9-18mm problem?

mujana · Nov 25, 2012

I recently bought the m4/3 9-18mm lens. Great lens/great reach, but I might have a technical problem with it. Maybe you can help me out?

When I watch the Oled screen to make a picture, the colours do not show right (especially bright colours/purple; they look brownish/grey). Beside that, everything shows a bit dark on the screen before I shoot. After I shoot the photo and review it on the screen, everything looks ok though; also the colours. The luminence/brightness is also perfect then. It's only this lens that has this "problem"(?); other lenses show colours / brightness on the screen as they should (before making a picture). Does anyone know what's going on here? Experiences? Faulty lens maybe? Or perfectly normal?

Thnxs for reactions.

mujana · Nov 25, 2012

Same with looking through the viewfinder.

Mingjai · Nov 25, 2012

I have the lens and have never seen the behavior you describe on any of my cameras (GX1, GH1, G1, E-PL2). Does the behavior happen in all lighting conditions, both artificial and natural?

The only thing I can think of is that it's a result of shooting indoors with WA capturing fluorescent light sources in frame. The 60 hz (or 50 hz depending on where you are) refresh rate of the fluorescents is interfering with the refresh rate of your LCD or EVF.

Otherwise, I'm out of ideas here.

mujana · Nov 25, 2012

Mingjai said:
Mingjai wrote:

I have the lens and have never seen the behavior you describe on any of my cameras (GX1, GH1, G1, E-PL2). Does the behavior happen in all lighting conditions, both artificial and natural?

The only thing I can think of is that it's a result of shooting indoors with WA capturing fluorescent light sources in frame. The 60 hz (or 50 hz depending on where you are) refresh rate of the fluorescents is interfering with the refresh rate of your LCD or EVF.

Otherwise, I'm out of ideas here.

You obviously know a lot more about this technical stuff than I do. It only happens in artificial light. If your theory is true,would you consider this interfering issue a lens"problem" (faulty lens)? Like I said, the results are fine, it's only visible before I take the shot.

mujana · Nov 26, 2012

mujana said:
mujana wrote:

mujana said:

Mingjai wrote:

I have the lens and have never seen the behavior you describe on any of my cameras (GX1, GH1, G1, E-PL2). Does the behavior happen in all lighting conditions, both artificial and natural?

The only thing I can think of is that it's a result of shooting indoors with WA capturing fluorescent light sources in frame. The 60 hz (or 50 hz depending on where you are) refresh rate of the fluorescents is interfering with the refresh rate of your LCD or EVF.

Otherwise, I'm out of ideas here.

Click to expand...

You obviously know a lot more about this technical stuff than I do. It only happens in artificial light. If your theory is true,would you consider this interfering issue a lens"problem" (faulty lens)? Like I said, the results are fine, it's only visible before I take the shot.

Sorry to push this message up again, but can anybody answer my question? Would you consider this a "faulty" lens when Minjai is correct?

chino · Nov 26, 2012

Having two copies of this lens (long story) and never experienced this problem, i think that yes, it could be a faulty lens. I'm very pleased with the 9-18mm, mostly for the incredible size and weight.

Chas2 · Nov 26, 2012

That is a puzzler. No issues with a GH1 GF1 or GX1 and this lens. Does this happen in daylight as well as indoor light? Have you tried this with every lens you have, in identical settings, immediately after you see the issue with the 9-18? Does turning the camera on and off have any effect? Does rotating the lens (without pressing the release button) have any effect (looking for a loose contact) Have you examined all of the contacts to see if they are free of debris or some sort of coating that might give you a slightly weak contact? Is the firmware on the body and the lens up to date? The white balance issue seems to be the most plausible, but that is why you do the first test I mentioned.

Frankly I don't think it is any of these things, but it is worth a try.

Please report back.

mujana · Nov 26, 2012

Chas2 said:
Chas2 wrote:

That is a puzzler. No issues with a GH1 GF1 or GX1 and this lens. Does this happen in daylight as well as indoor light? Have you tried this with every lens you have, in identical settings, immediately after you see the issue with the 9-18? Does turning the camera on and off have any effect? Does rotating the lens (without pressing the release button) have any effect (looking for a loose contact) Have you examined all of the contacts to see if they are free of debris or some sort of coating that might give you a slightly weak contact? Is the firmware on the body and the lens up to date? The white balance issue seems to be the most plausible, but that is why you do the first test I mentioned.

