Thursday May 7
 
14:41
 
Why I Returned My Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1

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Two weeks ago I replaced my G1 with a GH1 – looking forward to video and the extra zoom capability without changing lenses. However I soon found that my GH1 had a problem – it would occasionally give false focus confirmation: the camera would report back that it had achieved focus but the resulting image would be out of focus. This happened both in spot focus mode and when the camera selected the focus points.

This isn’t a problem because the camera couldn’t get focus – I don’t expect autofocus to work every time. It is a problem because the camera reports back that it has focus when actually it doesn’t. Because of this, even with Focus Priority turned on (Focus Priority ensures the camera will only take a photo if autofocus confirms focus) I would get out of focus photos.

This problem also isn’t related to camera shake – it’s definitely focus related.

The phenomenon is most easily reproducible by (1) changing focus mode to allow the camera to choose the focus point, (2) get close to the subject so that you are at less than the minimum focus distance, (3) at this distance the camera will not confirm focus – that’s OK, (4) pull back a little at a time retrying to focus – after a couple of attempts you’ll most likely get a focus confirmation, but if you take the photo, it will be out of focus.

Although the above is reproducing the problem at close distances, the problem isn’t limited to close distances – I’m only including the above steps because it’s most easily reproduced at close distances. At other distances it is harder to reproduce methodically and happens more-or-less randomly – at the beginning of this post I included an example where it happened, and there’s another example here from my first outside samples page, and another example here:

I never had this issue with the G1. Before returning my GH1, I tested in-store display models of the G1 and GH1 – I could reproduce the issue with the GH1 but never with the G1. When owning the G1, I never had this issue – and I’ve also never had a similar issue with my Nikon D60 or D90.

It’s quite likely that this could be fixed by Panasonic in firmware. It could also be a problem with the batch of cameras that I tested. At the moment I don’t know, and I also don’t know whether Panasonic will address this as an issue or not – they may simply say it’s a feature of the GH1 – and that’s a risk for me. For the moment I’ve returned my DMC-GH1 while I can and I’ll buy another G1 – I know that works. I can always get a GH1 later if this issue gets resolved.

I’d be interested to see whether other GH1 owners find the same issue – it may be solved by the time the camera hits American and European shelves.

Update – 19th May 2009

I’ve written a user review of the GH1.

If you are looking to buy a GH1, click here for the latest price and availability. Personally I recommend the G1 instead – it’s much cheaper and better in my opinion.

Click here for my G1/GH1 index page.