Category: Lenses

  • Olympus 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 and MC-20 – a 1600mm focal length combo!

    Olympus 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 and MC-20 – a 1600mm focal length combo!

    Olympus launched about a month and a half ago their much-waited lens the M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5.0 -6.3 telezoom lens. I have heard that it is very popular. There is still a waiting list. That is good news.

    I have had a chance to test it a couple of times. I have linked two videos about at the end of this blogpost. M.Zuiko 100-400mm is the longest lens from Olympus at the moment. The upcoming lens the M.Zuiko 150-400mm f4.5 lens will match that. It should be out by the end of the year.

    If you need a long lens for your MFT camera M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 one is very good option. I teamed up with Matti Sulanto nad we tested it also with Panasonic cameras and it worked quite ok. The link to that video is at the end of this post.

    Versatile focal length

    M.Zuiko 100-400mm 5.0-6.3 zoom has an equivalent field of view as 200-800mm FF lens on a FF body. That is quite narrow. The field of view is from 12 to 3,1 degrees. The lens is very suitable for bird photography, sports, etc. The fastest aperture is 5.0 at 100mm so need some light to get fast shutter speeds to stop the action. I think the lens has a very versatile focal length.

    1600mm beast with MC-20

    M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 lens is compatible with the extenders MC-14 and MC-20. That will make the lens even longer. With the MC-14 the focal length is from 140mm to 560mm. That is 280mm to 1120mm in FF terms if we talk about the field of view. To get even more reach it is a 200mm to 800mm lens when used with MC-20. That is of course equal to a 400-1600mm FF lens. That is very long. It comes of course with a cost. The fastest aperture is 13 at the long end. A lot of light is needed to get fast shutter speeds.

    What about the image quality?

    When adding an extender the image quality is always a question. From 100mm to about 300mm I would say that the image quality is not affected that much. When using 400mm and the MC-20 to get the 1600mm FF equivalent field of view the image quality is a bit less than with other focal lengths.

    The DC-3 Air Veteran is about 2km (1,24 miles) from the spot I photographed it.Olympus E-M1 MKIII, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 + MC-20 at 800mm (1600mm in FF)1/2000s f13 ISO800, handheld.
    The DC-3 Air Veteran is about 2km (1,24 miles) from the spot I photographed it.Olympus E-M1 MKIII, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 + MC-20 at 800mm (1600mm in FF)1/2000s f13 ISO800, handheld.

    There are two reasons for that. The first one is that image quality actually is a bit less and the other one is that the objects that is photographed are far away. There are a lot of air and the particles in the air that will make the image quality worse. As you can see from the image above. The distance was about 2km (1,24 miles) to the plane.


    A lot of light is needed.

    As I wrote earlier in this blog post te aperture at 6.3 is f13 when the lens is used with MC-20. Of course, that is no problem in sunny weather. The shutter speeds are fast even with f13. When the weather is not nice or when it gets dark f13 can be a problem.

    Olympus E-M1 MKIII, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 + MC-20 at 400mm (801mm in FF)1/15s f13 ISO800, handheld.
    Olympus E-M1 MKIII, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 + MC-20 at 400mm (801mm in FF)1/15s f13 ISO800, handheld.

    Handheld with 1600mm!

    I used it with Olympus E-M1 MKIII and had no problems with handheld shots at all. The IBIS and the IS in the lens work nicely together. It is not SyncIS, but it still works very well. If you are using the lens with E-M1 MKII or E-M1X remember to upgrade your firmware. The IBIS and lens IS works better with the new firmware that is available for those cameras. The image of the duck above was made with 801mm in FF terms with a 1/15s shutter speed handheld.

    👉 Pre-order it from Amazon: Olympus M.Zuiko ED 100-400mm f5.0-6.3 IS lens is here. My first impression of the new telephoto zoom lens…

    Olympus and Panasonic have both a 100-400mm lens. Which one should you get, Olympus 100-400mm lens or Panasonic 100-400mm lens? 📽 My first impression video a…

    disclaimer: Some of the links might be affiliate links to Amazon or other online stores. I will get a small commission if you use those links and buy something. You do not pay any extra. It is a win-win situation!

  • Laowa 50mm F/2.8 2x Ultra Macro

    Laowa 50mm F/2.8 2x Ultra Macro

    Laowa has made some interesting lenses for MFT. The latest addition is the Laowa 50mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer 2X macro. The lens is fully manual, but it has an electronic connection so that the aperture is controlled from the camera.

    Laowa 50mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer 2X macro
    Laowa 50mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer 2X macro
    Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKII, Laowa 50mm f2.8 macro, 1/60s f2.8 ISO200, Olympus FL-700WR
    Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKII, Laowa 50mm f2.8 macro, 1/60s f2.8 ISO200, Olympus FL-700WR
    Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKII, Laowa 50mm f2.8 Macro, 1/40s f2.8 ISO200
    Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKII, Laowa 50mm f2.8 Macro, 1/40s f2.8 ISO200

    Laowa vs. M.Zuiko

    The image quality is very nice. It has a bit different characteristics as the M.Zuiko 60mm f2.8 macro. Laowa makes a bit less contrasty image. Otherwise, the biggest differences are the AF vs. MF and the magnification. Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f2.9 Macro is AF and Laowa 50mm f2.8 Macro is only MF. That is not a big deal in macro. In most cases, MF is better in macro. Especially if the subject is really close.

    Magnification

    The magnification is 2X in Laowa and 1X in M.Zuiko. The photos below show the difference. With Laowa you can photograph smaller things.

    The big image is Laowa 2:1 and the small one is M.Zuiko 1:1
    The big image is Laowa 2:1 and the small one is M.Zuiko 1:1

    My thoughts on Laowa 50mm f2.8 2X macro in a video

    In the video below I tell my impressions of the Laowa 50mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer 2X macro lens. If you want one use this affiliate link.

  • Panasonic 10-25mm F1.7 – [FASTEST Wide-Angle Zoom]

    Panasonic 10-25mm F1.7 – [FASTEST Wide-Angle Zoom]

    Panasonic has a very interesting lens on their line up. The 10-25mm f1.7 wide-angle zoom. It was introduced last summer, the exact date was the 31st of May 2019.

    Leica branded

    Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7 lens has also Leica printed on the front element. So we know that the lens is very good and it is. It is one of those lenses I might get someday. It would be a really nice lens for video work. It is fast and the focal length is just perfect for video. Also, the aperture is constant throughout the focal length range.

    Olympus E-M1 MKIII + Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7 @10mm 1/4000s f3.5
    Olympus E-M1 MKIII + Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7 @10mm 1/4000s f3.5

    No Lens IS

    It does not have an IS, but that is not a problem if you use it with Olympus cameras. IBIS takes care of that.

    Price

    The price of Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7 is quite high, but it is quite good value for money. It is around $1700-$2000 at the time this blog was written.

    If you are planning on getting one here are Amazon Affiliate links to Amazon US and UK.

    👉 Amazon USA

    👉 Amazon UK

    Olympus E-M1 MKIII + Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7 @25mm 1/20s f2.5
    Olympus E-M1 MKIII + Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7 @25mm 1/20s f2.5

    Video about the lens

    I had a change to test the Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7 lens. The lens is not mine. I borrowed it from Matti Sulanto. It was only a short test , but I think I got a quite good impression of the lens. My thoughts about the lens on the video below.