Frankly I don't think it is any of these things, but it is worth a try.

Please report back.

Thank you for replying. Quite a few questions there

At the moment I do not have the lens with me (I'm not at home). I already contacted Olympus and they suggest resetting the camera and/or looking if the latest lensfirmware is installed (do not know that at this moment...I'll check as soon as I come home; OM-D is on latest firmware). The issue shows under artificial light...so indoors mostly. I don't think it's the firmware though (there isn't any comments on it repairing somekind of colourshift issues on the Oled screen). Neither do I think that resetting the OM-D will solve this problem. It's only with the m4/3 9-18 lens that this problem shows (not with my 45mm or the 75mm).

Thomas Niemann · Nov 26, 2012

Try cleaning the contacts on both camera and lens with a pencil eraser.

sean000 · Nov 26, 2012

Are you using a filter by any chance? Nah... that would affect the final image as well.

I'm not sure how dirty contacts or lens firmware could cause this kind of issue. After all a legacy lens will not have this issue and there is no firmware nor electronic contacts of any kind. Since it only affects the displays, and not the captured image, it really sounds like an issue with the processing that relays the image from the sensor to the displays. The puzzler is why it would only be an issue with this one lens. It would be interesting to see if the same problem happens when you attach this lens to another camera.

Chas2 · Nov 26, 2012

Thomas Niemann said:
Thomas Niemann wrote:

Try cleaning the contacts on both camera and lens with a pencil eraser.

if you do this, be very careful with the eraser bits!

mujana · Nov 26, 2012

I've been to the store where I've bought the lens some weeks ago. They'll order a new one (while the "flaw" didn't show up in the store...different light). Good service I think.

Thnxs again for all ideas and help! Great forum!

Thomas Niemann · Nov 26, 2012

One aspect you should check. The 9-18mm lens is an extreme wide-angle lens and may be picking up a light source that is throwing the auto white balance off. That is, of course, assuming that you are using auto white balance.

sean000 · Nov 26, 2012

mujana said:
mujana wrote:

I've been to the store where I've bought the lens some weeks ago. They'll order a new one (while the "flaw" didn't show up in the store...different light). Good service I think.

Thnxs again for all ideas and help! Great forum!

That is good service. It will be interesting to see if the replacement has the same issue under the lighting where this has occurred. One other thing I wonder about: When you say that the final image does not have the problem (you only see the issue on the LCD or EVF), is that true for both RAW and JPEG?

Sean

Mingjai · Nov 26, 2012

mujana said:
mujana wrote:

mujana said:

Mingjai wrote:

I have the lens and have never seen the behavior you describe on any of my cameras (GX1, GH1, G1, E-PL2). Does the behavior happen in all lighting conditions, both artificial and natural?

The only thing I can think of is that it's a result of shooting indoors with WA capturing fluorescent light sources in frame. The 60 hz (or 50 hz depending on where you are) refresh rate of the fluorescents is interfering with the refresh rate of your LCD or EVF.

Otherwise, I'm out of ideas here.

Click to expand...

You obviously know a lot more about this technical stuff than I do. It only happens in artificial light. If your theory is true,would you consider this interfering issue a lens"problem" (faulty lens)? Like I said, the results are fine, it's only visible before I take the shot.

Sorry to not get back to you until now, but if the problem really is some sort of interference or phase issues between your artificial lighting and your LCD/EVF, then it's probably not a lens problem. There's really nothing you can do but report the problem to Olympus and live with it since it's not affecting the final image.

Try experimenting with different lighting--standard incandescents, halogens, standard fluorescents, and CFLs to see which ones trigger the problem.

Of course, since it appears your supplier is being accommodating, then it won't hurt to try a different copy of the lens.

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9-18mm problem?

mujana

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mujana

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Mingjai

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mujana

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chino

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Chas2

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mujana

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Thomas Niemann

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