This goes on when my 14-140 comes off

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 🧐.!

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.

Small Glacier,running off the Vatnajokull,South Iceland (Panasonic lumix G Vario 100-300mm) 800th sec F8 ,iso 200.

That is one great example of a 100mm (200 equiv!) telephoto field of view in landscape photography. Splendid.

Thanks for the report and sharing!

I have the MkII version, and it is a very nice lens, and a pretty amazingly small package. It's my second most used lens (18.8%) after the 12-32.

Nice stuff there! And interesting to see it used differently than I use mine. I quite like the lens in spite of what many say about it. You have inspired me to expand my use of the tele-zoomer and I than you for doing so.

In the interests of weight, I restricted myself to the 14-140mm when I visited Iceland. And I went in August. You make me wish I'd been there in February with the 100-300mm, which I don't use frequently enough. Thanks for the inspiration and great images!

Thank you , appreciated , then you’ll have to return ! I’ve done similar things over 5 visits , it’s process not so much an event . Your right about the 14-140 , a Wolf in sheep’s clothing.

not too sure whether this year will a return ,given the current situation . Hope you can make it back soon . Should be posting some hints on a saving money on trips to iceland shortly .

best wishes , Dave

Great stuff ! Thank you 😊

OK I see what you mean, the f/5.6 shot is somewhat soft when looked at at 100%.

You have a 20MP sensor. On my G9 that's 5184 x 3888 pixels.

At 300 dpi, which is excellent reproduction quality, 5184/300 = 17.28 inches.

So you could make a 12.96 x 17.28 inch print of that, at 300dpi.  At that size, no one will inspect it up close to see any softness.  At 8x10" I guarantee softness in the original would not be detectable.

By the way, I have that 100-300mm zoom also and I use it on occassion - when I take off the 14-140 II !

Thanks Joseph

yes your right about the degree of enlargement, haven’t yet pressed the print button on the moonset image . But likely will in the very near future , my Olympus em MKii was the camera I used as I was perched leaning on the roof of a 4x4 just off the road (illegal to stop on the road in Iceland 🙄) and the moon was setting with great speed . I’ve found the Olympus IMage stabilisation to be incredible, allowing hand held with a large telephoto ,but I was panting a bit on this occasion , I was working with 16mp , but I take your point as the 4mp won’t make any difference in reality , it’s unlikely the lens could resolve much more on the sensor .But you’ve given me the required “ nudge” to press the print button ! Thank you 👍🏻.

Dave