The Superzoom which actually DOES it

robonrome wrote:

Vesku wrote:

Has anyone of you tried to shoot some handheld video? The cheapest camcorders and other brand cheap camera kits all has better stabilization for video than this lens. It is still a mystery to me why reviewers dont recognize it. The reason is probably that users generally consider video as add-on and the quality can be whatever.

There are some serious video enthusiasts here, but the majority are more tilted toward stills and in many cases solely stills, so what you see as a serious flaw in this lens just doesn't factor into consideration for a great many of us.

Yes this seems to be the case. Panasonic is still more video oriented brand and also they advertise this lens with HD feature which partly means "improved optical stabilization for video".

I'm not sure if you have used many super-zoom lenses (I have from many makes), but if you have you should realise what a truly amazing lens this is. I have never come across even a 5x zoom that had such consistent high quality from end to end; to have the level of IQ this lens provides in 10x zoom, in such a small and lightweight package is nothing short of astonishing. I have some of the best and most expensive glass around (far more so than this), but this 14-140 packs more value than anything else I have experienced.

Obviously the lens has flaws, notably blurring at longer focal lengths at certain shutter speeds, but for the stills photographer this is easily fixed with either e-shutter or anti-shock, and with these work-arounds in place the lens is a marvel.

If reviewer don't recognise or highlight the OIS issue you see it's likely because a) they're stills focussed; and b) it is such an amazing achievement as a stills lens that it's strengths in this overshadows any weaknesses in other areas.

Yes it is a great lens for photos and IQ for video is exellent too. The OIS fault is still so obvious that I wonder why so few comments it.