Which m4/3 zoom lens

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Micro-four-thirds

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Hi all, I’m looking at purchasing a zoom lens to use on my Olympus m4/3 camera.
I currently have a Panasonic 14-140 which is great but I’m finding I could do with the extra zoom so I have been looking at the Olympus 75-300 or the Panasonic 100-300 but I’m undecided which to go for. Could you help point me in the right direction please?
It would be primarily for wildlife photography and ideally purchased used.
Many thanks.
 
Panasonic 100-300ii is generally regarded as the best choice in the range you mentioned.

Some people will say you should stick to the same make as the camera.
I used one of these quite happily on an E-M1 ii although it did work equally well on a Panasonic utilising the dual is
 
tijuana taxi said:
Panasonic 100-300ii is generally regarded as the best choice in the range you mentioned.

Some people will say you should stick to the same make as the camera.
I used one of these quite happily on an E-M1 ii although it did work equally well on a Panasonic utilising the dual is
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Thank you, I don’t seem to have any issues with the Panasonic 14-140 on the Olympus body.
 
Depending on your finances you could also go for the olympus 100-400 that is extremely versatile it can be used from extreme close ups to b.i.f wide open and retain its sharpness . Plus it takes a 1.4 tc as well
 
the black fox said:
Depending on your finances you could also go for the olympus 100-400 that is extremely versatile it can be used from extreme close ups to b.i.f wide open and retain its sharpness . Plus it takes a 1.4 tc as well
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Yes I originally looked at this but unfortunately the price point is a little too high for me at the moment. It does look a decent lens though.
 
I have the Lumix 100-300 f4-5.6 mkii. What's not to like ? It's affordable, you will find a excellent used one for less than £300.00.
It's managable, carry it all day without getting a hernia. It's certainly capable of excellent quality. Of course there is always bigger, better, faster at a price !
Learn it's limitations, it's not great in low light but modern cameras handle iso 3200 these days.
here is a couple of mine, not my best but chosen because they are taken at around max zoom.

600mm f6.3

P1000706_family3-L.jpg



572mm f7.1

P1000310_chaffinch1-L.jpg
 
badlywornroy said:
I have the Lumix 100-300 f4-5.6 mkii. What's not to like ? It's affordable, you will find a excellent used one for less than £300.00.
It's managable, carry it all day without getting a hernia. It's certainly capable of excellent quality. Of course there is always bigger, better, faster at a price !
Learn it's limitations, it's not great in low light but modern cameras handle iso 3200 these days.
here is a couple of mine, not my best but chosen because they are taken at around max zoom.

600mm f6.3

P1000706_family3-L.jpg



572mm f7.1

P1000310_chaffinch1-L.jpg
Click to expand...
Wow. Thanks for adding those. The quality is excellent. I have been reading reviews saying the images can be a little soft at the zoom end but these look ace to me.
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
Wow. Thanks for adding those. The quality is excellent. I have been reading reviews saying the images can be a little soft at the zoom end but these look ace to me.
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It is a bit softer at the long end, but for a FF equivalent of 600mm that's not unexpected
At that sort of range any camera shake will be amplified so some sort of support is helpful.
 
tijuana taxi said:
It is a bit softer at the long end, but for a FF equivalent of 600mm that's not unexpected
At that sort of range any camera shake will be amplified so some sort of support is helpful.
Click to expand...
I guess a lot of these 'professional testers' are used to lens ' exiotica ' make of that what you will.
My pictures are not straight out of camera, I am one of these guys who believe any image can be improved with careful, appropriate editing. I always shoot raw and these images will have been sharpened out of camera.
This is the sort of detail you can get with this lens.

300mm f6.3

P1000678_family2-X2.jpg
 
A tad oversharpened for me, but that's all very subjective.
I think its unrealistic to expect a superzoom lens to be sharp right through its focal length (12-100 excepted)
 
Yes, I have owned the 12-100, it is very good but when you have carried it all day you learn to 'hate it' :)
 
If funds are limited the other work round is aquire a mmf-2 or 3 adaptor and look at the range of four thirds lenses ,slightly heavier ,but full AF and functions and one hell of a lot cheaper . Works for me on a pension
 
badlywornroy said:
Yes, I have owned the 12-100, it is very good but when you have carried it all day you learn to 'hate it' :)
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I find the problem with the 12-100mm isn't the weight but the size. My E-M5 III & 12-100mm combo is lighter than the RX10 IV I used to carry all the time but that has a collapsing lens so is a much more compact package when not in use. The 12-100 just stays as a brick on the front of the camera.....
 
