LUMIX 70-200 F4 on Leica SL2 - Some Issues?

[bherman01545]

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I just took delivery on a new Lumix 70-200 F4 lens today. I wanted a smaller and lighter alternative to my Leica 90-280 APO lens for travel. Well, when I am able to travel (;-/

I have a couple of anomalies that I can't seem to nail down.

I noticed after mounting the lens and powering my SL2 on, (SL2 has the latest Firmware) the lens makes a 'whirring' sound - almost like a motor is continuously running. It's not loud, but definitely audible. I updated the lens firmware from ver 1.0 to ver 1.1 and the same thing. Is this normal? It doesn't matter whether I turn on/off OIS on the lens, same thing.

Also, when I turn OIS=on for the lens, IBIS is grayed out in the camera menu. When I turn OIS=off on the lens, IBIS shows up as 'on'  so one would think that I can use IBIS or OIS, but not both. This was not my understanding.

The other issue is that with Leica lenses, I use the Back-Button Autofocus, where you actually set the camera to Manual Focus (MF) and you focus with the joystick. After mounting the LUMIX lens, the MF in the menu is grayed out, and it defaults to AF-S. What is strange is now both the joystick as well as the shutter button seem to actuate the focusing mechanism.

For those of you with an SL2 and LUMIX lenses, any ideas? 

Thanks

 

-Brad

Edited January 26, 2021 by bherman01545

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[bherman01545]

Oh, and I tried it on my SL2-S too and makes the same 'whirring' noise

[bherman01545]

BTW...Prefocus is =off

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Even with IBIS disabled the motors run to suspend the IBIS group in the *locked* position. Otherwise they're just flop around when you move the camera. Different brands use differet tech to suspend the IS group. Some lock when there's no power to the group.

You can only switch from AF to MF on the lens when using non Leica lenses with a switch mechanism on the lens.

The SL2 only allows one IS system at a time with non Leica lenses. You'd be able to combine them on a Panasonic body. Mostly I prefer the lens IS system for the 70-200/f4.

The joystick/shutter thing is a glitch Leica hasn't addressed yet for non-Leica lenses.

Gordon

[bherman01545]

+1 to FlashGordonPPhotography

After several queries to Leica and to LUMIX dealers, it was determined that this high-pitched 'whirring' is normal. A local dealer had this lens in stock and mounted it on a LUMIX S1r,  (a native body) and he too heard the noise that I was referring to. I believe that this lens has magnets which when power is applied to the lens, energize the motors/magnets for the OIS groups, keeping them locked or in place. Very similar to some FujiFilm lenses (for example the 80mm XF OIS Macro) it too has magnets which clunk around until power is applied to the lens.

As far as OIS, according to the Leica Rep, if you engage IBIS on the Leica body and OIS on the lens, the camera will select the proper mode of image stabilization depending upon the focal length of the lens (or selected by the zoom ring) and the particular algorithm used by the camera. And agreed, on Leica cameras with third party lenses, the IBIS and OIS is not 'additive' as is the case with a LUMIX camera and LUMIX lens.

-Brad

Edited January 27, 2021 by bherman01545
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[RBB]

15 hours ago, bherman01545 said:

it was determined that this high-pitched 'whirring' is normal

Strange, because I use the f/2.8 and it is allmost silence.

[Simone_DF]

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18 hours ago, bherman01545 said:

And agreed, on Leica cameras with third party lenses, the IBIS and OIS is not 'additive' as is the case with a LUMIX camera and LUMIX lens.

 

This is really sad for an alliance. Hopefully it will be fixed in some future updates.

[bherman01545]

4 hours ago, RBB said:

Strange, because I use the f/2.8 and it is almost silence.

The LUMIX 70-200 F/2.8 is an entirely different lens with different technology. I found out that the noise is 'normal' and truthfully,

it is really not that loud. Almost inaudible

[bherman01545]

Also, for Back Button AF to work with a Leica SL lens, you would set the camera menu to Focusing>Focusing Mode>MF. This works the way that it is supposed to - it essentially decouples the focusing from the shutter button, so you would use the Joystick to focus.

On the third party Lenses (LUMIX and Sigma) MF is grayed out (only AF-S and AF-C are selectable) in the menu and while you can still use the Joystick for Back Button AF, the Shutter button also works - so either method can be can be used for focusing.

Also, the LUMIX uses a Manual Focus Clutch mechanism, and when engaged all of the AF menus are non-selectable. When manually focusing, it can be configured to zoom the image in the EVF or LCD, which greatly enhances focusing accuracy.

Third party lenses can be an excellent choice for the Leica SL system, but just because they're part of the L Mount Alliance, doesn't mean that every feature works the same as the Leica native lenses - they will take some getting used to

[FlashGordonPhotography]

21 hours ago, Simone_DF said:

This is really sad for an alliance. Hopefully it will be fixed in some future updates.

It's the same between Panasonic and Olympus in the m43 format.

Gordon