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2nd Day Out Birding With Panasonic Lumix G85 & Pana/Leica 100-400mm

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macskater

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Just upgraded from Lumix ZS-60 pocket zoom to the G85 and 100-400mm Pana/Leica zoom. Completely different experience! Dialed it in a bit after yesterday and pretty happy with results, especially as the light wasn't great. I had some very cooperative subjects!

Just trying to learn the camera/lens, so plenty of room for improvement, I know. I've learned a lot from this forum already, though. These are jpegs with very light processing/crop on a few.. Any advice is welcome.

Fox Sparrow. A bit underexposed, but accurate gloom.
Fox Sparrow. A bit underexposed, but accurate gloom.

Sapsucker #1
Sapsucker #1

Bewick's Wren
Bewick's Wren

Dueling Sapsuckers
Dueling Sapsuckers

Fast Buffleheads. Need to work on the BIF's!
Fast Buffleheads. Need to work on the BIF's!

Spotted Towhee.
Spotted Towhee.

Song Sparrow.
Song Sparrow.

Wood Duck from yesterday (first day out).
Wood Duck from yesterday (first day out).
 
Very nice results! Did you have the camera in P mode, or is there a specific thought process that went into the camera settings?
 
Thanks for showing these, some new unseen before, ones for me.

Yes I agree 100% about this lens at 400m, crisp and clear without any falloff.
 
very nice. i've been wanting to upgrade my oly 75-300 to the 100-400,

how did you find the AF with this combo?
 
I liked the Duelling Sapsuckers the most. The moss on the trees complements their colours very nicely. I like the environmental detail on many of them. Birds don't have to fill the frame completely on every photo.

I would work more on the composition. Some of the photos would benefit from an off-centre subject position. For example, the BIF photo would look IMHO nicer if the birds were at around 1/3 height, not in the vertical centre. You could also crop the Berwick's Wren photo a little to move the bird to the left - the twigs are not that interesting. You can't crop it too much though because the bird is a bit soft. It's hard to nail focus exactly on such small creatures :) The Spotted Towhee photo has the similar problem - the focus is on the twig behind the bird IMHO.

Practice, practice, practice :)
 
macskater said:
Just upgraded from Lumix ZS-60 pocket zoom to the G85 and 100-400mm Pana/Leica zoom. Completely different experience! Dialed it in a bit after yesterday and pretty happy with results, especially as the light wasn't great. I had some very cooperative subjects!

Just trying to learn the camera/lens, so plenty of room for improvement, I know. I've learned a lot from this forum already, though. These are jpegs with very light processing/crop on a few.. Any advice is welcome.
Click to expand...
Wow!

That is quite an upgrade in both quality and weight!

I think your bird pictures are excellent. I especially like the Towhee, beautiful birds that we see from time to time in our yard. I wish you had caught him in profile, showing the great colors.

I also have the 100-400mm on a G85 and find it a really fun combination. I had the 100-300mm before and it's also a fun lens.

After several weeks of use, though,I decided the weight forward imbalance of the G85/100-400mm needed improvement, so I ordered a third party battery base. I think it will be a real improvement to handling, even though it adds 10oz to the overall weight.

Thanks for showing us your great results!

Jack
 
Setter Dog said:
macskater said:
Just upgraded from Lumix ZS-60 pocket zoom to the G85 and 100-400mm Pana/Leica zoom. Completely different experience! Dialed it in a bit after yesterday and pretty happy with results, especially as the light wasn't great. I had some very cooperative subjects!

Just trying to learn the camera/lens, so plenty of room for improvement, I know. I've learned a lot from this forum already, though. These are jpegs with very light processing/crop on a few.. Any advice is welcome.
Click to expand...
Wow!

That is quite an upgrade in both quality and weight!

I think your bird pictures are excellent. I especially like the Towhee, beautiful birds that we see from time to time in our yard. I wish you had caught him in profile, showing the great colors.

I also have the 100-400mm on a G85 and find it a really fun combination. I had the 100-300mm before and it's also a fun lens.

After several weeks of use, though,I decided the weight forward imbalance of the G85/100-400mm needed improvement, so I ordered a third party battery base. I think it will be a real improvement to handling, even though it adds 10oz to the overall weight.

Thanks for showing us your great results!

Jack
Click to expand...
jack -

how would you compare/rate the 100-300 against the 100-400 in terms of AF speed? i'm wanting to upgrade from the oly 75-300.

i know the 100-400 is sharper but is the AF noticeably faster or marginally or just a bit?

TIA!
 
opiecat said:
jack -

how would you compare/rate the 100-300 against the 100-400 in terms of AF speed? i'm wanting to upgrade from the oly 75-300.

i know the 100-400 is sharper but is the AF noticeably faster or marginally or just a bit
Click to expand...
Interestingly, I just used both lenses this morning at 300mm, the 100-300mm on a G7 and the 100-400mm on a G85.

I don't pixel peek, so to my eye, there was no noticeable difference in the IQ of the results. However, the 100-400mm is just as sharp at 400mm as it is at 300mm.

AF speed seemed the same to me.

The most noticeable difference in the 100-300mm and the 100-400mm is weight. Compared to the 100-300mm, the 100-400mm is a load, though manageable. If you don't need or want the extra zoom, the 100-300mm is much handier.

Both lenses are a barrel of fun to use!

Jack
 
katastrofa said:
I liked the Duelling Sapsuckers the most. The moss on the trees complements their colours very nicely. I like the environmental detail on many of them. Birds don't have to fill the frame completely on every photo.

I would work more on the composition. Some of the photos would benefit from an off-centre subject position. For example, the BIF photo would look IMHO nicer if the birds were at around 1/3 height, not in the vertical centre. You could also crop the Berwick's Wren photo a little to move the bird to the left - the twigs are not that interesting. You can't crop it too much though because the bird is a bit soft. It's hard to nail focus exactly on such small creatures :) The Spotted Towhee photo has the similar problem - the focus is on the twig behind the bird IMHO.

Practice, practice, practice :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the notes. I have been thinking about the framing/composition more lately, but reflexively seem to put the bird in the middle when shooting. The excitement of the moment takes over... Yes, practice!

Thanks
 
Setter Dog said:
macskater said:
Just upgraded from Lumix ZS-60 pocket zoom to the G85 and 100-400mm Pana/Leica zoom. Completely different experience! Dialed it in a bit after yesterday and pretty happy with results, especially as the light wasn't great. I had some very cooperative subjects!

Just trying to learn the camera/lens, so plenty of room for improvement, I know. I've learned a lot from this forum already, though. These are jpegs with very light processing/crop on a few.. Any advice is welcome.
Click to expand...
Wow!

That is quite an upgrade in both quality and weight!

I think your bird pictures are excellent. I especially like the Towhee, beautiful birds that we see from time to time in our yard. I wish you had caught him in profile, showing the great colors.

I also have the 100-400mm on a G85 and find it a really fun combination. I had the 100-300mm before and it's also a fun lens.

After several weeks of use, though,I decided the weight forward imbalance of the G85/100-400mm needed improvement, so I ordered a third party battery base. I think it will be a real improvement to handling, even though it adds 10oz to the overall weight.

Thanks for showing us your great results!

Jack
Click to expand...
Thank you! I added another Towhee shot which is a bit more from the side...



fccfeeb3f44244669c6b15c2a8fb4267.jpg



The G85 with the 100-400mm size and balance reminds me a lot of my old Minolta SLR with zoom, so it feels very comfortable/familiar. I tried the 100-300mm at the store and as you said, lighter for sure, but I wanted the reach. Let us know how you like the battery base.
 
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