Panasonic seems to be on a roll with releasing telephoto lenses lately.
They just announced their new 50-200 F/2.8-F/4 Leica lens.
They also have:
“High End or Pro grade”
-35-100 F/2.8
-100-400 F/4-6.3 Leica
-200 F/2.8 Leica + 1.4tc or 2tc for a 280 F/4 or a 400 F/5.6
“Mid-range”
-45-200 F/4-5.6
-100-300 F/4-5.6
Interesting lineup. Especially the Mid-range 45-200 which is more than $1,000 cheaper than the new Panasonic/Leica version. It would be quite interesting to compare those back to back.
The new lens can take the Teleconverters too. So you get a 70-280 F/4-5.6 at 1.4x or a 100-400 F/5.6-8 with the 2x.
What is interesting is that the Olympus 40-150 Pro with a 1.4TC nets you a 56-210. F/4 versus the panasonic 50-200 F/2.8-4.
The Olympus has slightly closer focus but is the slightly larger lens via weight and length. The Olympus is an astoundingly good lens even with the TC.
What I don’t see is a lens foot. That concerns me in use. And lens of this much telephoto and size ideally need a lens foot. Or at least an optional one. The mounts on these smaller cameras seem to not like the stress as much when you hang a big telephoto on them. I am curious to see how this pans outs. Both the 100-400 lens and the 200 from Panasonic have lens feet.
When you add up the telephoto options that both Olympus and Panasonic offer, we have some amazing choices. I know a lot of you use the 100-400 for wildlife and birding. Any thoughts on this new lens? Olympus has been concentrating on their Pro Prime line. With the 12-100 being quite the star though, I wonder if a 100-400 F/4 wouldn’t be next in line eventually. Thoughts?
Tony,
Would love a Olympus 100 – 500 F/4-5.6 lens.
Wishes do come true!
I am considering the Panasonic 100-400.
If Olympus had had an equivalent I would go for the Oly.