Don't get the 12-35 for the IS

Finally sprung the cool grand for the 12-35 and took it out today. First off, let me say, when the lens is still, the video quality (on the pocket) is fantastic. Sharp, great color rendition, awesome. But...

The IS is kind of a joke. Now, admittedly, I come from the Canon DSLR world, where the IS on many lenses is so good it almost looks like steadicam. I've handheld at 200mm no problem. Sure, it can get a little swimmy, but if you hold your breath and settle down, it works incredibly well. Overall, I would say that the IS on Canon lenses eliminates 70% of unwanted motion.

Panasonic 12-35? I'd say 10-15%. Almost negligible. It does get rid of some tiny microshakes, but ANY disturbance to the lens and it's hopping all over the place. Even at 12mm. At 35mm it's borderline ridiculous. VERY disappointing.

Now the upshot is, I'm keeping the lens, but resigned to the fact that I kind of have to treat it like an unstabilized prime. I'd heard that Panasonic IS was nowhere near Canon quality, but boy howdy, I didn't expect this.

FYI, before you drop a grand...

Surprisingly the Lumix X PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 works pretty well - but as far as I know, they use a different OIS - POWER O.I.S. vs. MEGA O.I.S.

But as with every OIS, there is a certain range, where the lens doesn't know if, what you are doing is a pan or unwanted movement, and that's when things get out of hand. Nature of the beast, as long as lenses are not able to tap into our brains.

Best OIS for video use I ever saw is the kit lens that came with my FS100. Wish I would be able to use that on my Blackmagics.

Same on the 14-45mm. The IS is abysmal for video... only useable for handheld static shots. If you try to pan handheld, the IS introduces jerky motion in the pan.