| 100-300mm |
$495 average price |
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Buy the Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 ASPH MEGA OIS LUMIX G VARIO
(From Panasonic lens literature) The new handheld telephoto zoom lens LUMIX G VARIO 100-300mm / F4.0-5.6 / MEGA O.I.S. can photograph ultra-telephoto zoom shots at 300mm (35 mm camera equivalent: 600 mm), but is light enough to carry easily for everyday distance shooting, like sporting events. Because of its compact size, photographers can achieve a high compression effect in distance photography without any need for a heavy tripod. Panasonic's MEGA Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S.) suppresses blur by compensating for hand shaking that can severely affect zoom shots.
The telephoto zoom lens combines 17 elements in 12 groups including an ED lens. By incorporating the ED lens in the first lens group, the chromatic aberration is suppressed to render sharp, high contrast images with stable optical performance over the entire zoom range. The integration of a stepping motor with an exclusive zoom tracking control system and inner focus drive system create a quiet, accurate and high speed contrast AF.
The new LUMIX G VARIO 100-300mm / F4.0-5.6 / MEGA O.I.S. (H-FS100300) includes seven blades to give the aperture a rounded shape. This rounded aperture produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. A strong metal mount is durable for heavy use, and multi-coated lens elements minimize ghosts and flare.
The new Panasonic LUMIX G VARIO 100-300mm / F4.0-5.6 / MEGA O.I.S. lens will be available in November for suggested retail price of $599.95
Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 ASPH MEGA OIS LUMIX G VARIO
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Micro Four Thirds - Black
Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 ASPH MEGA OIS LUMIX G VARIO User Reviews
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Very sharp between 100-200mm and sharp till 250mm. Good color, average contrast.Lack micro contrast and strong CA at 300mm. Focus ring a little stiff. Focus can be faster.
I was skeptical about this lens before buying it a few months ago. I had read few bad reviews about it.
reviewed July 14th, 2018 (purchased for $250)
After three months using it I'm very happy with this Panasonic 100-300mm.
It delivers very good pictures between 100-200mm range and it's still good at 250mm.
At 300mm problem is not resolution but lack of micro contrast and presence of chromatic aberrations which
give pictures on the dull side.
I use CS6 with Nik plugin (Tonal Contrast) with great success to raise micro contrast and CS6 lens correction
to get rid of CA.
Resulting images are not exactly what you would obtain with Panasonic 200mm or Olympus 300mm, but it's close enough.
Build compares with my Nikon 70-300mm VR. Focus ring is stiff but not that stiff.
VR on the lens is not as good as the VR on my E-M5 so I just unplug it.
Focus is not that fast so for sport and flying birds better buy version II
Lens is a little slow (f/5.6) to take good pictures when sky is covered so you won't miss wheather protection
ring of model II.
I'm happy with Panasonic 100-300mm considering I paid 250$ and would but it again. -
sharp, long range 600mm equiv..None
Impressed, impressed, impressed. I was looking for a cheap tele to use on the Lumix GH3. My main need where in the 100-200mm lens, I assumed after 200mm this lens would became unusable like the Nikon 70-300. Actually I was wrong. I use it all the way. Sure is not a $2000 lens but it is an amazing value. I'm currently in Hawaii and I took this lens to catch surfers, I ended up getting amazing photos of whales jumping out of the ocean miles from the coast where I was. I couldn't believe, I was doing this without a 600mm Nikkor and my D800. Just amazing for a sub $500 lens.
reviewed February 14th, 2014 (purchased for $485) -
good optics in a small packagestabilisation doesn't work as well as Nikon's VR
When I first tried this lens I was a little disappointed but as I've got used to it I've come to rate this little lens.
reviewed June 17th, 2013 (purchased for $550)
Optics are very good. I would say it is a little short sighted it does a better job when objects are closer.
Focus is fine I just wish that Panny/Oly would sort out their continuous auto focus.
