Gh3 owners are saying that Gh3 shows no such jitter.

Thank a lot @jjay to share our issue here , in the hope of understanding why it happens, and if it is happening to someone else.

for more information : I got two GH2 Bodies ! one hacked and one unhacked ( jittering still on both cameras)

Panasonic repleaced three lenses with 3 different serial number ( XT2F / XT2G/ XT2H in all three cases I found the same issue in slightly different way )

sometimes the jittering goes away without a reason, ois on ois off - AF C / S or manual

If there is a way to contact Panasonic global for that ? cause Italian Assistance can not give me an explanation

Thanks Valerio

From what I've seen it looks to video like for anything "cinema". Stick with manual primes for that but it's just my two cents. :)

... some DOF test !

Wow, tough room. I've been using the 12-35 for about 3 months, almost entirely for video on the Gh2 and af100. I quit doing rolling zooms probably around 2004 when the EP of the company I worked for kept making jokes about "unnecessary zooms", so to be honest I've never tried a rolling zoom with this lens. One thing I have tried a lot is shooting video in S mode and relying on the auto iris when moving from exterior to interior or vice versa, my experience has been very positive and I am comfortable suggesting that if you need any AF or auto iris function in your work this is the best lens available for m43. It is also monstrously sharp. I was previously using the Tokina 11-16, which while very good optically, has to be seen as a compromise compared to the Lumix 12-35.

I should mention that I finally found something wrong with the Lumix 12-35mm. Last week I was shooting some breathing tests on a number of different lenses, I have a variety of FF gears, some redrock and then the cinevate that works on just about anything. If you try putting a FF gear on the Lumix 12-35 focus ring, even the slightest compression on the focus ring wants to lock up the focus. If anyone else has had this experience maybe they can confirm.

There may be a wireless FF solution in the pipeline from Panasonic or maybe even a third party, at present the Panasonic Lumix Link app won't give you a live view image so not much help there.

I encountered a major problem with my Panasonic 12-35mm/F2.8 ASPH X lens. When mounted on my GH3 and placed on a tripod, even with Power Image Stabilization OFF, the image frequently shimmers. There's a lateral movement in the image. This happens more frequently when the camera is angled downward. The camera is mounted on a Sachtler FSB8 head and Gitzo legs. It's sturdy and totally locked down, and there is no movement near the camera to cause camera shake.

It's as if the image stabilization is on or the lens motors are moving, when obviously they shouldn't be. When the IS switch on the lens is set in the "off" position, the camera correctly reports that image stabilization is off.

I see the shakiness / jitter via HDMI on to my SmallHD DP6 monitor in 1:1 mode, so it's definitely in the record chain itself, and not in post-record.

I can recreate the problem with my GH2 that I thankfully still have for testing.

The camera is on full manual mode, 1920x1080/24 fps. Changing between 50MBps or 72MBps All-I makes no difference -- same results. It's really strange.

The 12-35mm shot is followed by a 14-140mm shot for comparison using the same setup. This particular example was shot with the lenses at 35mm. These shots are blown up 200% in Premiere. The camera is about 2' from the book shown above, and it's tilted downward about 30 degrees. (Apologies for the composition and exposure, this is just one example of my many tests with similar results.) Even at 100% the jitter is noticeable and the shot -- say an interview or any static subject -- would not be usable.

I'm using lens firmware v1.1 (the latest as of this posting). I suspect that my lens is a lemon, but I'm curious if any others have experienced this issue?

@johnmw and @valpopando this lens has extrordinary high amount of barrel distortion. By its long end something between 2-3% and by its wide end nearly 6%. It seems that in-camera correction of such amount of distortion faces the CPU of the camera close to its limits. I belive the jitter is just result of that.

I've placed my order for this lens last summer, but after I saw serious test of this lens by Photozone.de, I decided to cancel my order short before the lens was in stock. I am not interested in lens with such amount of optical distortion, although all other features of this lens are great.

@tetakpatak Sure is some kind of data transmission problems between CPU and lens , but I think that is a OIS issue , because the jiggling stopping for some seconds , after you make a slight movement of the camera , just when stabilization starts to operate . A technician of panasonic explained to me that even when the stabilization is turned off there is a magnetic system which holds stuck the inner part of the lens . In fact, if you try to wobble slightly the lens when is not mounted on the camera , You can hear a little noise, as something loose that moves inside the lens . But for a lens of 1200 euros is a shame ! sorry my English

@valpopando Thanks for contributing. Really helps!

I exchanged the lens for a new one and still saw the jitter problem. I don't doubt that there are samples of the Panasonic 12-35mm lens that are OK, but personally I've come to the conclusion that this lens is not reliable mounted on a tripod.

(Best viewed full screen.)

Hopefully a firmware revision will fix this problem. But for now I am returning the lens and using the 14-140mm as the stabilized zoom in my kit.

Hey everyone,

The jitter doesn't show much on level 12-35mm shots. But you will see the issue easily if the lens is point slightly downward.

SUGGESTION: If you are experiencing the 12-35mm jitter problem and have the time, please consider making a video and posting it to Vimeo or Youtube. We all know how search engines work, so please use a descriptive title, such as:

Panasonic LUMIX G X 12-35mm F2.8 ASPH problem: shakes on tripod even with image stabilization off (firmware v1.1)

As @valpopando said, the more the issue gets out there, the greater the chances are that Panasonic will see this problem and address it somehow.

To recreate the problem so that it is easily visible, simply set your lens at 35mm, place your camera on a tripod angled slightly downward (like 30 degrees) at a subject such as a book, etc and shoot.

BTW, I hadn't noticed this problem until I was doing some picture profile tests. (I just got my GH3 a few weeks ago, but am a longtime GH2 shooter.) But when I went back to scrub through older footage shot with this lens, once I knew what I was looking for I noticed it everywhere! I would hate to be using what I thought was a "good" lens, only to discover on an interview or product shoot that my footage was jittery.

Here is another example:

Damn you, @johnmw! ;) I tried what you said, and now I know my lens has the same problem as you :(. I had my gh3 on a small gorillapod lite (the ones for compacts - it can just hold my GH3) on a table pointing down at an object a couple of meters away at the floor, and then recorded in 1080p24 (.mov) mode for a while. OIS turned off.

Bringing the footage back up fullscreen with VLC on my 15" rMBP, I could not see any movement, except that some moire pattern on the object wasn't totally static. I then used the desktop zoom to zoom in 400% on the screen so the object almost filled the view, and there it was, clear as day. I'll have to redo the test with a proper tripod and a more suitable object in a better controlled setting before I upload anything though. I'll check the 35-100 @ 35 too, but the problem might only be visible at the 100mm end maybe and then I'd need a totally different test setup...