Olympus 100-400 on the G9?

Hi folks

I have a G9 that I am very,very pleased with, and I use it for everything, from portraits, sports, macro to landscape etc. I used to have a Lumix 100-300 MKII, for birding and wildlife, however this was before I got the G9.

Used to have a GX9 and the lens felt a bit massive on that one. Also I found it i bit mediocre at the long end, so I got rid off it.

I still miss the focal lenght, as the longest I have now is the Lumix 14-140mm.  A nice lens, but doesn't really cover my needs for birding etc.

I am now considering the new Olympus 100-400, or a slightly used PanaLeica 100-400.

However these PanaLeicas are hard to come by where I live, and it

is about 4-500 Euros more than the Oly new, at least here in Norway.

From what I have seen/read about the Oly, it seems to be at least as sharp as the Lumix, but all those tests have been on Oly bodies.

Probably a bit early,, but if anyone has this lens and tried it on a Pana body, I ould be delighted to get some feedback on your thoughts/first impressions.

I understand I would miss some functions when paired with the G9, but it's still tempting at the current price.

rashid7 wrote:

Fairland, you shouldn't lose anything in using it on your G9, vs on an OMD. But only w/ the P-Leica lens would u get the extra (small?) boost of stab and AF from Dual IS & DFD.

Oly fans are always screaming about the advantages of on-sensor phase-det. AF, but the reality is it only makes a small diff in rare cases.

Thanks Rashid. I'm not to worried about the Dual-IS issue, as this will be mostly used on a tripod. The second after i posted I noticed another post comparing the Oly to the Pana, on a G9......However that shot were handheld, and not really showing anything I didn't expect, as the Dual-IS should be superior handheld.

Fairlane wrote:

rashid7 wrote:

Fairland, you shouldn't lose anything in using it on your G9, vs on an OMD. But only w/ the P-Leica lens would u get the extra (small?) boost of stab and AF from Dual IS & DFD.

Oly fans are always screaming about the advantages of on-sensor phase-det. AF, but the reality is it only makes a small diff in rare cases.

Thanks Rashid. I'm not to worried about the Dual-IS issue, as this will be mostly used on a tripod. The second after i posted I noticed another post comparing the Oly to the Pana, on a G9......However that shot were handheld, and not really showing anything I didn't expect, as the Dual-IS should be superior handheld.

there is no dual is on olympus or panasonic with this lens so will perform equally well on both with ois recommended.Only 2 lenses from olympus that sync is and it is the 300mm and 12-100mm .

Oly lens on G9 = no proper DFD = forget about fast and accurate autofocus. The only Oly lens I am fine using on G9 is 60mm macro, and solely because fast autofocus is not particularly important for macro. So I would not even think about buying an Oly telephoto for G9. Go for PL100-400 only.

Dual IS is something everyone seems to be talking about, and I don't know why Isn't lens OS enough? There's always subject movement which limits shutter speed anyway. But yes, from this point it's also better to go for PL100-400.

cambirdee wrote:

Oly lens on G9 = no proper DFD = forget about fast and accurate autofocus. The only Oly lens I am fine using on G9 is 60mm macro, and solely because fast autofocus is not particularly important for macro. So I would not even think about buying an Oly telephoto for G9. Go for PL100-400 only.

Dual IS is something everyone seems to be talking about, and I don't know why Isn't lens OS enough? There's always subject movement which limits shutter speed anyway. But yes, from this point it's also better to go for PL100-400.

Although i would probably lean towards the PL lens because of size, err...I have yet to find an Olympus lens to AF slowly on my GX8...(or GF1...or GM1...or...).

Olympus lenses focuses just fine on Panasonic bodies. Sometimes even faster than Olympus bodies (supposedly). Panasonic probably has one of the fastest CFS around. DFD just makes it a little faster.

I've posted some initial experiences here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64304421

In my brief experience, the Oly lens IS is not as effective as Pana dual IS with PL100-400. G9 also does not allow you to use IBIS with any stabilized Oly lenses.

Another observation is that the Oly lens, like most other Oly lenses in my experience, feels a bit looser on the Pana mount. Perhaps not a real life concern though.

Sharpness between the lenses in my test was quite similar, but with Pana having a slight edge. There will always be sample variation though and therefore I would not make the conclusion that Pana by design is sharper.

Having now used both PL100-400 and Oly 100-400mm for a couple of days side by side, I probably prefer the Pana, mainly due to it's size, handling and dual IS with G9. It's close though. I would recommend to try out both in a shop.