the black fox said:
If funds are limited the other work round is aquire a mmf-2 or 3 adaptor and look at the range of four thirds lenses ,slightly heavier ,but full AF and functions and one hell of a lot cheaper . Works for me on a pension
Click to expand...
That’s an idea. I nearly placed an order the other day thinking I was getting a great deal on a m4/3 zoom lens and then luckily in the basket I noticed it said 4/3lens not m4/3. I’d never heard of it before and didn’t realise you could get an adapter.
Will they all be full auto focus?
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
That’s an idea. I nearly placed an order the other day thinking I was getting a great deal on a m4/3 zoom lens and then luckily in the basket I noticed it said 4/3lens not m4/3. I’d never heard of it before and didn’t realise you could get an adapter.
Will they all be full auto focus?
Click to expand...
Yes all function exactly the same as the MFT ones ,some say the AF is slightly slower but it’s never bothered me , in fact with the 18-180 Last year I got a peregrine in flight mid stoop , some of them do suffer from ribbon failure though it’s usually the SW versions .
There are a few versions on adaptors available the viltrox ones being the cheapest but I didn’t find mine reliable but a friend does, then there’s the Olympus mmf-3 which tends to be expensive I use the older cheaper mmf-2 which works fine . Most lenses in the four thirds mount tend to sell around the £50 to £100 area though the big 50-200 goes for silly prices . If you have a look in the olympus thread on here I posted some wrecked boat shots taken with mine yesterday
 
the black fox said:
Yes all function exactly the same as the MFT ones ,some say the AF is slightly slower but it’s never bothered me , in fact with the 18-180 Last year I got a peregrine in flight mid stoop , some of them do suffer from ribbon failure though it’s usually the SW versions .
There are a few versions on adaptors available the viltrox ones being the cheapest but I didn’t find mine reliable but a friend does, then there’s the Olympus mmf-3 which tends to be expensive I use the older cheaper mmf-2 which works fine . Most lenses in the four thirds mount tend to sell around the £50 to £100 area though the big 50-200 goes for silly prices . If you have a look in the olympus thread on here I posted some wrecked boat shots taken with mine yesterday
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That’s great to know. Thank you.
I had a quick look at the mmf2 this morning and I had to look twice to make sure I was reading the price correctly. I couldn’t believe it was so cheap and that was from Amazon. Especially when you consider cannon adapters etc.
Yes I had a look at those this morning, they look really good.
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
That’s great to know. Thank you.
I had a quick look at the mmf2 this morning and I had to look twice to make sure I was reading the price correctly. I couldn’t believe it was so cheap and that was from Amazon. Especially when you consider cannon adapters etc.
Yes I had a look at those this morning, they look really good.
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Whoa steady on lad ,I had to when you said Amazon ..the ones on there are alternatives ,the mmf2 and 3 are no longer made which is why I looked .. it may well be fine to buy from Amazon given there returns policy but if you want genuine olympus ones you will have to search e.bay or dealers
 
the black fox said:
Whoa steady on lad ,I had to when you said Amazon ..the ones on there are alternatives ,the mmf2 and 3 are no longer made which is why I looked .. it may well be fine to buy from Amazon given there returns policy but if you want genuine olympus ones you will have to search e.bay or dealers
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Apologies, my mistake. I just checked again and it’s showing the photo of the Olympus mmf2 but then buying options below and prices from £38 for Chinese branded products.
If I go down that route I will definitely stick to the Olympus branded ones.
Thank you.
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
Hi all, I’m looking at purchasing a zoom lens to use on my Olympus m4/3 camera.
Click to expand...

You didn't mention which Olympus body. The E-M1, MX and (at least some) M5 lines all have PDAF sensors (phase detect). Lots of the others don't.
It's worth checking as without it I'm lead to believe 4/3rds focusing will be very slow using CDAF (contrast detect).

I have the Olympus 75-300mm on an M10ii - it's capable. It's worth considering that 300mm (600mm equiv) is a challenge to hand hold.
I thought mine was soft, but when I rested it on the window cill, pointed it down the road from my upstairs window at the bus stop I discovered the "softness" was just camera shake.
I suspect on a body with better stabilisation it would be better.

It's also comparatively slow/dark at the long end. Taking pictures of baby seals in December at Horsey gap I was getting all kinds of fur blur because the shutter was slow and the wind was up. So set your expectations approriately.

Here's a handful I took before I let my Flickr Pro expire.
flic.kr

Olympus M.75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II

Pictures taken with the Olympus 75-300mm f4.8-6.7 II lens
flic.kr flic.kr
 
Hi sorry, it’s the Olympus em10 mk4
AMcUK said:
You didn't mention which Olympus body. The E-M1, MX and (at least some) M5 lines all have PDAF sensors (phase detect). Lots of the others don't.
It's worth checking as without it I'm lead to believe 4/3rds focusing will be very slow using CDAF (contrast detect).

