

I think it must be broken. Compared to my old 14-42 it vibrates very nasty.

What do do think? Is this normal?  I would be very thankful if someone with 14-140mm could test this too.

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I don't have any of the lenses you mention, so this may not be the kind of advice you're looking for... 

 

Is there a way to turn off the IS on the lens and compare it? The vibration does look strange especially compared to the 14-42 lens. What I experienced though is that the micro jittering is much more noticable when shooting in Ex Tele. When I'm shooting with my Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 lens in Ex Tele, the image is a lot more shaky than when shooting with the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 although they're about the same focal length. So maybe you should turn off the Ex Tele mode and replicate your tests? 

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It vibrates with or wihout ex-tele. I just used it for easier demonstration of the issue. Wide shots normally shooted handheld vibrates noticeably which is disturbing. None of my other Pana lenses does that and my friends Nikon 1 lenses are rock stable too. The lens must be broken. I just want some second opinions. Thanks for answering.

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Yeah, if that's the case then there's got to be something wrong. As I said, I don't have any experience with either one of the lenses you mentioned but I shoot lots of handheld stuff on my Canon 600D with the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 OS and even when shooting at 50mm handheld, I can get some pretty decent results without the jittering. 

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There is no FW update for this new 14-140mm. 12-35 f2.8mm had same kind of stab troubles and FW update fixed it. I just want that users of the new 14-140 could say if their lens is working better and confirm that my lens is broken.

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  • 1 month later...

So I now visited my store where I bought my 14-140 II. They had those lenses but they could not open boxes so I was not able to test another copy of that lens. That is a pity but I still tested their demo piece of 12-35mm which has the same kind of POWER OIS.

The result was stunning: My 14-140 II and the 12-35 gave exactly the same jitter at 14mm. It was clearly visible at 2k. I had my old 14-42mm  also and in comparison it was clearly the best. No vibration at all at 14mm handheld.

This is beginning to be very interesting. The camera experts of the store personnel were shocked by this result. At least one of them has GH4 and 12-35mm and he promised to make his own tests and report to Panasonic about this issue. There were 4 experts and each of them admit that there is an issue of Panasonic POWER OIS.

I would be very happy if the owners of Pana POWER OIS lenses could report if they can see this vibration when trying to shoot stationary video handheld.

 

If you have 14-140 II in hand could you please make a very simple test. Shoot handheld at 14mm a stationary video clip (without moving camera) and see if the result is clean without any vibration. It is impossible for my 14-140 II but easy for my 14-42.

 

The issue is not present when shooting "amateur style" sweeping and panning and zooming nervously.

It would be very odd co-incident if those two lenses we tested would be faulty ones.

People may think that some shakiness is OK with handheld video. I say that if one shoot carefully at widest end (12-14mm) it shoud be very stable. That kind of vibration is not acceptable with even cheapest camcorders. Why should we tolerate it with high end gear that costs thousands of dollars.

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I found another example from Youtube.

 

 

No tripod. See how image is very still like in tripod but jitters still badly. If you cant see this micro jitter and if it is not disturbing I wonder what are your quality expectations and standards. Is this acceptable?

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There is indeed a lot of jitter there. Have you tried emailing Panasonic about the issue? It's kind of fruitless to ask about it here. I used to have a Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 but never had this issue.

Thanks.

 

Can you check your 12-35mm clips. There might be the same issue but you have not recognized it. It is kind of subtle and shows only when camera is still in video recording.

 

My goal is to get feedback and support to my findings and inform other people if they have not figured this issue. It is then easier to contact Panasonic and ask maybe FW update. I think that this is FW fixable issue because the lens is very stable before pressing video recording on. I have also difficulties to find another copy of the lens for testing. So I dont know if my lens is faulty or if there is a global issue.

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I am convinced the problems are down to individual lenses (bad quality control?). Otherwise the problems would be reported more widely.

 

Anyway, here's a video i took with the 12-35

 

No problems here

Private video.

I cant watch it:

 

" problems are down to individual lenses (bad quality control?)"  

That is exactly what I am trying to figure out. I cant test myself another copies so I must ask other users. I cant go to service because I will be without a lens during best photo season.

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Hi

 

i just returned from my holiday with the GH4 and the 14-140mm MK2, and i noticed the same issue, very intensly.

look at one of the more extreme videos here:

 

 

Image Stabilization             : On, Mode 1
Focal Length                    : 140.0 mm
 
my GH4 was on firmware 1.0, and i dont know if that makes any changes.
 
i am very disappointed that most of my 4k videos now are quite unusable, since mercalli and premiere seem not be able to cure them
 
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The usefulness of this lens for 4K is debatable. DxO Labs rates its resolution at only 6 Megapixels in photo mode, which should leave about 5 MP in 16:9 video mode - and that's about 3K horizontal resolution. Also take into account that this lens relies on heavy in-camera software distortion correction. Since there's no image downscaling from the sensor when recording 4K, this means interpolated pixels.

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@Inazuma

 

Your example of 12-35mm is not jitter free in big screen. The example is quite short but I can see some fast jitter in it. Not so bad than in my worst clips.

 

 

@cantsin

 

I can get very sharp photos and videos with 14-140 II. Sharpness is not the problem, jitter is.

 

@guelinator

 

Jitter at 140mm handheld is kind of acceptable. Do you have jitter in wide shots (14mm)?

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Does the jitter only appear at 4K resolution? - If the lens works okay at 2K/1080p, I'd use that. This is what to try to get across when pointing out that the lens doesn't optically resolve 4K.

The jitter is so bad that it appears in every resolution, at 720P and even in sd. I was today shooting handheld with GH4 and my old 14-42mm at a one village event and 4k clips are absolutely stunning and steady with that lens. Compared to 14-140 II clips are like shooted with a tripod. No jitter at all and very relaxing to watch. I think that clips are cleaner too because there is no jitter to consume the quite moderate GH4 bitrate for 4k. 

 

4k clips are about twice as sharp as fullhd visually with both lenses. I dont know what do you mean by saying " doesnt resolve 4k". Okay if extreme pixel peeping 4k is not twice as sharp but the sensor at 4k (1:1) is not perfect either.

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