Cover photo taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 at f/6.3.
Yesterday we received the brand new Panasonic Leica 100-400mm lens to review. Knowing that the good weather wouldn’t last long, I spent all of yesterday afternoon and this morning at our favourite natural reserve in Wales, Ynys Hir. I collected a good variety of images, so I decided to share them with you right away.
Update: the full 100-400mm review is now online!
Many readers began asking about this lens after reading our Olympus 300mm f/4 review. Here you can have a first glimpse at how it performs for a real-world nature shoot. You can also read my first impressions below.
- Size and weight: as you can see from the image above, it is larger and heavier than the Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6. However it is not uncomfortable to use on either the Lumix GX8 or the OM-D E-M1. Given the zoom range this lens gives you (200-800mm 35mm format equivalent), I still find it compact.
- Build quality: superb metal barrel. The hood is also made of metal. The tripod mount mechanism is really clever and very comfortable to use when you unlock or lock it in landscape or portrait position. The bottom part can easily be detached without removing the entire collar. However it only rotates 45°. The focus ring is smooth and nice to use. The lens doesn’t have an internal zoom mechanism so it extends quite a lot when zooming in.
Important Note: the lens Panasonic sent us is a pre-production sample. The optical quality is final (otherwise they wouldn’t have sent it in the first place) but they warned me about some imperfections concerning the stiffness of the zoom ring and other minor flaws. They assured me that the final version won’t have any of these problems. So far, only the zoom ring has caused me some annoyance but I repeat: this is only related to my pre-production sample.
The AF motor seems fast and accurate on both the Lumix GX8 and Olympus OM-D E-M1. I haven’t put the Power O.I.S. through its paces yet, nor have I checked the effectiveness of the stabilisation combined with the Dual IS system of the GX8. I’ll reserve this for the final review. For these shots, I used relatively safe shutter speeds (down to 1/100s) and got good results (with Anti-Shock 0s on the E-M1 and the electronic shutter on the GX8).
As for the optical quality, I can say for now that the lens seems live up to its promise. I mainly shot at 300mm and 400mm because it was naturally the first aspect of the lens I wanted to test. But as you will see further down, being able to zoom out to 100mm was useful when I wanted to capture a larger view.
At 400mm and f/6.3 (the fastest aperture at that focal length), the results are quite good. The lens seems to perform sligthly better at f/8.
But enough with words: almost all the images below are available in their native resolution of 20MP or 16MP. Just click on them to open the full resolution version. They were exported from the RAW files with minor adjustments made in Lightroom.
All shots were taken hand-held. I’ve also added a few extra comments along the way. Enjoy!
Update: you can also watch below a short video shot in 4K with the Lumix GX8.
Update II: some BIF (Birds in Flight) shots have been added at the end of this post.
While not perfect, the bokeh of this lens seems to have some character.
Below you can see an example where the bokeh appears more nervous.
The photo below was taken the very second the little robin flew away. It’s not an example that best exemplifies the sharpness of the lens but I like the dynamism created by the motion blur.
The photo below is not the best example of sharpness either but I included it because it was shot through a glass window. We were inside the welcome centre of the RSPB reserve when I noticed this Great Spotted Woodpecker. I had heard him pecking at the trees all day long but I hadn’t been able to catch him. I knew that if I stepped outside he would fly away so I took a picture through the glass.
Below is an example shot at a close distance. The lens can focus as close as 130cm.
Of course I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of these funny squirrels that were hanging around the bird feeders.
I went down to the swamp where a lot of Canada Geese were searching for food. They were less active than usual so I only caught them in flight once.
The two images below are the best examples I was able to take of geese in flight. The GX8’s continuous autofocus isn’t always accurate, so it isn’t easy to get sharp shots all the time. I will fully test the tracking capabilities of the GX8 and E-M1 with this lens later on at the Red Kite reserve.
