Panasonic 100-400mm vs others

Martin.au wrote:

I appreciate Panasonic's design choices. There's now two other 100-400 lenses, both f4-5.6 out now.

• Panasonic 100-400 f4-6.3 comes in at almost exactly the same size as the 40-150 f2.8 + TC.

83mm x 172mm & 985gm

• Fuji's 100-400 f4.5-5.6

95mm x 211mm & 1375gm

• Canon 100-400 f4-5.6

94mm x 193mm & 1550gm (1615gm with foot).

Given those weights and sizes, I'm quite glad Panasonic went with the smaller aperture. At that size, it's compatible with all my existing bags, and anything I've built to hold the 40-150+tc (eg: my kayak deck bag).

Hopefully that lens will perform, too.

Thanks Martin,

That is interesting....and of course to compare them truly you have to add an adapter for M4/3 as otherwise it is apples to oranges for me.

I am in two minds about this.....optically I think it will be stunning but on M4/3 for the money, it is simply too slow for me for much use.

Sure it would have lots of use but given M4/3 has (opinion and subjective) a smaller usable ISO range and therefore smaller shutter speed range, I would just find it limited to outdoor daytime use.

I am sure that many will make perfect use from it though and it will be worth every cent for them.

Now after all that...I can beat that too!

Somehow I think maybe not for image quality though....

Cosina/Vivitar/Phoenix ETC 100-400 4.5-6.7 (even slower).....is 740g and 162mm x 74.2mm!

At the price, if I can find one for around $100 in Canon mount at some point I would love to at least try it.......and if someone wants to give me the Panasonic 100-400, I will gladly take it and cherish it.