Are all POWER OIS lenses unsuitable for handheld shooting?

v10tdi

Lens ID from my test above...

Test 1/2
Left to Right
Top to Bottom
42.5mm
12-35mm f2.8
14-140mm mk 2
35-100mm f2.8

Test 3/4
Left to Right
100-300mm
35-100mm f2.8
14-140mm mk 2

Test 5/6
Left to Right
100-300mm
14-140mm mk2

Tscheckoff

@sherwood:

Also love my 14-42mm ii ASPH (the new 2nd edition).
Dirt cheap - And stable as hell ^^.

sherwood

My trusty G Vario 14-45 f3.5-5.6 is fine for outside shooting. Focus is quick and relatively quiet. A real workhorse, and not too expensive. I'm wondering if the jitter problem is more pronounced with the long barrel zooms.

v10tdi

So here we go... Which lens is which? Not much of a challenge... I'll post answers after a few days.

Vesku

I made again some heavy testing today with my problem lens Pana 14-140 II. I shooted with a short monopod. I attached a heavy weight to monopods lower end and used it leaning to my body (not ground). Image looked very stable in EVF and I made some very slow and perfect pans and moves. When I came home and watched clips the same jittering was there. The OIS is so sensitive that any minor vibration makes it jitter. A good tripod or post stabilization is the only way to get decent shots.

Vesku

I too had finally today an opportunity to test another 14-140 mm II in a camera store. It behaved exactly the same as my copy. Noticeable micro vibration at 14mm. The salesman said he have talked with Panasonic import people in Finland and they confirmed that they know the issue and Panasonic is maybe working for FW fix. They said also it is a feature, not a fault. So we cant return our lenses or demand a fix.

At least I know I dont have a faulty lens and on the other hand I know everyone has badly working OIS. I hope that as many as possible could report to service and demand a fix.

nomad

I had the chance to test a 12-32mm Panny zoom (Mega OIS), a 45-150mm (Mega too) and a 12-35mm Power OIS close to each other. I can confirm that they behave differently, but none is perfect.

The Mega OIS zooms didn't exhibit the micro-jitters, but instead they show some jumpiness on movements, like panning. It looks as if they stick for a moment and then catch up.

The Power OIS in the 12-35mm after the firmware update is far better than the one in the 35-100mm, but it shows some residual micro-jitters.

Since the 12-32mm has no manual controls whatsoever, I'd rather go for the 12-35mm. The 45-150mm OTOH is working quite well if you only want to keep a handheld (actually, shoulder) shot quiet without any movement – and any panning at such lengths I'd rather do from a tripod anyway. Yes, it's slow, but it's sharp from open aperture and the bokeh is not bad.

nomad

With any post stabilizer you'll have the problem of motion blurred frames left.

I prefer to have the problem cured at the source.

Vesku

I think we must send our lenses to Panasonic service. Maybe then they will take that issue seriously. If they find nothing faulty I guess we must pay some checking payment and posting. Has anybody sent a POWER OIS lens to service due to jittering?

By the way a new version of Mercalli is coming. Maybe it has good features to fix jittering. I have tested current version (demo) and it removes OIS jittering with very little cropping. The batch processing still crops too much.

https://www.facebook.com/ProDAD

davidp158

I would like to know if Panasonic has acknowledge problems with the H-HS35100 lens' O.I.S. performance. I purchased this lens, only to return it because the O.I.S. was unstable when hand held. The O.I.S. with my Panasonic 14-140 (first version) and 12-35 lenses work fine. As so many people have issues with the 35-100mm for handheld video shots, I would urge everyone to bring this to Panasonic's attention. Maybe with enough barking we can get them to acknowledge the problem, and maybe even attempt to fix it.

Example video of the lens I purchased:

Other examples (some of which were already mentioned here):

http://picturez.smugmug.com/Videos/n-9Hcwt/i-L7VPbwH/A

password: test

sportster

I'm talking about the tiny 12-32/3.5-5.6 lens here, which is part of the GM1 kit.

brudney

I don't own 12-35 but every picture of it I've seen clearly shows 'Power OIS'.

sportster

Some more findings I forgot to mention:

35-100 has the best Power OIS for photos. It is the only telephoto zoom which avoids Shutter Shock on bodies without Electronic Shutter like GH1 and GH2. This lens seems to be optimized for photos.
The tiny PZ 14-42 has a Power OIS as well, but does NOT Show any jitter. I really like this lens.
The PZ 45-175 shows minor jitter as well. Comparable with 14-140II.