As the sun began to setting, the light became very beautiful. It was at that moment I wished I’d had a wide-angle with me as well!
Finally, I took some quick shots of Heather to show you how the lens behave for portraits. Of course this isn’t its main application but as you can see, the results are not bad.
Below you can find additional shots about birds in flight taken with the E-M1 and GX8. You can check out more images here.
Do you have any questions about this lens? My review period has just started, so make sure to leave a comment below if there is anything you want to know!
Reminder: the 100-400mm review is now online!
Many thanks Mathieu really enjoyed your review and pleased to hear that the lens has impressed you…
Mat that’s a very good suggestion, I have their Capture Pro Camera Clip I use with the GM5 on the backpack.
I still, if able to secure an additional foot, plan on having a local metal smith cut out the necessary valleys to emulate arca-swiss mounting.
Wasn’t that I was worried mind you, just the principle of the matter, that Lumix would generate such a wonderful optic and miss the little mark of ease of mounting. No biggy and again your suggestion of a leave on all the time place is a great one.
Since you asked, here it is 😉
https://youtu.be/Moo1DcsOH40
Are you worrying about mounting/unmounting the arca swiss plate all the time? Because maybe the best solution would be to buy an extra arca swiss plate that you always leave attached to the tripod mount. Something like the Peak Design standard plate (check the compatibility to be sure) is small enough: https://www.peakdesign.com/all/standard-plate.
As for the lens tripod mount, I am not sure where you can find a spare yet.
OK the L 100-400 is not even hear yet and I’m puzzling over the tripod foot. Mat can you please research something. How could one get another/space tripod foot. Obviously it easily unscrews for packing and/or storage. I just hate the thought of adding a tripod plate-makes no sense that it’s not Arca-Swiss out of the box.
So I’ve got two options-1. a custom model from a fabricator or 2. have a local machine shop simply add the ‘arca’ grooves needed on each side of the tripod foot. Crazy eh! But before sabotaging I’d like to order the spare.
Where would one look to purchase such a spare?
Thanks again Mat. It’s just a fantastic time to be an mFT lover 🙂
Nice shots Robert. Glad you both enjoy the 300mm and with the new 100-400mm you’ll be all set! 😉
I have no news about an upcoming GH5, Panasonic sends us gear to review but they don’t share any info about future products.
OK Mat, just returned from a mini-birding trip and the better half let me use her new 300/4.
If you’re ever bored:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/114407047@N06/25239057209/in/dateposted/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/114407047@N06/25576424785/in/dateposted/
I’m happy to say your YouTube review on this lens was a strong influence.
As an amateur/hobbyist all I can say is wow and that the Leica 100-400 has some
serious steps to follow in.
Well she let me use it twice on the GX8, she didn’t want to give it up for long!
Sad news on the lack of Arca-Swiss compatibility. Thanks for letting me know that
about the Leica 100-400…..I hate adding a plate and have several EOS lenses that
I’ve switch out the foot with RRS replacements. Is what it is.
Theoretically the 100-400 will be here next week if the posted dates at B&H/Adorama
are correct. Fingers crossed that I too get to ply the 300 against the 100-400. Just wished
it could have been on the Florida trip 🙁
Oh, that reminds me. Since you have the ear of Panasonic/are connected to them, do you think the GH5 is forthcoming? any rumors? I love the GX8, love rangefinder style; but I think the 100-400 really needs a phase detect/hybrid/contrast based system behind it-what do you think?
Thanks again.
Yes I’ll do a video review as well 😉
Hi Mathieu, can I ask if you are planning on a review video of this lens as you have for the Olympus 300mm f4? Hope so..
The plate of the 100-400mm is not arca swiss compatible so you will need a plate.
Panasonic UK told me Mid-March for the release date.
Thought of another question. The Oly 300/4 arrived yesterday….primo optic and I love the fact that Olympus gives Arca-Swiss compatibility out of the box with the tripod foot. Mat please confirm that I will have to put a plate on the PL100-400. With me thinking yes that I will I’ve already written Feinmechanik in Germany asking them to think ahead about making a replacement foot.