Marko

I use the Panasonic100-400mm, mainly on the G9. A great combo that work well together. I use handheld and, in prolonged usage situations, on a monopod, because the wildlife is usually moving. Having said that, the 100-400mm makes for great macro type shots, on its own or ith Raynox 150 and Canon 500 d.

I've had my 100-400 for about three years, yes, it's a little stiff but I preferred to keep it rather than send it back (as they offered) to E-Infinity. They are out of stock right now but, if they deliver to your location, it might be worth asking for notification when in stock - https://www.e-infin.com/uk/item/2944/panasonic_leica_dg_vario-elmar_100-400mm_f/4-6.3_asph._power_o.i.s._lens

The Olympus 100-400mm looks good but, as a new lens, the price is high and may not come down for months. Given you have a G9, then the Pansonic lens, bought at E-Infinity prices, would seem to be the better buy.

windmillgolfer wrote:

I use the Panasonic100-400mm, mainly on the G9. A great combo that work well together. I use handheld and, in prolonged usage situations, on a monopod, because the wildlife is usually moving. Having said that, the 100-400mm makes for great macro type shots, on its own or ith Raynox 150 and Canon 500 d.

I've had my 100-400 for about three years, yes, it's a little stiff but I preferred to keep it rather than send it back (as they offered) to E-Infinity. They are out of stock right now but, if they deliver to your location, it might be worth asking for notification when in stock - https://www.e-infin.com/uk/item/2944/panasonic_leica_dg_vario-elmar_100-400mm_f/4-6.3_asph._power_o.i.s._lens

The Olympus 100-400mm looks good but, as a new lens, the price is high and may not come down for months. Given you have a G9, then the Pansonic lens, bought at E-Infinity prices, would seem to be the better buy.

Sounds about right.  The Oly looks fine, probably very similar to the PL but if you have a G9 then sticking the PL10-400 seem to make a lot more sense.

In Gordan's review, he touches on the G9 users around the 11:10 mark, says it should work fine and then later compares it to the PL100-400. Maybe this will help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxXfO1uPVTA

Marko_Finland wrote:

I've posted some initial experiences here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64304421

In my brief experience, the Oly lens IS is not as effective as Pana dual IS with PL100-400. G9 also does not allow you to use IBIS with any stabilized Oly lenses.

Another observation is that the Oly lens, like most other Oly lenses in my experience, feels a bit looser on the Pana mount. Perhaps not a real life concern though.

Sharpness between the lenses in my test was quite similar, but with Pana having a slight edge. There will always be sample variation though and therefore I would not make the conclusion that Pana by design is sharper.

Having now used both PL100-400 and Oly 100-400mm for a couple of days side by side, I probably prefer the Pana, mainly due to it's size, handling and dual IS with G9. It's close though. I would recommend to try out both in a shop.

Marko

Thanks, much appreciated 

jalywol wrote:

No, no, no. I have used both Oly and Panasonic lenses on Panasonic bodies, and DFD or not, they have very fast AF with both. IF you shoot C-AF with tracking, the DFD with a Panasonic lens will have a small advantage on a Panasonic body, but otherwise, it's really a wash.

AFS on a static subject - yes. AFF/AFC - I think the advantage is not small, but I admit I haven't tested this systematically, it's an overall impression. I don't know what usage scenario the OP has in mind, but even for fairly static birds / insects AF is definitely important. If the OP had an Oly body, then Oly 100-400 would be the obvious choice given the price difference.

If I had a Panasonic body, I wouldn't even consider the new Oly 100-400.  I have one that I use on an Oly EM1MK2 and it has been a wonderful lens.  My most used lens actually.  I suspect there is little difference between performance of the two.  The Oly is considerably bulkier and somewhat heavier than the Panny.  The Panny is a little unconventional in design, but it performs very well indeed.  Both lenses have the same close focus ability and that's pretty important I think.  Oly says their lens is weather sealed.  Panasonic says their lens is dust a water resistant.  ???  Of course you have dual stabilization with the Panny on your camera which can be useful.  Like you, I mainly use a tripod with this lens, but on occasion I hand hold it. If you don't need it very quickly, I'd bide my time a bit and see if you might catch it on sale.  If the money is no major consideration then just buy one and enjoy it.  I think you'll find it a good investment in pleasure and results.

Fairlane wrote:

However these PanaLeicas are hard to come by where I live, and it

is about 4-500 Euros more than the Oly new, at least here in Norway.

The PL 100-400mm is quite often on sale, I recently bought one for 1400€ from Finland. Norway is an EFTA country, you should be safe (duty-free) to buy from EU countries, right?

In fact, the lens is now 1300€ on the most reputable camera gear redistributor in Finland. I'm not sure if they will ship to Norway, but I will send you the details in a private message.