Hi guys and girls, Just wanted to share with you my bad experience of trying to buy a decent GX1, and also asking for your help. My story. Right before the New Year's Eve I ordered my first GX1. Received it in a week. Two days later discovered a blurred spot on the LCD display (attached pictures). Looked like the film in the middle of the screen was undone/unglued and crystals were floating freely under the film. If pressed with a finger the spot would change its shape. I thought it was a factory defect. Sent t back. Ordered a new one. Received it today and was totally disappointed! Same thing again but even worse - the spot is bigger. In both cases the spot was visible very good in artificial light under a shallow angle, and barely visible in a day light. The spot doesn't seem to affect the image quality when LCD is on, but IT IS THERE. My questions: does anyone of GX1 users here have the same issue on your cameras? Do any other Panasonic micro 4/3 camera users have this on their LCDs? Is it an issue at all? My thought - factory defective batch. PS: I went to Best Buy today and checked their G3's - they all had perfectly fine LCDs The first GX1 {} The second one {} {} UPDATE: Happy end! Couple of weeks after I created this thread I was contacted by Panasonic USA Senior Product Engineer (I should say that he would have contacted me much earlier if had an email in my profile). He was very interested in the issue I described, asked me a lot of questions about the issue and how it could be seen/detected. Then he contacted Adorama, asked them to send him the GX1 I returned so he could see the issue himself. Finally, he sent the camera to Japan so the manufacturer could inspect the camera. Here is the reply received directly from Japan: "What this customer has notified us about is known as a Newton ring. The gap between upper and lower transparent electrodes are thin and not a constant thickness.The interference fringes of light caused by the gap is the Newton ring. This Newton ring condition is known as a common occurrence with touch panels. There is no quality issue with DMC-GX1, and this is within the specification expectation." {} I am very glad it is not a factory defect of a quality issue!
After considerable peering at my screen at various angles, sure enough, I was able to detect a similar, if somewhat smaller, pattern like the one seen in your pictures. But I had to really try, and I confess that I hadn't noticed it until just now. So it hasn't affected my photography in any way in the two months that I've been using the camera. And since I have to hold the camera at just exactly the right angle to be able to detect the pattern, I guess it makes no difference to me. I don't expect that I'll ever see it unless I really try. If it bothers you, I'd say send it back. David
Keep sending it back until you get one that doesn't have it. It will bug you and make you pick up your camera less. It doesn't happen with other panasonic models and shouldn't happen on yours. In a world with there is such fierce competition there is NO WAY you should put up with sub par quality.
"Is it an issue at all?" Eventually, it will be. That is called "clouding." The substrate on that blotch is drying up and WILL appear as dark bluish-brown as electrical current is repeatedly run through it. It is a defective component from a batch in which there was a deficiency during the manufacturing process and the maker's final inspection failed to detect it. This will be a costly repair one day. If I owned your GX1, I would immediately demand a replacement again.
That is a really helpful info, thanks a lot 0dBm. At least I know now it's not just my whim. I will send it back to Adorama and order againt to give it another try. If the third one will have the same issue I'll wait for the new Olympus m4/3
Do you know how widespread this is with the GX1? Have you seen anything posted on other sites? I wonder if Panasonic has acknowledged this....
I don't know how widespread this issue is except the two cameras I ordered. Plus, in two previous replies in this thread both GX1 owners reported they have the same issue. I couldn't find any other posts. Two days ago I sent an email to Panasonic USA; still didn't get any reply from them.
I would like to hear more confirmation about this. this will help potential gx1 buyers. thanks for posting.
I have the same thing on my screen, but it takes a particular angle to see it. Is this really something to be worried about? Is it really "clouding" that will cost a lot to repair in the future? Or is it just a thing that obsessives get obsessive over (I count myself among them)?
I am sending it back today for an exchange. Just want to check if the third GX1 I order will have the same clouding issue. If the third one does, it is definitely a defective batch and low quality control of the manufacturer.
I would never, ever impugn anyone else's attention to detail. :smile: But I would also never, ever had noticed the pattern on the screen unless Shishiga had not brought it to our attention. And given the contortions I have to twist myself into in order to barely be able to detect it, I guess I'm not going to worry about it unless/until it gets significantly worse. My guess is that by that time I'll have moved on to my next camera purchase anyway, so... Again, I'm not recommending that course of action for anyone else. But that's my plan. David
****... Mine is the same but about thumbnail size on the left middle of my screen. Doesn't sending it in mean weeks with out a camera ?
some of us have to sell bodies for bodies :-( i guess ill have to do the same ( keep an eye on it till my warranty is nearing end then send it in if need be ) thanks for the warning though, i appreciate this post so some of us have knowledge of this thing.
Hi! I´m a new member and I found this topic from Google. I have the same issue with my GX1. I bought my camera from UK (Simplyelectronics) and I live in Finland. So same problem in Europe (I guess this is U.S site?) I´m sorry if there is misspellings, english is not my mothertongue
Simplyelectronics is not UK stock. They would like you believe it is but its not. They are a Hong Kong company with a UK domain name....
Is there a GX1 out there WITHOUT this thing? It might just be a quality of the LCD. I looked up "clouding" and it seems like it is a different thing than this. I could be wrong, though.