On the other hand, the tiny 12-32 lens has a Mega OIS, but nevertheless shows some minor jitter.

I wonder why Panasonic continues denying this issue. It is clearly proven by many video samples.

Vesku

@sportster

Thanks for that info. It is indeed quite difficult to find out what is going on. All my stationary handheld shots (14-140 II) needs post stab. Panasonic Europe service says that they dont know that issue at all. I cant get another lens in my hands. Is this a fault or a feature? Is a good rig or a tripod the only way? Is there going to be a FW fix?

sportster

@Vesku: I fully confirm your findings. I owned many Panasonic bodies and lenses. The Vimeo and Youtube examples referred in this topic are showing the typical behaviour.

Mega OIS lenses do not seem to be affected.
Many Power OIS lenses seem to be affected. I tested 12-35 (minor jitter, especially at 35mm), 35-100 (very bad, very stong jitter), 14-140II (more jitter than 12-35, visible at all focal lengths).
Issue seems to be independent from body (I tested GM1, GX7, GH1, GH2, GH3, GH4).

AFAIK, Panasonic never confirmed this issue. I have to use NLE stabilizers to make handheld shots usable.

v10tdi

@Vesku A bit hard to say what is going on with the video you referenced. Could be jitter...could be jello...could be both...could be something else. I also don't know which firmware was being used for the GH4 or 42.5mm lens.

I did my quick test yesterday using the same capture/settings that I used for my previous test (1080p30, ExTele, SS125, f4). I don't have the GH3 anymore, so technically, I'll need to recreate the entire test scenario. I'll probably add the 14-140mm v2 lens into the mix just to be complete.

I did roughly the same testing process when I confirmed the "shutter shock" problem with the 14-140mm v2 lens (which is a pretty bad problem - another thread for that though). The challenge with video is that it just takes more time to assemble the footage into a movie - and my time is in very short supply at the moment.

HS35100 OIS Comparison from v10tdi on Vimeo.

Vesku

I have tested all shutter speeds. Of course jittering shows less with very long shutter speeds or with blurred background like 24P judder. MEGA OIS lenses has no jitter at any speed. Focusing distance may affect too, I think there is less jitter with close up shots than at long distance. Best way to avoid jitter is to keep the camera in motion all the time. Very slow pan or movement hides jitter.

konjow

Shutter low or higher may effect issue as well Maybe include this in your tests.

Vesku

@v10tdi

Look this:

v10tdi

I did a quick test of my 42.5mm lens and could not see any micro jitter - at least it wasn't as obvious as the micro jitter I documented on my 35-100mm F2.8 lens. I'll try to do a more formal test this weekend to compare to my previous test. I wonder if the combination of Power OIS and Zoom lens could be a factor?

Vesku

More examples. In fact every sample in Vimeo or Youtube which contains handheld stationary shootings with 14-140 II has micro jitter.

Look this at 0:49. Wide clip with micro jitter.

nomad

I can confirm the issue on the 35-100mm after testing a friend's lens side-by-side with my 12-35mm. It is much worse and it can't really be fixed with AE's warp stabilizer, since the micro-jitters blur one or two frames and that shows even more after stabilization. The 12-35mm has minor jitters too, but considerably less.

I'll soon test an old 14-140 to compare.

Vesku

From http://www.mu-43.com/

@minibokeh

I'm having HUGE problems with jitter with my 35-100 f/2.8 on my GH4 (click to play):

http://picturez.smugmug.com/Videos/n-9Hcwt/i-L7VPbwH/A

Unless we know that Panasonic is going to be able to help/fix the issue, I'm reluctant to send in the lens and have them sit on it and then send it back with "we couldn't find anything wrong".

I'm 100% happy using it for stills, and without OIS video also works without issues.

Vesku

I got a micro HDMI-cable and I tested in real time in big screen my GH4 and 14-140 II / 14-42 lenses. 14-140 II POWER OIS floats stabilation very nice. When I pan slowly and stop motion the image moves little further and stops nicely. The video image floats and lags a bit behind hand movement. When I stop movement and try to keep it steady the OIS starts to jitter image like it is too willing to go to some direction. With 14-42mm image is very steady but the movement are not floating as nicely. So POWER OIS has better floating feel but you should never stop camera motion.

surfer

There is a small clip of the jittering issue from the 14-140 II on a GX7

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