My one gripe is with the image stablilsation which I think is a little weaker than Nikons VR -
cheap / good image qualitysoft starting from 250 mm
I really like this lens - image Q is very good - suits my OM-D perfectly
reviewed December 25th, 2012 (purchased for $400) -
Great reach for Size, OIS works greatLens creep and wobble
This lens is amazing when you consider the long end is a 35mm equivalent 0f 600mm . It now work on my GH2. It has a great size and weight for it's reach. The manual focus ring works great. It is large and smooth. Comes with the lens shade that reverses for storage.
reviewed December 13th, 2011 (purchased for $539)
Did I say great reach. I should. Great performer for it's focal length. A reasonable price when compared to the alternatives. The OIS works great.
I plan on using this lens for video recording. -
sharpness, focal range, size, IQ, OIS, high buildslightly expensive but none if you can afford it
It took me ages to decide on this lens as I need something compact and still with high image quality and clarity. Though the lens is not as compact as you would expect from other micro four thirds, it is still smaller and lighter then Canon and nikon 70-300 mm IS and VR variants, and atleast as sharp (I have tried excellent 70-300 VR on Nikon D90) and Best IQ level Sigma 150mm macro on Oly Pen E-P1 with the adapter, which was very very heavy.
reviewed October 29th, 2011 (purchased for $540)
Pros:
+ IQ Excellent on all focal lengths (I mostly used 100- 210mm, very few at 300mm) and most apperture I tried (never closed it under f 1:8). Even works wonder at f 1:4.
+ Mega OIS is excellent, but I suggest turn it off if you are taking any shot faster than roughly 1/125 sec or on tripod, it will save you some battery life and probably better IQ in few cases, just like any other IS system.
+ Excellent build from plastic and very good rubberised focus and zoom rings, that you can always expect from Pany. Same or better than 14-140mm kit lens.
+ Very accurate and fast AF on GH1, for this focal range.
Cons:
- Price is somewhat high, but almost the same range of Nikon and Olympus in the same range, so see if you need a lens on this focal range (best for Safari, bird shots, shots from the top of the hill), then this is the one you should seriously consider. Other four third and bigger body lenses can be sometime fast but not as fast to focus and very heavy and very very expensive if you want this kind of clarity.
It is still probably the biggest in size among all Pany M4/3 lenses, but the IQ and features deserves the size, weight is very light comparatively.
Update:
I used the lens on couple of recent event and trips and it never disappointed me. If you like to have a look at real world scenerio, feel free to have a look at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hakeem-na/sets/72157628921096263/
The set is dedicated to my Pany 100-300mm and I am definately keeping this lens. -
small and lightweight for its range, very good overall image qualityzooming not smooth, lower contrast and edges less sharp at the long end
The lens is well built and seems to be a very solid contruction. Autofocus is fast and almost silent (however, still noticeable more noisy than the autofocus in my 14-140). OIS works well, but is a bit noisy if you use the lens for filming in relatively silent surroundings. Zooming is okay, but not as smooth as with the 14-140 (might be a problem when shooting video).
reviewed January 19th, 2011 (purchased for $700)
Even wide open sharpness and contrastat are excellent in the range between 100-200mm. Stopping down only improves the edges marginally. Here the lens is on par with the performance of the 14-140 in its sweet spot around 20-50mm and noticeably better than the 14-140 at the long end. Zooming from 200 to 300mm, contrast gets somewhat lower and wide open the edges are a bit blurry, especially at 300mm. At 300mm the performance is quite similar to the 14-140 at 140mm: still decent, but stopping down to f=8.0 is advisable for obtaining sharp edges and optimal contrast. Distortion is not an issue, but there is some vignetting wide open, especially at 300 mm.
Overall, I think that the 100-300 is an excellent supplement to the Panasonic 14-140. You not only get the extra range (comparable to 5,6/600 for full frame!) for shooting wildlife, sports etc. - you also get a noticeably superior performance to the 14-140 in the range between 100-140mm.