Have you heard anything concrete about release dates in specific countries. I know Panasonic is notorious for being late.
I know a lot want comparison with the Oly. I just see how the Oly can compete at 400mm 😉
I’m going to compare to an EOS 100-400ii I have lying about…seems a more logical comparison.
Yes we took some BIF shots with the 100-300mm and the 100-400mm+camera combo seems faster to me. I’ll do more tests in the following days 😉
What about autofocus (speed and accuracy) comparison between the two. Did you get pictures of birds in flight even with 100-300?
On the GX8 I used C-AF, Custom AF Area with 9 central points, focus priority and M burst (because it keeps the live view on). The GX8 struggles more than the E-M1. I guess the DfD AF has its limits with this type of subjects. But it is also a matter of “helping” the camera by keeping the subject always at the centre, which is not easy at 400mm 🙂
Awesome! Some really great BIFs you’ve captured and with each camera. Very nice indeed.
Can you share the settings you used on the GX8. I’m most curious if you chose ‘tracking’ mode but would love to know all settings.
Something tells me you can get great images no matter the rig 🙂
I added some BIF shots at the end of the post. You can check out more samples here: https://mirrorlessons.smugmug.com/Panasonic/100400mm/Sample-Images/i-kpsJGHJ
I added a some BIF sample images at the end of this article and you can see more here: https://mirrorlessons.smugmug.com/Panasonic/100400mm/Sample-Images/i-kpsJGHJ
Most images were shot at ISO 1600.
We do share lots of articles related to m4/3, probably because the E-M5 is the camera that got us in the mirrorless world. So if the site is helpful for the m4/3 community, I’m really glad.
Thanks Dustin. Will test the OIS and Dual IS in the following days 😉
blah blah blah, this lens will be, is a great tool for bird photography.
The good news is that she said I’m permitted to borrow/use her 300 🙂
Very excited/fearful to see what you experience in crap light with the kites will render….all my fingers are crossed. I assume you’ll be using the OMD M1 ?? From what I can ascertain reading many forums it can still out perform the GX8 in ISO terms (probably because the GX8 has a higher megapixel per unit area……so eager for your thoughts on this too.
I have no illusions of doing BIF with the GX8 + PL100-400 but it would be nice to do large slow objects in motion 😉
Thanks again.
Oh, one more question. Your site looks like a great place to ‘hang out’ with lots of mFT experience to glean and share…is that something you want?
It was very helpful to see these images, Mathieu. I REALLY appreciate that you used the EM-1 for some of these shots. For your next test, I’d LOVE to know how the lens stabilization performs on the EM-1 (without the dual IS) vs. the GX8. I’m leaning towards this lens (over the new oly 300 prime) because of the lower cost and the extra reach, but I don’t want to purchase it if you don’t think the lens stabilization is good enough to work on its own. Some video at 400mm on the EM-1 (handheld) would be wonderful to see.
As always, thank you so much for your thoughtful reviews. Reading your blog is a highlight of my Sunday mornings!
Cheers,
Dustin
Thanks – I suspected that to be the case. Looking forward to your final review!
It’s either one or the other but they don’t work together. You can prioritise the lens OIS in the olympus camera menu.
Thanks Mathieu, an excellent initial impressions review and the best photos I have seen posted using this lens. I am very interested to know how the Olympus IBIS works with this lens. Does it provide any benefit or does it interfere with the lens OIS?
Hi Robert and thanks for your comment. I’ll be able to answer your questions better once I have more experience with the lens.
Today for example I’m heading out to shoot some Red Kites and it won’t be sunny so I’ll have to push the ISO up 🙂
So far I only got some light rain for about 20 minutes while I was out shooting and I didn’t protect the lens. Everything was fine. As for the Dual IS, I haven’t tested extreme shutter speeds yet but I’m planning to do so for the full review.
