OLYMPUS ED 100-400mm F/5.0-6.3 : INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
For those who don't know, I shoot with Olympus E-M1X bodies plus 12-40mm, 40-150mm, 300mm Pro lenses. I have both MC-14 and MC-20 Teleconverters. My Macro rig mounts a Canon EF 100mm via a Metabones Adapter. My main targets are wildlife and surfer related and so consequently I often need telephoto reach.
High quality as many prime lenses are, high quality zoom lenses are no longer inferior in the potential images they can deliver. The Olympus Pro zoom lenses are a good example of how zoom optics have greatly improved over the years.
So, I now have the newly released Olympus 100-400mm and spent about 3 hours photographing dragonflies with the MC-14 also mounted. These are my impressions so far :
Build quality is excellent and feels no different from the Pro lenses which it shares its high weather resistance IPx3 certificate with < For me working on beaches in winter and all day in the countryside, that is very important indeed - In fact it's a deal breaker if not the same high standard I have already experienced many times.
The weathersealing is the same standard as the Pro lenses and there are only a couple of features which stop this lens from being labelled 'Pro', neither of them to do with weather resistance. One is that it is not a fixed aperture throughout the zoom and another that more 'plastic' materials are used in some of the outer, not inner, construction. Also InSync Image Stabilisation is not a feature. This contributes to both less weight and keeping the cost more competitive. Also, don't forget that a very full-blooded Pro spec 150-400mm+1.25x is going to be released and will be a bigger and heavier lens (and will not be cheap).
Physical handling feels the same as a 300mm Pro and any dimensional and weight differences are insignificant.
Personally I would not enjoy using this lens on any of the smaller Olympus bodies including the M1 because the balance on the M1X is so good when handheld but that's just my personal preference.
Although the lens image stabilisation and the IBIS are not sync'd as in other Pro lenses, in practice it really doesn't matter - I can get sharp shots handheld at 1/125s and possibly slower but haven't pushed that yet.
I have noticed that colours delivered by this lens are particularly pleasing and put it down to Olympus latest internal lens component surfaces and rendering technology. The latest v1.3 Firmware on my M1X might also be a factor and also I am using an Olympus filter for the first time instead of Hoya (which are very good indeed). I don't know, I have no criticism of colour rendering on my other Olympus Pro lenses so perhaps it was simply a great day for natural light when I was shooting. The real test of that will be later this week when I hope to be photographing surfers in Cornwall and the sea always exhibits a whole range of subtle colours.
So far I haven't shot many photos without the 1.4x MC-14 mounted but, as is exactly the same with shooting with any of my other Pro lenses with either teleconverter, image quality is not compromised, at least to the naked eye and that's all I am interested in. AF also remains satisfactorily snappy.
To begin with you may find that the zoom ring feels rather stiff but that is due to the Pro standard weathersealing and it will bed in and become easier. The full range of the zoom is just about achievable within one twist/turn of the hand I'm glad to say. The Manual Focus ring feels perfect and I prefer that there isn't a MF clutch like on the Pro lenses (which fortunately can be disabled).
Are the slower maximum apertures a disadvantage with this lens? Not for me
so far - There are a number of ways to reduce this compromise if/when needed anyway. You shoot with what you've got and don't need to think about what you haven't got - Afterall there is no such thing as a perfect camera or perfect lens!
When mounted on one of my two M1X bodies together with teleconverter, it fits my Lowepro AW backpack without any changes to the partitions for my 300mm Pro. So I am left wondering if I need to pack or even keep my Olympus 300mm F/4 Pro lens!
Personally I much prefer the flexibility of zoom lenses but if you don't, then this 100-400mm (200-800mm equivalent) lens is probably not for you.
I have started an Album on Flickr for images shot with this lens and I don't hide the settings data :
Images shot both with and without Olympus Teleconverters
www.flickr.com