I'm really excited by the m43 12/25/45 primes. For travel I'd be very interested in adding a high quality 100mm f/2.8 prime - designed collapsable, sort of like a push-pull that locks closed and open, optimized to use only at the open position. This should keep the size and weight to a minimum.
Back to the selection the OP offers. I have the Oly 40-150. I like that it is very small (when collapsed) and light. Given good light, it is capable enough, and I'll use it until something faster and of better quality comes along.
Bifurcator wrote:
I certainly agree about the 2:1 crop factor of the µ4/3 format tho! It's way cool having access to 600mm, 800mm, and 1000mm equiv lenses at around f/4 to f/6.3 for just a few hundred bucks! Usually more like $150 to $200 tho!
which ones would you recommend for that focal range and wildlife shooting? I still have a Sigma 400/5,6 APO Macro sitting around somewhere - on which m4/3 body (IBIS?) would that be doing any good? (saw your 400/5,6 shots above)
not sure I want to go totally MF with that, sometime AF ist just much faster, but that is probabely a different question and then it will come down to the already mentioned 100-300.
Bifurcator wrote:
I certainly agree about the 2:1 crop factor of the µ4/3 format tho! It's way cool having access to 600mm, 800mm, and 1000mm equiv lenses at around f/4 to f/6.3 for just a few hundred bucks! Usually more like $150 to $200 tho!
cyra wrote:
which ones would you recommend for that focal range and wildlife shooting?
Mmm, hard to say. You mean of the zooms right? I think it depends on the type of wildlife and what else you're expecting to do with it. Just wildlife? For waterfowl or BIF the Tokina at $50 ~$75 is probably best suited. No CA, sharp at both ends and the middle, fast to manually focus and fast to zoom. For brush animals like dear, bear, warthogs, and such probably the Pentax. Oh I didn't mention the Pentaxes did I?
1) Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED (not the L) ($250 new)
2) Pentax SMC FA 100-300mm f/4.7-5.6 ($100 mint)
3) Pentax SMC FA 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 ($100 mint)
4)There's also an SMC FA 80-320 I hear is in the same rank for like $120.
and in that order. and the only reason 2, 3, and 4 aren't tied is corner sharpness if you ever put it on a film body. on µ4/3 or even a Pentax digital body the bottom three are all about the same. I think better for brush animals because when comparing to the Tokina the focus ring throw is longer and the bokeh is smoother. All are µ4/3 sharp at both ends and the middle wide open.
If you spend about another $100 or two there's a whole class of even better zooms too (and still cheaper than the Lumix)! But my point was that even of the very cheapest zooms, almost all trounce the Lumix - so I guess we're talking only about these types.
For true MF zoom lenses it gets more complicated but
are all very good IMO but all three are 2 or 3 times the weight of the above 5 mentioned and all three have a little PF - not terrible but it's there. I hear good things about the Vivitar Series 1 MF zooms too but I've not tried any in this zoom range. And of these MF only types I don't think any are very capable of MF tracking a moving target like a bird or a running animal. Maybe a deer frozen in the brush or a slow moving bear. Their focus rings are either tied to the zoom - which also means they're too wide, too stiff - thus needing a much less stable finger+thumb grip to turn, or etc. There maybe some exceptions I dunno off the top of my head which ones they might be.
I still have a Sigma 400/5,6 APO Macro sitting around somewhere - on which m4/3 body (IBIS?) would that be doing any good?
For primes in the 300mm range I like the both the Canon 300/4.0L and the OM Zuiko Auto-T 300/4.5 alot. Your Sigma 400 APO is very nice if it's the same version I have (army green?) There's also a Sigma 500mm APO which can be had for like $75 ~$150 because the surfacing material melts. But just put some army material over it and you're good. The optics are fantastic and it makes a great birding lens. Of course back to 300mm for a sec. I think the nFD 300/2.8 L or the Pentax FA ED 300/2.8 will keep you continually grinning with delight. But they'e kinda pricy. Both seem to hover right around $1k with perfect glass and semi-scratchy bodies and both are monster texas-sized lenses - but again, the wow factor is always there!
Here's those listed out:
Canon nFD 300/4.0 L $600 to $200 (mint to mangled)
OM Zuiko Auto-T 300/4.5 $600 to $200 (mint to mangled) - Dampened focus ring tho...
Sigma APO MF 400/5.6 $450 to $150 (mint to mangled)
Sigma APO AF 500/7.2 $750 to $75 (mint to mangled[melted])
Canon nFD 300/2.8 L ($750 to $1,250) - With Fluorite glass.
Pentax FA ED 300/2.8 ($900 to $2,000)
And I'm pretty sure IBIS isn't going to be much good to anyone out past around 200-250mm. For the ultimate in stabilization while manual focus tracking a Wimberley is probably the best thing you can treat yourself to! Some guys who don't like carrying legs around with them, swear by rifle supports like the Bushwhacker and so forth. I used a makeshift rifle support a few times and it does do very well for MF tracking while keeping me steady at the same time (but I'm very practiced with rifles and shotguns too so that might matter - I dunno).
(saw your 400/5,6 shots above) not sure I want to go totally MF with that, sometime AF ist just much faster, but that is probabely a different question and then it will come down to the already mentioned 100-300.
All of those lenses except the Oly 300/4.5 and the three MF zooms, have light-touch focusing. It's really only a different way to hold the camera while manually focus tracking. Your lens support hand needs a single extended finger resting on the focus ring - don't try to grasp the ring with your finger(s)+thumb. Then MFing BIFs or a running animal is easy enough to be enjoyable! It is a little more of a sport than a hobby that way but it's easy enough to get close to the same keeper ratio as an AF lens and more/better in some cases. In fact some of the better birders posting here on FM primarily (or always?) use their $4,000 ~ $6,000 lenses in MF mode. Sports and stuff like that AF is better probably but not really for birding - they say! I guess for terrain animals it would just depend on how good the locked on AF tracking was, how busy the BG was, etc. etc..
Their focus rings are either tied to the zoom - which also means they're too wide, too stiff - thus needing a much less stable finger+thumb grip to turn, or etc. There maybe some exceptions I dunno off the top of my head which ones they might be.