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MFT lens 100-400mm, Leica DG, announced (5 Viewers)

Technical Details
Color Black
Included Components Lens
Item Dimensions 1 x 1 x 1 inches
Item Weight 2.17 pounds
Lens Design Fixed Zoom
Lens Type mirror-lens
Maximum Aperture ƒ/6.3
Maximum Focal Length 400
Minimum Aperture ƒ/22
Minimum Focal Length 100
Shipping Weight 1 pound
UNSPSC Code 45121603
Zoom Type fixed

The above is technical details from the amazon page. Anyone notice such fun items as "size = 1x1x1 inches"?

I wonder if the price is going to change given that the description certainly must?

Niels
 
A very good intro with photos from two pre-production lenses: http://naturalexposures.com/leica-lumix-100-400mm/

Quote
This was not a test report.
The week I spent with these two new lenses was a great time to get an idea if Panasonic is on track with this greatly anticipated and soon to be highly coveted new lens. I chose not to write a specific report on the details of this new optic since the two I was shooting were basically prototypes, literally built by hand and somewhat different than what we will soon see. I will say that the auto focus was exceptionally fast and accurate, the glass is extremely sharp. It focuses as close as 1.3 meters or 4.2 feet

Niels
 
A very good intro with photos from two pre-production lenses: http://naturalexposures.com/leica-lumix-100-400mm/

Quote

Niels

seem to be the same guy as in the panasonic promo I linked to,
not very flattering light on the photos,
and too small pics to really see how it performs

but the size an weight look very reasonable to me,
as he writes in his blog

"This is the lens I’ve been hoping for and it’s an amazing time to be enjoying photography. The days of 12 pound telephotos is nearing an end!"

will this work as good on olympus as on panasonic cams?
 
MTF diagram for the Leica 100-400 DG,
seems so be optimized for the max focus length
and very sharp at 400mm
 

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MTF diagram for the Leica 100-400 DG,
seems so be optimized for the max focus length
and very sharp at 400mm

Could someone point me to the cheat-sheet on how to read such graphs? Is a couple of points meaningful when situated between 90 and 100, and what does 20/40/60 S/M really mean in this context?

And, for comparison, any links to similar graphs for the canon 100-400 (version 1 or 2 or both)?

thanks
Niels
 
Could someone point me to the cheat-sheet on how to read such graphs? Is a couple of points meaningful when situated between 90 and 100, and what does 20/40/60 S/M really mean in this context?

And, for comparison, any links to similar graphs for the canon 100-400 (version 1 or 2 or both)?

thanks
Niels

* generally you could say that closer to 100% is better
* the blue lines indicate "sharpness" (lower cycle pattern, 20 line pairs/mm)
* the green lines indicates "contrast" (higher cycle patterns 40 line pairs/mm)

* the dotted line should follow/be as close as possible to the non-dotted line of the same color.

* left in the diagram (0) is the image center, so there always be a sharpness/contrast fall-off towards the edge.

Curves shows measured or theoretical values at full stop. Most likely theoretical. But it still gives a hint on the level of performance.

The above indicates that, fully open, the lens is sharper at 400 mm than at 100 mm. But stopped down at 100mm it will be sharper naturally.

Most manufacturers seem to have charts for 10 and 30 cycles so this chart will not be
comparable with for example Nikon or Canon. Less pixel density for FF and DX cams probably make it more relevant to use smaller cycle values.
 
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Thank you.
I also mentioned 60 because the Oly graph seems to include that instead of 40, but I assume it still means contrast. The center sharpness seems slightly closer to 100% in the pana graph?

Niels
 
here is the MTF for the Panasonic 100-300/4-5.6 Lumix Mega OIS lens for comparison,
you can see that it's good att 100mm but looses significantly at max focal length.
the test shots I have seen with this older lens does not look bad,
but they lack the last bit of contrast and sharpness (can be fixed in post processing to some extent)
but the price is also quite a bit lower
 

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Thank you.
I also mentioned 60 because the Oly graph seems to include that instead of 40, but I assume it still means contrast. The center sharpness seems slightly closer to 100% in the pana graph?

Niels

The new Olympus 300/4 IS Pro no doubt will be sharper since it's a prime,
especially edge sharpness will be better. From what I have seen in test shots it's probably in the same level as Nikons and Canons latest super-expensive primes.

MTF:s even for good zooms always look a bit "worse" in theory,
but still they can produce sharp and contrasty photos in practice,

I think the Leica 100-400 DG Elmarit will be a good balance between price
and performance. Also a bit lighter and more flexible for walk around use than the 300/4 olympus.

The only downside is image stabilization on Olympus cams.
I guess you have to select either lens OR in-camera stabilization.
Both will probably won't work together.

With the Olympus lens you get 6-stops IS when combining both lens and in-camera stabilization with the OMD E-M1.

Another thing is autofocus-speed, generally it will be faster for larger aperture lenses.
So the Olympus will probably have an advantage here.
 
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With the Olympus lens you get 6-stops when combining both lens and in-camera stabilization with the OMD E-M1.

Have to be a bird sitting extremely still for this to be relevant ;)

Niels
 
Have to be a bird sitting extremely still for this to be relevant ;)

Niels

yes, very good for shooting stuffed birds!
;)

but still might be useful, in some situations, being able to lower the ISO,
especially since high ISO is not super on the micro 4/3:s small sensor,
but I totally agree that IS is a bit overrated for bird photo
 
yes, very good for shooting stuffed birds!
;)

but still might be useful, in some situations, being able to lower the ISO,
especially since high ISO is not super on the micro 4/3:s small sensor,
but I totally agree that IS is a bit overrated for bird photo

Plus, the claim is you get 4 stops with single IS (available regardless of what camera it is paire with), and 6 stops with dual, so that further limits the situations in which dual IS will be relevant (assuming the 6 stops claim is even accurate).

In any event, thanks for posting the charts and other info in this thread.
 
Plus, the claim is you get 4 stops with single IS (available regardless of what camera it is paire with), and 6 stops with dual, so that further limits the situations in which dual IS will be relevant (assuming the 6 stops claim is even accurate).

In any event, thanks for posting the charts and other info in this thread.

slrgear.com got 100% good shots at 1/15 sec!

"In our testing, the Olympus 300mm ƒ/4 Pro's image stabilization using the E-M1 v4.0 was fantastic. Our lens technician Rob has quite the steady hand to begin with and, as you can see from our graph, was able to get about a 40% keeper rate of "Good" shots down to 1/60s of a second without any image stabilization. With image stabilization, however, not only was he now getting 100% keeper rates at 1/60s, he saw 100% of shots rated "Good" down to 1/15s! Going even slower, we still saw a handful of "Good"-rated shots (~30%) at a whopping 1s exposure time. At 300mm. That is incredible!"

http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=1840

But for the Leica 100-400 DG, I can't find any info on how many stops Power IS will give
with the IS in-lens only.
 
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