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Who Chose the 300 f4 over the 100-400 for Birding and Why?

Started Jul 29, 2016 | Discussions thread
Phocal
Phocal Veteran Member • Posts: 3,528
Re: Who Chose the 300 f4 over the 100-400 for Birding and Why?
1

I have not purchased yet, but after some reviews of the EM1mk2 (if they are to my liking) I will buy the 300 ƒ4.0.

I recently created a post over at MU-43 about my experience using my 50-200 SWD with the EC-20 (which at 400mm is only 1/3 stop slower then the Panny).  The third post down I compare the 50-200 w/ EC-20 to my 150mm ƒ2.0 w/ EC-20 in relation to the Panny 100-400 and Oly 400.

To make things even easier, someone posted these comparison photographs between the 50-200 w/ EC-20, Panny 100-400, and a Nikon 80-400.  The Panny is better at 400mm but not by much compared to the 50-200.  I was really shocked that it was not a lot sharper.

Now I am seeing a lot of threads with photographs from the 100-400 and I am seeing a lot of photographs in that higher ISO range then I really like to use.  There are a few threads here where someone posting photos mentions the struggle to keep ISO low when also needing fast shutter speeds.  For birds catching fish I need 1/1000 to freeze the action, for some birds you need even faster.

For me it comes down to the stop difference in ISO between the two lenses at 300mm and 400mm.  Anything under 300mm I already have covered at apertures faster then the Panny.

 Phocal's gear list:Phocal's gear list
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 150mm 1:2.0 Olympus M.Zuiko 300mm F4 IS Pro Olympus OM-D E-M5 Olympus E-M1 Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake +6 more
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