P.S.: your wife is getting a great lens ! 😉
Fantastic review. Found you first on YouTube reviewing the Oly 300/4 (the wife gets the Oly next week and she is psyched!). I’m anxiously awaiting mid-March and the US release of the L 100-400.
Like many who study everything prior to purchase I’ve found your presentations straight forward and always covering the critical points of the camera or lens…..better yet you clearly point out the good and the bad, differing from the ‘sponsored’ reviewers.
Personally I’m just ecstatic that mFT aficionados now can reach the stars at 400mm !!! Oly and Panasonic listened to the user base and grant long focal length–something Sony has yet to do with E-Mount.
Just three questions please. I’m using GX8, and I know it is just a guess (but in your hands a very educated guess) but how many real world stops of stabilization did you encounter with the Dual IS using the Leica 100-400 and GX8 ??
You seem to live in a comparable environment (I’m in a temperate rain forest with 300+ days a year of rain/fog/sleet/ice/snow…..while testing did you encounter rain with the combo, and if so did you make any attempts to protect the kit or just go about your business of shooting?
Last question, and I don’t know how much experience you’ve had with the GX8, but how far would you generally push the ISO on this camera. This question harkens back to my environment and the lack of good light a large part of the time.
Again, thanks for outstanding unbiased reviews! Looking forward to your final assessment of the Leica 100-400mm.
Looks like a nice lens! Great to see the m43 supertele hole finally filled with two quality lenses! The Zuiko 300 is more to my liking because it’s faster and I don’t like external zooming lenses – but I’m sure the 100-400 is a good alternative too for those who prefer the flexibility of a zoom. Seems like a good fit for portraits too…
I take shots at slow shutter speeds also to test the lens O.I.S but otherwise I agree that a faster shutter speed can ensure more sharpness.
Let me know how do you find the combo when you try it 😉
Basically the same:
– 100mm: f/4
– 200mm: f/5 (4.9 for the 100-300mm)
– 300mm: f/5.6
How does it compare to 100-300 in terms of maximum aperture at given length, eg: 100, 200, 250, 300?
Thank you for the full sized images for comparison. I’m renting this lens and a GX8 (or maybe a G7) at the end of April for a wildlife photography weekend with my wife so I can see what I think about m4/3 (I love touchscreens and small size!) particularly compared to my recently purchased D7100 + Tamron 150-600. While the photos are nice aesthetically, I’m not convinced that the lens + EM1 or GX8 is achieving a higher resolution or accutance than my kit. Yes, I’d love the vastly smaller size of this kit, but it’s also WAY more money than what I spent on my kit.
Well, Olympus made a truly professional quality 300mm/2.8 a decade ago. It was 285mm long and 3.3 kg. Unless you use really exotic optics (like DO / Phase Fresnel) that have their own significant trade-offs, big fast glass is always going to be huge. No matter the format. A 300mm/2.8 is a 300mm/2.8.
I imagine that Panasonic evaluated who was buying their cameras, and made a lens tailored to them. I imagine most are looking for good quality in a smaller package, not ultimate quality in a large package.
As a long time bird photographer shooting with a Nikon 500mm f4, I have been interested in this lens because I have a GX7 which I really like and sometimes use my Pany 100-300mm as a walk around bird photography camera. One major problem with the new lens is that the aperture is so small it does not really provide enough separation from the background. This lens forces you to shoot at f8 instead of f4. In a M4/3s system, we should really be at f2.8. For bird photography that is one of the major problems with the Olympus 300mm lens. It’s too big for an f4 lens and should be f2.8.
Secondly, many of your shots are really shot at too slow a shutter speed. I would suggest that if you pushed the shutter speed up to at least 1/500, the images would be sharper, but then you would have to push up the ISO and that would present more noise. This is part of the inherent trade off with this camera and lens combination.
