Hi Daniel,
I have a lot of Canon gear, but recently bought a complete used GH 3 kit with 4 lenses, including 100-300. You mentioned the issue of shutter shock with GH cameras and not-so hot IS with some telephotos. Is this problem with GH 3 and GH 4 and the long zoom? I am going to Africa for Safari next year and I do not want to take the Lumix if I can not get good tele shots. I don’t think I can rely on the electronic shutter to address these problems.
Thanks, Bill Millhouser
Bill,
Sorry for the delay in answering this question. Shutter shock is a strange issue that I’ve had a change of heart on after spending more time with my GH cameras. Quite simply, I’m not seeing it as I thought I had early on. That said, I do try to keep my shutter speeds up when shooting the 100-300mm lens.
I not sure which post you’re referring to when you mention my concerns. It may have been the post where I was comparing the 100-300mm Lumix to my Nikkor 600mm in Kenya. I have mentioned in past posts that there are times where I see conflicting results with both the 100-300mm and the 45-175mm zooms. Sometimes both of these lenses are stellar! Other times I get images that make me say, “yea, that’s kind of what I expected from such an inexpensive lens.” I can’t put my finger on it other than I know both of these zooms are not professional grade, sometimes producing excellent results, other times letting me down. Unlike my 35-100mm, which is extremely sharp and as good of quality as any Nikkor zoom I’ve ever shot.
I recently bought the new Olympus 40-150mm zoom and so far I’m extremely impressed with the glass performance. It is sharp, sharp, sharp. One big downside is I loose all IS (Image Stabilization) since Olympus builds all IS in to their camera bodies. That could be a deal breaker for some folks but I figure I shot for 25 years before IS came along, I can adapt my shooting techniques again in exchange for truly professional optics and a great range for wildlife and nature.
I’m leaving in early January as part of our Invitational Photo Tours. We’ll be in Kenya for a month, then in Patagonia for three weeks, back up to Yellowstone for a week and then to Costa Rica for two weeks. I’ll be using mostly the GH4 with the new 35-100mm, 40-1500mm and 100-300mm zooms. Stay tuned to the Blog/Corkboard for my take on how this gear performs in such diverse locations.