Olympus 300mm F/4 Pro Lens Update
Not a question, but (for Panasonic shooters some great news) thought you’d like to know the upcoming Olympus 300mm f4 Pro is going to have image stabilization! You can see a photo of it at http://www.43rumors.com/
Happier Days are Near!
Best wishes,
Dean
Looking forward to testing this lens Dean. Thanks for the heads up. Based on the stellar performance of the Olympus 40-150mm F/2.8, this should also be an incredible option for those that need truly professional telephoto reach. This lens, along with the coming Leica 100-400mm zoom from Panasonic Lumix, will finally round out the Micro Four Thirds world of lenses.
The new 100-400mm F/4-6.3 super zoom. Keeping in mind that all Micro Four Thirds lenses need to be multiplied X2, this will be a full frame equivalent of 200-800mm zoom. Wow, if this is as sharp as I predict, this will be a game changer.
Although the Olympus will be a bit faster than the 100-400mm F/5.6-6.3, the convenience of the zoom will a major advantage. That said, there may be times we could use the speed of the Olympus and that is the reason I will be testing both and most likely having both in my camera bag after the test period.
Olympus 300mm F/4 to get Image Stabilization.
I know you have the ‘inside connection’ at Panasonic but any sources in Olympus to help us mete out a possible arrival of the 300/4.
One rumor site still lists Nov. 15th as the magical day. Sadly (actually happily in Costa Rica) I’ll be out of the country for a month during that time period.Also curious what you might have heard concerning ‘post focus’ and its progression. I’m most curious if it will work with Oly lenses.
The ‘concept’ of the Nikon 1 v3 is nice but the sensor doesn’t tempt me at all. It appears that Lumix’s 4K Photo at 30 fps negates the little Nikon’s 20 fps. The Nikon’s touted cont. AF might just be negated with ‘post focus’ technology. Your thoughts please.Well as we pack up for central America I’m still a house divided..in the pack are the beastly (weight wise) Canons but the GX8 and 40-150 are going too. Someday I hope to leave all the beastly weighty objects at home and pack up the PL 100-400g 🙂
Robert Moore
Unfortunately Robert I have no solid information on the arrival of the new Olympus 300mm F/4. Sorry I can’t be more help and I appreciate you taking the time to write in and inquire.
DeanOn Nov. 11th, 2015
Holy Cow!!! 43 Rumors (www.43rumors.com) is reposting this morning (with a FT5 . . . you can take this to the bank reliability rating) that the Panasonic-Leica 100-400mm lens will be released in February!!! Estimated price is $2,500 US! Will Olympus now race to get its 300mm Pro to market first! An “arms race” from which we will all benefit.
Daniel J. CoxOn Nov. 11th, 2015
Thanks for the heads Dean. I was just on their site and did not see this but will recheck right now. Keep in mind it may all be front since it is a rumor site but I am anxious to get my hands on this lens.
Daniel J. CoxOn Nov. 11th, 2015
It does seem we may see some competition here but I will say that if I were going for one lens it would certainly be the more versatile zoom. Either way it’s going to be great to have the choice. We all win. The other advantage the 100-400 will have is Dual IS which I’ve shot well over 50,000 images with in the past three months. The GX8 with the Lumix 35-100mm F/2.8 feels like your feel have been placed in concrete when you put the camera to your eye with the new Dual IS. That will be a huge plus as well as the Lumix DFD AF technology that has brought my Lumix lenses up to traditional DSLR standards in predictive AF. Things ar getting so interesting. Stay tuned.
SteveOn Nov. 11th, 2015
I just came back from an imaging show in Toronto tonight. The Panasonic rep I spoke with said the 100-400mm lens would be announced in December with a price around $2K Canadian. The US price should be much less than that.
DeanOn Nov. 5th, 2015
More good news. 43 Rumors is reporting this morning that the new “BIg Boys” (Oly 300/4.0 and PL 100-400/4.0-6.3) will “launch” in January-February 2016. WooHoo!!!!!
Dean
Daniel J. CoxOn Nov. 6th, 2015
I’m hoping they are correct Dean. Will be great indeed and the sooner the better.
SteveOn Nov. 4th, 2015
I am still leaning towards the 300mm f4 due to the faster aperture and primes are always sharper than even the best zooms. I am almost always shooting at the long end of my 100-300mm so I won’t miss the flexibility of zooming. And I can always add the 1.4TC if I need the extra reach.
i wonder if Panasonic will ever provide DFD support to Olympus lenses such as the 300mm f4 ?
Daniel J. CoxOn Nov. 4th, 2015
I agree that typically a fixed lens is sharper than a zoom but I’ve shot many top end zooms that held their own against even my sharpest fixed Nikkors. The Panasonic Lumix zooms I currently have are equal to any of my sharpest Nikkor zooms as well and with Leica involved with the new 100-400mm, I’m confident we’ll be getting as good as anything out there. Additionally, my preference has always been for zoom lenses even if you could scientifically prove that a fixed lens is slightly sharper. Why? Because the ability to zoom in and out, to change composition, for me is more important than a minutely sharper fixed lens you have to struggle to compose with. I’ll take a high grade zoom over a high grade fixed lens every time.
RobertOn Nov. 4th, 2015
No worries Dan. We’re currently shooting for 3 weeks in Costa Rica….would have been nice to be using the 300/4 or the 100-400. Maybe one of the two will be out by the time we hit Finland fingers crossed.
Daniel J. CoxOn Nov. 4th, 2015
My pleasure Robert. Good luck in Costa Rica.