I appreciate your pictures. They give a good idea of what this lens is capable of, a much better indication that the images at DPReview. So thanks. I realize that you do not claim to be a bird photographer, so my remarks are not a criticism of you or your pictures, but of the problems inherent in this lens and camera combination for the task of bird photography. For other applications, the lens would be great. If you go to a place like Bosque del Apache and see all those 500mm and 600mm Canons and Nikons, you realize that is what it takes for great bird photography. I hope that Olympus and Pany will at some point be able to compete with Canikon for bird photography, but so far we are not close.
Panasonic UK told me mid-march.
Totally understand Mathieu and thank you for being so upfront about your thinking. Look forward to your final conclusion when ready.. Just quickly given that the copy you have received is not a final version as you mention are you aware of when the lens will become available to purchase in the UK?
Yes in 4K you get some extra crop (yes it’s 2.3x).
I decreased a little bit the NR in Lightroom to prioritise sharpness. So that could be the reason.
Yes we are planning on testing the Fuji lens as well as the Sony 70-200mm 2.8 with the 2x teleconverter 😉
I’m cautious simply because I just received the lens two days ago. I intend to take many other pictures and test it in-depth before writing a final conclusion.
Yes I’ll definitely take more BIF shots 😉
Good review Mathieu the best yet ,great images and video and in video 4k you get that bit more reach with gx8 crop close to 2.3x I think? I am glad to have this lens on pre order ,could you do some tripod shots also for ultimate image iq in your final test although what I have seen looks very nice seems to work well in hand ,the oof is big bonus good rendering .
Thank you very much for the samples and impressions. I think that your samples and those at naturalexposures blog are the ones the potential buyers of this lens were awaiting.
I’ve two questions: I find some of the images a little bit too noisy for the used iso. Maybe they are a bit oversharpened? Would noise reduction reduce the perceived sharpness too much?
Are you planning to test the Fuji 100-400? It would be nice to see a comparison between the fuji and the pana.
Hi Mathieu, so pleased you have had a chance to review this lens. Some stunning images especially the images of the Robin at the beginning of the sequence. However you only make two comments that indicate your impressions of the quality that being that the lens appears to live up to its promise and another image you describe as quite good. Of course given the expense of this lens I would hope for descriptions more in line with superb or outstanding or similar. This is not in anyway a criticism of your review and it maybe you prefer not too use such expressions in them but can you advise if you are impressed by the optical quality delivered and do you feel it’s going to be worth the investment based on that quality especially given it that it has the Leica name on it? Many thanks Neil
Awesome shots and thanks for sharing! I would like to see more bird-in-fly shots as the lens is f6.3 at 400mm and need high ISO to get sharp BIF shots.
Have to say, I was thinking the same. I was also trying to (unsuccessfully) ignore it as well!!
Sorry! 🙂
Great pics. I didn’t want this lens until now. Thanks a lot. 😉
Well the simplest thing to test such a lens is go to a Zoo. But since we live close to natural reserves, it is more fun to go there 🙂
There is something like that 😉
Wow! Great photos. Especially since these were all handheld. It clearly doesn’t take much to reduce sharpness when shooting with a supertelephoto, as the variation between the shots shows. The first photo of the bird and the squirrel shots really do showcase the level of sharpness possible when you nail it, though.
It also shows that the lens performs better at closer distances, but I think that’s a given – any time you put more atmosphere in between a lens it’s going to be harder to achieve good sharpness. I imagine it’s easy to forget that it’s an 800mm equivalent lens and you can end up shooting it a bit more casually. Who’d have thought, 800mm eq. handheld would be so easy?
I think a lot of people were disappointed after the batch of DPReview test samples came out recently, but you guys are consistently able to deliver much better results with the same equipment. Maybe DPReview should move their office away from dreary Seattle, haha…
I am seeing a somewhat Leica-esque rendering signature to some of these shots. Yes?