It’s a bit ironic, perhaps, that on the day I pick up a Sony α7II to embark on a new project, Olympus and Panasonic push the Micro 4/3 world forward with two massive telephoto lenses.
Today, Panasonic announced the Lumix Leica Vario-Elmar 100-400mm lens. The lens isn’t big at all considering the focal range, and comes entirely weather-proofed for all your outdoor needs. Aperture ranges from f/4.0 to f/6.3 at its longest focal length, so three-dimensional action shots should be a breeze at 400mm. And I mean, come on, 100mm to 400mm (or 200mm to 800mm in full-frame speak) in a lens that’s only a third of the size of a full-frame chunk of glass? Now that’s impressive.
Not to be outdone, Olympus also announced their long awaited super telephoto PRO lens today. The 300mm f/4.0 PRO is a super telephoto dream. Like the Vario-Elmar 100mm-400mm, the 300mm f/4.0 PRO is only a fraction of the size of a similar full-frame lens, yet delivers some of the sharpest images in the world at the 600mm focal length. Like all other PRO lenses, the 300mm f/4.0 PRO is weather-proofed and comes with Olympus’ awesome manual focus clutch. Combine this baby with the upcoming OM-D E-M1 Mark II, and I bet some sports and bird photographers will be willing to make the switch.
If you feel like being absolutely awesome, you can use these links to purchase either one of the two lenses: