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

Product Information

When used with an optional teleconverter, the focal range is increased up to 1,120mm with the M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14 and up to 1600mm with the 2x Teleconverter MC-20. The lens is generally able to capture good levels of detail, though as born out by our lab tests (below) the sharpness is a little disappointing –and obviously degrades the longer your chosen focal length. Is all this worth the price premium? Only you can answer that for yourself. However, the fact remains that this is a truly excellent lens in its own right, and a worthy option for any Canon EF user. Also, using a long focal lengths creates a lot of depth compression, bringing a distant subject on top of the primary subject. Which sometimes gives dramatic results. I actually prefer a full frame 180mm f2.8 over 85 mm f1.2 for a lot of my pictures because of this effect. (I have both types of lenses).

Yeah, the idea that a consumer grade f/6.3 zoom should not be stopped down even to f/8 because of diffraction is laughable.On the left side of the barrel you’ll find a conventional control panel, with a set of well-spaced switches for limiting the autofocus distance range (1.3m to 6m, 6m to infinity, or full), selecting between auto and manual focus, and turning IS on or off. Unfortunately, these switches get hidden awkwardly under the tripod foot when you rotate it for shooting in portrait format. The Panasonic lens works better in this regard, as its control panel is located on its rotating collar. OM System/Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm f/5-6.3 IS: compared to Panasonic 100-400mm A 100-400mm lens lets you push a little further than the standard professional focal length of 70-200mm, and also offers more flexibility than a 500mm prime. They tend to be more affordable than these types of lenses, too, though with an understandable trade-off in terms of raw sharpness. A 100-400mm is more for versatility than getting the absolute sharpest picture possible, so bear that in mind going in.

IS Performance: Lens IS 3 steps** According to CIPA standards. With yaw and pitch applied and focal length set to 400mm The image stabilization arrangement is unusual, though, with it sometimes feeling as though the IBIS and lens IS are working against each other if you activate them both. We experienced better results using the lens stabilization at longer focal lengths (where IBIS is traditionally less potent) and body stabilization at the 'wider' end.Handling is refined and the oversized AF/MF and dual-mode static/panning stabilization switch are easy to operate even with gloves on. The flipside is that you can find yourself nudging the switches out of position accidentally. Autofocus range limiting is available for both the short and long sectors of focus distance. Extraordinary images Petr. The broad bodied chaser dragonfly is exceptionally beautiful and quite the tribute to your patience to capture such natural beauty. In good light, the lens is capable of delivering fine images even at its closest focus distance. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, 100-400mm at 400mm, 1/2000sec at f/6.3, ISO 1000 Mute Swan, Olympus E-M1 III, M.Zuiko 100-400mm/5.0-6.3 IS, 400mm, ISO 250, f/6.3, 1/1600s, handheld

Optical highlights include five ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and one Super ED element, for minimizing chromatic aberrations. Super-fast and virtually silent autofocus is based on twin linear motors, and there’s a highly effective 5-stop image stabilizer with automatic panning detection.When I had the lens on loan from Olympus, after a while I felt the need to try it side by side with the Panasonic 100-400 lens, which has been on the market for some time. In the end, it worked out thanks to the generosity of FotoŠkoda that kindly loaned it to me for a few days resulting in the amazing opportunity to try out both, the Olympus 100-400mm/ 5.0-6.3 IS and the side by side. At that moment, I got into a testing vortex as you can imagine the countless combinations of focal lengths and apertures. Field tests of wildlife are quite difficult because God knows why wild animals keep doing their own thing and leave whenever they want. After several target tests from my room window, I ended up going to the Prague Zoo for a day. It was very cloudy and it rained most of the day. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions for the test. The better the weather, the better the results, so it was also a stress test. Before this occasion, I knew the Panasonic zoom only from a handful of pictures and word of mouth from a few fellow photographers, who usually rated its longer end (400mm) as “ clear as mud“. As you know, my scale is a little finer and I wouldn’t rate the Panasonic lens as harshly. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a long way from the “mud” and would rate its performance somewhere between so-so and just peachy. I parked my gear for a few hours at the pelican enclosure, where there is also always plenty of standing and flying wild herons. Unfortunately, the enclosure is not built with photographers in mind, so the surrounding vegetation is usually too close to the birds, hindering any creative process of an interesting photo making. Fortunately, due to rain, the birds barely moved and stood like statues. This gave me plenty of time to switch lenses between shots and add converters to a fixed 200mm. I photographed exclusively on the lowest available aperture value because, in my opinion, the comparison of sharpness is the most important. You can’t see much at F/8. Even so, when shooting from my hand under this cloudy sky and rainy weather the values I reached of 1/60s were fairly critical. In some photos, you may also notice that despite all my efforts, I did not manage to create a completely identical image (animals are simply monsters). During my visit to the Zoo, I also strolled through other enclosures taking several hundred photos, and I think I have quite a good idea of how the lenses compare. Rather than try to improve on the optical performance of the EF mount lens which the company felt was pretty spot on, Canon has instead opted to expand the focal length for this R-series lens by a further 100mm. I have a question though regarding the MC-20 - is it worth getting to allow me to get closer to some of the more timid birds, or is it a step too far? I'm guessing F13 will involve a noticeable decrease in sharpness because of diffraction, plus I understand that in anything other than bright light I'd need a monopod.

Again, this isn't an Olympus Pro lens, but it features a number of qualities typically reserved for those tip-top optics. Chief among these is the weather sealing, and the extensive hermetic sealing on the entire lens barrel to protect it no matter where you're shooting. A ZERO (Zuiko Extra-Low Reflection Optical) coating has been applied to individual elements to minimise lens flare and ghosting for improved contrast and color fidelity when working in strong lighting conditions. No, I didn't watch the video, but came straight to the comments. They'll probably tell me what I want to know, faster and more concisely.I thought I'd share a few photos I've taken in recent days. They were processed with silkypix and adjusted in photoshop CS6 and Topaz sharpen AI.