Vivas7
Member
I bought this lens a couple of years ago of eBay . The lens arrived and turned out to be extremely well cared for ,complete with protective uv filter . Although thrilled at the condition , my cynical side thought ,why has he sold it , hoping it was lack of use than performance , it turned out to be the former.
This lens basically goes on when my favourite lens runs out of range (incidentally ,the 2nd version of the 14mm-140mm is the best zoom lens I’ve ever used ,sharp at both ends of its range ) The 100mm-300mm is a snug fit on my Olympus OMD MKii , just slightly touching the arc tripod adapter in the process.
I've mainly used this lens on my trips to Iceland .In the crisp ,clear ,cold days on distant subjects mainly to compress perspective , in these cases I’ve found a couple of points that might help the prospective user .
1. For the ditherers amongst us and lens at the long end ,1000th sec is your aim ,yep, I know you shouldn’t have to but shutter shock can also be an issue which it is on my Panasonic GX8 but not on my Olympus .In every case ,up the ISO to shorten the shutter speed and reduce the F stop (F8 ) to utilise the sweet spot of this lens .
2. F8 for maximum sharpness , not bothered about Bokeh ,it’s landscapes , but hard to avoid on close subjects anyway . F5.6 there is softness evident (see examples ) the moon in one of the shots is a little fuzzy but that was an atmospheric issue as it was early daytime ).I think I would have done better if I had taken my own counsel and upped the ISO to 800 to sharpen the mountains in the foreground.
3.weather sealing was never an issue ,as the newer version is weather sealed , as soon as the weather deteriorates to that degree ,I’m out of there ! I’ve used this lens in -10°c with no problems ,before or after .
There are other lenses encompassing this range that quite frankly are sharper ,but as most of us do not have the disposable income of a Russian oligarch , while the better lens might be in excess of £2000 ,will our images we proudly print out at 12x16 or view on our iPads appear to be £1500 better ! Hmm
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if your OK with the above I highly recommend this lens , there is no perfect lens , for the most ,the telezooms tend to soften at the long end , the one in my experience not to do this is the afore mentioned Panasonic 14-140mm (2nd version ) .
the 100-300mm seems to have the best compromise if you can learn how to outwit it’s shortcomings .
Fjalsarlon,near Jokulsarlon Iceland . 300mm (Panasonic 100-300mm G vario ) 200th sec F8 iso 200.
Small Glacier,running off the Vatnajokull,South Iceland (Panasonic lumix G Vario 100-300mm) 800th sec F8 ,iso 200.
Setting moon ,Fjalsarlon, South Iceland . (Panasonic lumix G Vario 100-300mm) 500th Sec, F5.6 ISO 200.
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David Leslie Smith
This lens basically goes on when my favourite lens runs out of range (incidentally ,the 2nd version of the 14mm-140mm is the best zoom lens I’ve ever used ,sharp at both ends of its range ) The 100mm-300mm is a snug fit on my Olympus OMD MKii , just slightly touching the arc tripod adapter in the process.
I've mainly used this lens on my trips to Iceland .In the crisp ,clear ,cold days on distant subjects mainly to compress perspective , in these cases I’ve found a couple of points that might help the prospective user .
1. For the ditherers amongst us and lens at the long end ,1000th sec is your aim ,yep, I know you shouldn’t have to but shutter shock can also be an issue which it is on my Panasonic GX8 but not on my Olympus .In every case ,up the ISO to shorten the shutter speed and reduce the F stop (F8 ) to utilise the sweet spot of this lens .
2. F8 for maximum sharpness , not bothered about Bokeh ,it’s landscapes , but hard to avoid on close subjects anyway . F5.6 there is softness evident (see examples ) the moon in one of the shots is a little fuzzy but that was an atmospheric issue as it was early daytime ).I think I would have done better if I had taken my own counsel and upped the ISO to 800 to sharpen the mountains in the foreground.
3.weather sealing was never an issue ,as the newer version is weather sealed , as soon as the weather deteriorates to that degree ,I’m out of there ! I’ve used this lens in -10°c with no problems ,before or after .
There are other lenses encompassing this range that quite frankly are sharper ,but as most of us do not have the disposable income of a Russian oligarch , while the better lens might be in excess of £2000 ,will our images we proudly print out at 12x16 or view on our iPads appear to be £1500 better ! Hmm
.!if your OK with the above I highly recommend this lens , there is no perfect lens , for the most ,the telezooms tend to soften at the long end , the one in my experience not to do this is the afore mentioned Panasonic 14-140mm (2nd version ) .
the 100-300mm seems to have the best compromise if you can learn how to outwit it’s shortcomings .
Fjalsarlon,near Jokulsarlon Iceland . 300mm (Panasonic 100-300mm G vario ) 200th sec F8 iso 200.
Small Glacier,running off the Vatnajokull,South Iceland (Panasonic lumix G Vario 100-300mm) 800th sec F8 ,iso 200.
Setting moon ,Fjalsarlon, South Iceland . (Panasonic lumix G Vario 100-300mm) 500th Sec, F5.6 ISO 200.
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David Leslie Smith
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