I have the Olympus 75-300mm on an M10ii - it's capable. It's worth considering that 300mm (600mm equiv) is a challenge to hand hold.
I thought mine was soft, but when I rested it on the window cill, pointed it down the road from my upstairs window at the bus stop I discovered the "softness" was just camera shake.
I suspect on a body with better stabilisation it would be better.

It's also comparatively slow/dark at the long end. Taking pictures of baby seals in December at Horsey gap I was getting all kinds of fur blur because the shutter was slow and the wind was up. So set your expectations approriately.

Here's a handful I took before I let my Flickr Pro expire.
flic.kr

Olympus M.75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II

Pictures taken with the Olympus 75-300mm f4.8-6.7 II lens
flic.kr flic.kr
Click to expand...
 
In that case james I would stick with MFT lenses ,plus your probably pushing the limits with a 75-300 as explained in the previous post .. a lot of us have been through the mill with bodies and lenses etc ..
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear
 
the black fox said:
In that case james I would stick with MFT lenses ,plus your probably pushing the limits with a 75-300 as explained in the previous post .. a lot of us have been through the mill with bodies and lenses etc ..
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear
Click to expand...
Thank you. Would the above issues just be exacerbated if I were to stretch my budget to the 100-400 in m4/3?
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
Thank you. Would the above issues just be exacerbated if I were to stretch my budget to the 100-400 in m4/3?
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More than likely ! To get the best from the bigger lenses you really need a minimum of a 1-mkii or 1-mkiii as you then have faster focus ,plus stabilised lens with pitch and yaw from the body ..
Not sure on the spec on the 10mkiv but it’s not going to compete with the higher end models .
That’s the name of the game whether it’s canon,Nikon,Sony etc I suggest going to Flickr and doing a search based on camera model and lens variations to see what can be achieved with your chosen models
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
Very nice images. Thank you for posting. I am impressed with the quality.
Click to expand...
The Oly 75-300 is generally cheaper than the panny 100-400 and imo the image quality is just as good. The panny does have the advantage of being a little faster wide open and at the long end, 1/2 stop if I recall correctly.
 
My 2p worth - I've never used a 100-400 but it will be hard work to hand hold at the long end.
If google is correct then apart from being a lot more expensive the 100-400 also twice the weight of the 75-300.
Might work in your favour but I'd be surprised.
If you're planning on using a tripod then it might useful to have the extra reach.

I got the 75-300 for the rare occasions when I take motorsport pictures and the rarer ones when I shoot wildlife - almost only seals at Horsey in winter.
For the money I paid it's cracking. If I was into proper long lens photography I'd look at an EM1 ii or iii with a lens that supports dual synch stabilisation.
 
AMcUK said:
My 2p worth - I've never used a 100-400 but it will be hard work to hand hold at the long end.
If google is correct then apart from being a lot more expensive the 100-400 also twice the weight of the 75-300.
Might work in your favour but I'd be surprised.
If you're planning on using a tripod then it might useful to have the extra reach.

I got the 75-300 for the rare occasions when I take motorsport pictures and the rarer ones when I shoot wildlife - almost only seals at Horsey in winter.
For the money I paid it's cracking. If I was into proper long lens photography I'd look at an EM1 ii or iii with a lens that supports dual synch stabilisation.
Click to expand...
In answer to your 2p worth , that’s actually not the case . The 100-400 be it either the olympus or PL versions is really easy to hand hold and keep on target , having owned both and 100% of the time shooting handheld I can state that’s a fact , and for the record books I’m not a super fit spring chicken , now 76 and with a dodgy ticker to .
Also you will find that when using these super zooms you DO NOT have dual i.s the 1 series bodies allow for lens i.s priority , plus pitch and yaw from the body that’s all you get ..
The main advantage of the Olympus lens is it also works extremely well with the 1.4 tc also hand held and there’s more than a few shots on my flickrstream plus on here to prove it
 
Hi all, I wanted to provide an update.
I have purchased the Panasonic 100-300mm lens from mpb on Thursday and it arrived yesterday. I have only had a quick look over it yesterday and it’s virtually brand new. It came complete with lens bag, box, end and front caps etc.
I am really impressed so far and am hoping to get out today or tomorrow to give it a try. Thank you all for your advice.
And many thanks to mpb for their excellent service. I was dubious purchasing from them after reading reviews on here and then I was nervous when it said dpd are delivering but all went really well and I will certainly be purchasing from them again.
 
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