M.Zuiko DIGITAL ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS, Super Telephoto Zoom, Suitable for all MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Black

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But the lens becomes extremely difficult to handle, and the tiny aperture means there’s precious little fine detail to be seen. Even in my own hands, I found myself comparing this lens to the 300mm which I have been shooting with since it came out in late 2015. The 100-400mm has built in image stabilization, which is effective - look at all the shots I have shown here, some even taken at 1/20 seconds hand-held, and still came out super sharp! Once again, I'm comparing things to the Olympus 300mm Pro lens, but the side switches here with the 100-400mm are smaller and somewhat flimsier-feeling in that they are more easily moved by accident.

The lens is both dust- and moisture-resistant, an excellent feature given that this lens will predominantly be used by wildlife and sports photographers in all kinds of conditions. Assessing the OM System 100-400mm for image quality can be a difficult task, because its performance is so intimately tied to the fact that long telezooms are most likely to be used outdoors to shoot moving subjects, such as wildlife, sports, or vehicles.While hiking around, I found that when carrying my camera and 100-400mm in my left hand, the most balanced spot to hold this rig is right where the side switches are located.

Also, the in-lens image stabilization featuring up to 3 shutter speed steps of compensation enables handheld super telephoto shooting. Autofocus is speedy, especially if you pair it with a phase-detect focus camera like the Olympus E-M1 Mark III. Often when I'm shooting any birds around a feeder I will manually focus on the point where they will enter the frame, but for this exercise I decided to rely on the auto-focusing system. I found myself shooting more flowers and insects while out looking for birds, it was just too easy and fun. aperture, if you can get down very low and use the 100-400mm lens' great close-focusing abilities, you can capture shots with amazingly thin depth of field!With such a long telephoto, the optical stabilisation will do much of the work anyway, to mitigate this loss. The weatherproof construction, plus, the ability to use the Pro Capture and Focus Stacking modes, opened up exciting possibilities.

When light levels drop lower, for example at dawn or dusk or on a cloudy day, you’ll quickly find yourself the wrong side of ISO 3200. That said, the 100-400mm aperture range makes this approach quite difficult; by limiting my high ISO level, shutter speeds were often very slow, especially when shooting at 400mm f/6. My wife arrived to the cottage late in the evening and after some unceremonious unboxing, I ogled the lens, attached it to my E-M1 Mark III, pointed it through the trees at a sailboat that was moored near our island, and took my first shot. I found myself using the 2x teleconverter the most when wanting to get more reach (and just that I was curious about the most extreme 1600mm-eq focal length), and despite the additional glass as well as the even-further-narrowed aperture (max aperture with 1. The tiny Bushtits, which are always a challenge to shoot, decided to sit still just long enough for me to shoot a few frames.When I learned the new lens also had built-in image stabilization and could be used with the two Olympus teleconverters, it got my attention. If the bokeh has bright highlights, they take on a circular shape toward the center, and only a slight cat's eye effect toward the edges and corners of the frame. The lens lacks the customizable Lens Function (L-Fn) button seen on the side of the barrel, as well as the pull-back "focus clutch" like most of the Zuiko Pro lenses -- instead, it has a standard AF/MF switch on the side. It's hard to tell for certain about the lens's exact construction makeup, but my sense is when compared side-by-side with the 300mm f/4, that the 100-400mm utilizes more polycarbonate plastic in the barrel construction than the seemingly all-metal 300mm prime. But, if you're patient and steady with your hands, you can you get some good shots, even in lower light situations.

However, as mentioned, the 100-400mm also features rather impressive close-focusing performance for such a long telephoto zoom, at just 1. Users of the smaller OM-D E-M10 and E-M5 bodies will find themselves supporting the lens entirely with their left hand, and will benefit significantly from using an add-on grip for their camera if possible. To date, all Zuiko Pro lenses have a constant aperture design, so that answer certainly makes sense. Photographers who capture super telephoto subjects and favour a highly portable lens need look no further than this option which delivers sharp results and weather sealing as standard.I enjoy these topics about the 150-400mm lens because, it is my understanding that the wait time is over Six Months or longer. At the 100mm end of the zoom range, the lens has a diagonal angle of view of 12°, equivalent to that of a 200mm lens in a 35mm system. I had no problem with zoom creep, but a switch allows locking at the 100mm position anyway, with a white inlay to show its status. To be fair, I thought my first review was more representative of real world shooting conditions - birds and wildlife they don't just stand out in the open, broad sunlight posing for you readily to shoot.