Panasonic 14-140mm Mk2 lens Shutter Shock Test

Using Panasonic GH3 and G6

This is becoming really boring but........The problem persists and until  camera makers incorporate a complete fix into their products  the topic will stay on the agenda in this blog and on user forums.  Lots of camera/lens combinations including the latest MILC wunderkamera  the Sony A7R (at least with some lenses), have been reported to suffer from the problem.

How to test for Shutter Shock 

1. Affix chosen camera with lens to a sturdy tripod.  Activate the shutter with timer delay or remote triggering. You need to eliminate camera shake as a cause of any potential unsharpness.

2. Switch off any image stabiliser system, OIS or IBIS. You don't want any potential trouble from this source contaminating the results and in any event OIS/IBIS should be off when the camera is tripod mounted.

3. Choose a target and field of view which will show any unsharpness and/or double imaging. I use the newsprint of classified ads in a newspaper. The fine print readily shows any problems. Note I have seen all kinds of supposed "tests" for shutter shock reported on user forums using inappropriate targets which would not be sensitive to small amounts of system vibration.

4. Set the camera to Shutter Priority and Auto ISO.

5. Either set focus manually or AF exactly the same way for each shot.

6. Make exposures at 1/3 EV steps from about 1/4 second to 1/400 second.

7. Look at the results at 100% on screen.

Mechanical shutter. 1/160 sec.  Blurring evident with a touch of double imaging.

The Panasonic 14-140mm f3.5-5.6 (Mk2)  This is a compact, versatile travel zoom lens which has received very favourable review on this blog and elsewhere. SLR Gear (slrgear.com) in their test of the 14-140mm reported unsharpness which they attributed to shutter shock at shutter speeds of 1/40-1/50 second with the GX1 and GX7 using the mechanical shutter. The GM1 which uses electronic first curtain did not exhibit the problem. The GX7 gave no problems when the E-Shutter was used.

E-Shutter. 1/160 sec. Everything is sharp.

 

My results with the GH3 and G6  Both cameras gave the same result.

E-Shutter:

There was no problem at all at any shutter speed if the E-Shutter was used. All frames were sharp.

Mechanical shutter:

Shutter speeds 1/4 to 1/13 sec: no blurring.

Shutter speeds 1/15-1/40 sec:  slight blurring.

Shutter speeds  1/40-1/160 more noticeable blurring with double imaging between 1/100-1/160 sec.

Shutter speeds 1/200-1/250 sec: very slight blurring.

Shutter speeds 1/320 and faster: no problem.

So, yes, Shutter shock does occur with the new 14-140mm lens on Panasonic GH3 and G6 cameras.

How to prevent shutter shock 

With a Panasonic camera which enables E-Shutter, set this ON and shutter shock goes away.  For sport/action/rapidly moving subjects set Shutter Priority on the Mode dial and a shutter speed of 1/400 sec or faster.

The Panasonic GM1 is reported not to have the problem due to it using electronic first curtain even with the mechanical shutter.

With Olympus cameras, test first to see if the problem is present with your chosen camera/lens combination. If it is, try setting Anti Shock to 1/8 second.