Not sure about my 100-400. Sometimes great, sometimes subpar...

[Olyhal]

Instead of buying a new lens, I suggest you buy the OM-1. It is that much better for bird photography. I have the 100-400 with the OM-1 and get a lot of useable shots, and as many will tell you too many shots.

I found spot metering does give much better exposures, and as a few have said, using the TC1.4 will reduce the quality of photos.

 

[Yannis1976]

I see a variety of problems on most of these images. Those include, miss-focus, the fact that in macro (butterflies) the creatures are very large in the image and even slight movement of the creature results in a change of focus, too high of ISO on a few images (sun), and it looks like missing getting the exposure as close as possible to accurate so that PP adds noise or gives poor whites, and probably some other errors.

In macro of creatures like butterflies and bees expect a low hit rate because of the above mostly. Shoot bursts and expect to throw 2/3 of the shots away.

But I have no issues with butterflies or general macro. The issues are mainly with birds, especially at sunny days!

 

[da7329]

It’s the body most likely. The AF is just not that consistent on the em1’s or g9. I have the 300 pro and using it on these bodies still AF can be hit or miss. Comparing it to my D500 with a cheap 100-400 the D500 gives more in focus shots in a burst. Better get an om1 to improve AF performance. Pity it took so many years to get a MFT body with class leading AF performance.

DA

 

[tammons]

Instead of buying a new lens, I suggest you buy the OM-1. It is that much better for bird photography. I have the 100-400 with the OM-1 and get a lot of useable shots, and as many will tell you too many shots.

I found spot metering does give much better exposures, and as a few have said, using the TC1.4 will reduce the quality of photos.

+1

 

[Mait]

It’s the body most likely. The AF is just not that consistent on the em1’s or g9. I have the 300 pro and using it on these bodies still AF can be hit or miss. Comparing it to my D500 with a cheap 100-400 the D500 gives more in focus shots in a burst. Better get an om1 to improve AF performance. Pity it took so many years to get a MFT body with class leading AF performance.

DA

I was wondering what could improve AF, get 300 pro for my em5III or get OM1....well maybe om5 someday and keep my 100-400 Oly.

I see many people are suggesting the second choice.

 

[Trevor Carpenter]

It’s the body most likely. The AF is just not that consistent on the em1’s or g9. I have the 300 pro and using it on these bodies still AF can be hit or miss. Comparing it to my D500 with a cheap 100-400 the D500 gives more in focus shots in a burst. Better get an om1 to improve AF performance. Pity it took so many years to get a MFT body with class leading AF performance.

DA

As an OM-1 user, I'm not convinced that the AF is class leading. It is very good and the subject detection is extremely good at subject detecting but I still get bursts that are less than perfect when it turns the detection into actual focus. I'm more than happy with it but I'm sure there is room for further improvement.

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[da7329]

Maybe I should have said close to class leading. But class leading compared to older MFT bodes. I’m using older bodies but not for BIF or action. Stills in dark wet rain forest conditions. Weather sealing my main reason for using MFT in specific shooting conditions.

DA

 

[victorav]

I see a variety of problems on most of these images. Those include, miss-focus, the fact that in macro (butterflies) the creatures are very large in the image and even slight movement of the creature results in a change of focus, too high of ISO on a few images (sun), and it looks like missing getting the exposure as close as possible to accurate so that PP adds noise or gives poor whites, and probably some other errors.

In macro of creatures like butterflies and bees expect a low hit rate because of the above mostly. Shoot bursts and expect to throw 2/3 of the shots away.

But I have no issues with butterflies or general macro. The issues are mainly with birds, especially at sunny days!

 

[tammons]

Maybe I should have said close to class leading. But class leading compared to older MFT bodes. I’m using older bodies but not for BIF or action. Stills in dark wet rain forest conditions. Weather sealing my main reason for using MFT in specific shooting conditions.

DA

It is not perfect but it is class leading for mirrorless or close to it.

A friend has the Z9 and says they are about equal.

 

[Yannis1976]

It’s the body most likely. The AF is just not that consistent on the em1’s or g9. I have the 300 pro and using it on these bodies still AF can be hit or miss. Comparing it to my D500 with a cheap 100-400 the D500 gives more in focus shots in a burst. Better get an om1 to improve AF performance. Pity it took so many years to get a MFT body with class leading AF performance.

DA

I was wondering what could improve AF, get 300 pro for my em5III or get OM1....well maybe om5 someday and keep my 100-400 Oly.

I see many people are suggesting the second choice.

Well yes, that seems to be the most probable scenario. Waiting to see what OM5 will bring..

