|
Panasonic Lumics 100-500 mm F5-7.1 OIS @ 500 mm | ISO 1600 | 1/640 | F7.1 Photo: Richard Butler |
Panasonic Lumix S 100-500 mm F5-7.1 OIS is a relatively inexpensive new tele-zoom for L-mount cameras. We have borrowed a sample and have the opportunity to shoot a handful of samples with it in the local nature reserve.
Sadly, there were many interesting birds around and when we were able to travel, so we are mainly finished with pictures of our favorite Folwac Waterfolk: Duck. A belt was Kingfisher, who was surveying the scene, but he was firm to be photographed only far away, even with 1000 mm of new lenses and 2.0x teleconverter.
At 1285g, except for the trippai leg, we found that it was very easy to hold 100–500 mm by hand, and we would probably be better than leaving the tripod legs at home. The Panasonic lens gives a figure of 7.0EV stabilization when combined with a dual 2-compatible body, and we found that it could be very stable. In the long-term focal length, it is definitely worth setting stabilization on ‘always’ rather than ‘half-repres’ on ‘always’, as you will really need stabilization to work while working your shot.
We found it very easy, and we probably would be better than leaving the tripod at home
The zoom ring is large and deployed so that the balance point of the lens remains within your boundaries even at about 500 mm, so you will not be able to move yourself to your hand for full access. It has more than 90 degrees throw, which means that you get quite subtle control on the focal length, but if you want to be able to expand all the way through the zoom range in the same bridge, you will probably need to plan carefully the position of your early hand.
The zoom is a stress adjustment for the ring, allowing you to determine how easily the zoom ring runs, but on our pre-production unit, the difference was very subtle.
2.0x teleconverter
We also shot it with 2.0x teleconverted and have included some examples. Before you attach a teleconverter, it is worth pushing the “zoom limit” switch into the position. In this way, once you increase the lens beyond its 150 mm focal length, it will not return any further from that point: stopping you from breaking the element behind the lens into TC.
It is worth noting that, when you can attach the zoom range to any focal length, it does not prefer to decompose the lens when set to 150 mm, so you will need to zoom a little to get a catch to release.
A 2.0x teleconverter takes maximum aperture in full zoom up to F14, which can be a bit of a challenge even in bright light, and in our samples it does unpleasant things for bokeh. We found that our S1R II F14 (instead of its ‘wide-open’ setting), if you turn off the teleconverted, it is worth noting it, if you are swaping it too much and closing a lot.
Nevertheless, even though 1000 mm was still not enough to get a good shot of the elusive Kingfisher, we appreciated that it is one of the more affordable methods to achieve such access to such a large sensor.
Panasonic Lumix S 100-500 mm f5-7.1 sample gallery
Please do not reproduce any of these pictures on any website or any newspaper/magazine without prior permission (See our copyright pageWe provide the original for private users to download our machines for personal examination or printing (in combination with this review); We believe so well, so please do not misuse it.
