M.Zuiko DIGITAL ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS, Super Telephoto Zoom, Suitable for all MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Black

Product Information

Zuiko 100-400mm IS features a series of inner focusing lenses ensuring high speed, high precision autofocusing. The Olympus range of micro four thirds cameras is designed around portability and this lens cements this, as well as Panasonic Lumix G compatibility, as a truly lightweight system.

If you want to quickly switch from AF to MF and back again you can't beat the pull-back focusing ring. That being said, it's still a rather large and cumbersome lens by Micro Four Thirds standards, with physical dimensions not too dissimilar from the 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens. It was only until recently that Olympus introduced lenses with optical IS, and even then, they currently only have two other lenses with IS: the 300mm f/4 IS Pro and the 12-100mm f/4 IS Pro. Peter’s work has been published in a number of magazines including Canadian Geographic, Shutterbug and Outdoor Photographer. IS lens from Olympus is an excellent addition for OM-D photographers, which offers a huge telephoto focal range of 200-800mm (35mm equivalent).The side switches of the copy of the 300mm Pro I'm using seem to stay in place better and take a bit more effort slide and adjust. By this point, the lighting had improved, but I still kept the ISO fairly high so that I would be able to capture any action that might occur. Generally, loons can be quite cooperative subjects and will often come up fairly close while I'm paddling. However, keep in mind the versatility here -- and just how compact and lightweight this particular 100-400mm lens is.

You get great build quality, the lens is made of part metal and part plastic, very well constructed I must say, you can feel it as you handle it with your hands. Even when working close to cooperative subjects, like the rabbit I spotted in my backyard above, the detail the lens shows at wider settings is lacking. In a particularly welcome move, an Arca Swiss-type dovetail profile means it can be clamped directly onto many tripod heads, while the collar can also be removed for hand-held shooting. The ZERO (Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical) Coating reduces ghosts and flares even in poor conditions such as backlit scenes. Using the phase detection-equipped Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, I found the lens was perfectly capable of tracking focus on large, relatively predictably-moving subjects such as trains or planes, but struggled with smaller, more erratic wildlife.Without it, it's a little too easy to snag your finger on the small metal nuts that are exposed when the collar is removed. With IS enabled on both the lens and the body, you'll see stabilization benefits from both components: yaw and pitch stabilization from the lens and roll stabilization from the IBIS (as far as we know and according to the specs, X- and Y-shift correction from the IBIS doesn't seem enabled or available with the 100-400mm). It weighs in at 1120g and measures 206mm when retracted compared with the Panasonic lens at 951g and 172mm long. The Olympus 100-400mm Lens has a field of view equivalent to a 200-800mm lens in 35mm format, up to 1,120mm with the M. That is simply an incredible amount of flexibility and versatile telephoto performance in a surprisingly small form-factor.

The smaller-angle sensor nets a tighter angle of view—to get the same coverage on a full-frame system, you'd have to reach for a hypothetical 200-800mm zoom.Deko’s secure technology helps put you in touch with lenders whose finance options are best suited for you and your purchase. In terms of features, the lens offers an IS switch for turning the 3-stop image stabilisation on or off and an AF/MF switch for selecting the focusing method. The Deko platform is provided by Pay4Later Ltd, t/a Deko which acts as a credit broker, not a lender and does not charge you for credit broking services. By keeping your distance and using the longer end of the zoom range, the bees, butterflies, and little critters come and go giving you plenty of opportunities. These bring extraordinary telephoto reach, equivalent to 1100mm and 1600mm at full telephoto, respectively.

aperture, if you can get down very low and use the 100-400mm lens' great close-focusing abilities, you can capture shots with amazingly thin depth of field! While hiking around, I found that when carrying my camera and 100-400mm in my left hand, the most balanced spot to hold this rig is right where the side switches are located. True-to-form, the Olympus 100-400mm is significantly more compact and lighter in weight than most other 100-400mm-style super-telephoto zoom lenses for some of the other larger-sensor camera systems. Olympus Technical Support officially advised me that this slight movement is normal and will not affect the operation of the lens. None of the images below are cropped (as a matter of fact, of all the images in this article only the two hummingbird shots are cropped and they have only been reduced by about 20%).To date, all Zuiko Pro lenses have a constant aperture design, so that answer certainly makes sense. Given the lens’s slower maximum aperture, you’d expect a more portable alternative from OM Digital here. But even this can be challenging when working hand-held at full telephoto, as the IS can struggle to stabilise the viewfinder image sufficiently. As someone who loves photographing all kinds of wildlife and sports, super-telephoto lenses always catch my eye.