 

[Promeneur]

I'm going to be the last one to offer you advice, but I have the PL100 - 400 and I know in my case from luck I occasionally take a few photos with this lens that I like to humbly think are quite good. So, for me that rules out any thought that I have a "bad copy". I've come to the conclusion that aside from also considering the light at the moment and atmospherics I have to perservere and work on my skills with this lens. I find shooting with such a long focal length that I have a lot to learn, plus then there is also the learning curve in post for me. You're way ahead of me, so I enjoy your photos and look forward to reaching your level even if there might be some perceived technical difficulties that I don't see and most people outside of this forum probably would never see unless they are professional photographers or accomplished enthusiasts! Perhaps a new camera such as an OM-1 that matches the pro-level quality of the lens along with your skills will help you find what you are looking for. For me you really nailed it in a number of the photos you posted in this thread!

 

[Yannis1976]

I'm going to be the last one to offer you advice, but I have the PL100 - 400 and I know in my case from luck I occasionally take a few photos with this lens that I like to humbly think are quite good. So, for me that rules out any thought that I have a "bad copy". I've come to the conclusion that aside from also considering the light at the moment and atmospherics I have to perservere and work on my skills with this lens. I find shooting with such a long focal length that I have a lot to learn, plus then there is also the learning curve in post for me. You're way ahead of me, so I enjoy your photos and look forward to reaching your level even if there might be some perceived technical difficulties that I don't see and most people outside of this forum probably would never see unless they are professional photographers or accomplished enthusiasts! Perhaps a new camera such as an OM-1 that matches the pro-level quality of the lens along with your skills will help you find what you are looking for. For me you really nailed it in a number of the photos you posted in this thread!

Thank you for kind words. I guess I might be asking a lot from such a long lens and atmospheric conditions are more important here than any other kind of photography.

 

[Woody Meristem]

Take a look at the ISOs in the two batches of photographs, in the second batch you're shooting at much higher ISOs. That;s a bit of a problem in and of itself as well as the issues other have mentioned.

 

[Yannis1976]

Well, it seems lens can be sharp enough and I needed to change my technique. With the Fuji combo, since the 70-300 is smaller, manual focusing/correcting is easier. With the EM1/3+100-400 the whole combo is a bit bigger, the manual ring a bit further and I was trying to rely solely on the CAF. Wrong! As soon as I started focusing manually on the birds (correcting actually the initial CAF lock...), subjects started to look much better...











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[AshleyMC]

Well, it seems lens can be sharp enough and I needed to change my technique. With the Fuji combo, since the 70-300 is smaller, manual focusing/correcting is easier. With the EM1/3+100-400 the whole combo is a bit bigger, the manual ring a bit further and I was trying to rely solely on the CAF. Wrong! As soon as I started focusing manually on the birds (correcting actually the initial CAF lock...), subjects started to look much better...

Bravo!

Great images!

 

[kbouk]

Well, it seems lens can be sharp enough and I needed to change my technique. With the Fuji combo, since the 70-300 is smaller, manual focusing/correcting is easier. With the EM1/3+100-400 the whole combo is a bit bigger, the manual ring a bit further and I was trying to rely solely on the CAF. Wrong! As soon as I started focusing manually on the birds (correcting actually the initial CAF lock...), subjects started to look much better...

If you find that the manual corrections with CAF is about the same for all your photos maybe you can control it with a calibration inside menu Lens Data setting.

But unfortunately you can’t correct lens aberrations and fringing when you have difficult light in scene

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Cheers
Costas

 

[Zbynek Hromek]

PL 100-400 is a very good lens, but condition for good results is aperture F8.

 

[Zbynek Hromek]

full size

 

[tammons]

Not really true as a blanket statement. It depends on the copy variation, and that is fairly wide.

 

[DocBobB]

Well, it seems lens can be sharp enough and I needed to change my technique. With the Fuji combo, since the 70-300 is smaller, manual focusing/correcting is easier. With the EM1/3+100-400 the whole combo is a bit bigger, the manual ring a bit further and I was trying to rely solely on the CAF. Wrong! As soon as I started focusing manually on the birds (correcting actually the initial CAF lock...), subjects started to look much better...

Pretty darn good I say!



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Bob B
In use: Olympus OMD E-M1 mkii; OMD EM-1 mki; mZuiko12~100; m.Zuiko 100-400; Panasonic 45-175 PZ; Pan/Leica 25mm f1.4; m.zuiko 75-300; Rokinon 7.5 fisheye; Zuiko 50mm macro and EC14; Zuiko 50~200 ED, fl36, old e-510.
On the shelf: e30, EC20, 18~180, 14~42, 40~150, Zuiko12~60,