News Panasonic 100-500mm f5-7.1 announcement

[wushuliu]

Hi, I did want to add a little to this conversation based on my recent experiences with the Sigma 60-600 & the Lumix 100-500. I am not a Youtube blogger or "lens influencer" so this is just my personal experience based on personally purchasing both of these lenses and making use of them. I have an S1R2 and the S Pro 24-70 (Japanese version) & 70-200. I am a big fan of both Sigma & the S Pro lenses that I have.

My primary use for the longer primary telephoto that I wanted to add was to photograph the barred owls that I share a yard with. We have a nesting box in our yard and it's a yearly routine for them to have babies, etc. I typically shoot them with a GH5M2 with a metabones converter with a Canon 70-200 which essentially gives me 400mm/2.8 which is hard to beat. The images in low light are quite useful. But I also wanted to make use of the abilities of the S1R2 as well so began exploring lens options, aware of the slowness of them.

To me the Sigma 60-600 seemed best on paper and I initially purchased this lens. I thought I could handle the weight and had hoped to do handheld work with it. I did a lot of test shots but was just stifled by the zoom ring being at the end of the lens and a few other features. But, it did take some great images with a gimbal & tripod.

I then started reading & watching all of the glowing talk about the Lumix 100-500 so I returned the 60-600 and purchased the Lumix. I was pretty impressed with it at first. Much lighter, easy to handle. And maybe I just had a bad copy, but i was just not happy with the results form 350-500 and I eventually figured out that it took much sharper photos if the subject matter was within 20' or less. And then I did the same shooting tests with it that i did with the 60-600 and really not nearly as sharp at 500 in comparison. I actually started realizing my 70-200 photos cropped were more preferable to me than the 100-500 images as well.

Unfortunately my experience w/ the 100-500 was the same in regards to birds. I also returned mine. I ended up getting a Canon as a second camera for wildlife but now realizing I don't use it quite enough to justify a second. Funny, I *also* tried out the 60-600 (before getting the 100-500) and it was super sharp and maybe one of the fastest focusing lens I tried IIRC. But the weight imbalance at full extension is brutal. Perhaps I need to revisit it as well though. A longer foot is a great idea. The stock foot on the Sigma is *way* too short. I was hoping Sigma would refresh the 150-600, which I find slow on Lumix cameras, but no news so far.

 

[claywalk]

Unfortunately my experience w/ the 100-500 was the same in regards to birds. I also returned mine. I ended up getting a Canon as a second camera for wildlife but now realizing I don't use it quite enough to justify a second. Funny, I *also* tried out the 60-600 (before getting the 100-500) and it was super sharp and maybe one of the fastest focusing lens I tried IIRC. But the weight imbalance at full extension is brutal. Perhaps I need to revisit it as well though. A longer foot is a great idea. The stock foot on the Sigma is *way* too short. I was hoping Sigma would refresh the 150-600, which I find slow on Lumix cameras, but no news so far.

Yes, if Sigma would do a refresh on the 150-600 I am sure that would satisfy a lot of people. I almost purchased the 150-600 instead of repurchasing a 60-600, but was just concerned it would not be as sharp as the 60-600. I was also very tempted by the 500/5.6 but was concerned about its versatility.

There really aren't any comparisons out there comparing the 60-600 to the newer 150-600 and the Lumix 100-500 - comparisons with actual RW2 files provided. So, it really is hard to ascertain which way to go sometimes with a lens purchase like this.

I am not sure why Sigma ships that tiny foot with the 60-600. But I am glad to be back with that lens. My biceps are going to be popping in no time!

 

[wushuliu]

FWIW, I found the 150-600 to be very sharp. Just too slow (w/S1RII) for my needs.

 

[Mmichaelhh1234]

I too heard all the you tube praise and bought the 100-500. I appreciate it’s compact form and the reach is great for closing in on subjects, and I need to test it thoroughly, but as of late it’s not just not sharp, it gives me muddy pictures with no detail.
I haven’t gotten down to that testing yet, but I seem to recall the quality being better in the beginning. Maybe I wasn’t looking critically, and maybe I’m relying on the IBIS more than it can carry me. Some of these you tube reviews showed handheld shots at 500mm with what I thought were low shutter speeds. My issues do not look like motion blur, but maybe they are.
I’m using the S1iie and the IBIS is seemingly fantastic.
Anyway, I’m disappointed in the results. Not a super expensive lens, but more money than the images I’m getting for sure.

 

[claywalk]

I too heard all the you tube praise and bought the 100-500. I appreciate it’s compact form and the reach is great for closing in on subjects, and I need to test it thoroughly, but as of late it’s not just not sharp, it gives me muddy pictures with no detail.
I haven’t gotten down to that testing yet, but I seem to recall the quality being better in the beginning. Maybe I wasn’t looking critically, and maybe I’m relying on the IBIS more than it can carry me. Some of these you tube reviews showed handheld shots at 500mm with what I thought were low shutter speeds. My issues do not look like motion blur, but maybe they are.
I’m using the S1iie and the IBIS is seemingly fantastic.
Anyway, I’m disappointed in the results. Not a super expensive lens, but more money than the images I’m getting for sure.

totally agree with what you are saying. There is amazing "wow factor" with everything I shoot with my S1R2 with my 24-70 & 70-200 S Pro lenses and my 40/1.4, 50/1.2 & 85/1.4 Sigmas but with the Lumix 100-500 i haven't captured anything that I was impressed with - the images at 500mm are just somewhat fuzzy and unimpressive. Since posting to this thread i have made taken some amazing shots with the 60-600 Sigma. I feel like the Lumix 100-500 may not be all that it is hyped to be. The IBIS appears to be amazing but it is not producing great images with it. And the lens is extremely overpriced. There is no way it should be at the same pricepoint as the Japanese made Sigma 60-600 lens that comes with a padded case and a 4 year warranty. The Lumix 100-500 should be in the $1500 USD price range at the most.

 

[Mmichaelhh1234]

I’m going to test it and post the images. What I’m seeing is akin to an extreme black mist filter that has wiped the definition out of the image. As if to say the lense can resolve a feather at 100 mm but then the 500 looks like that file was magnified digitally.
There’s no reason a bird shot in daylight at 50-75 feet should be so soft that its outline is indiscernible and no amount of sharpness will give any detail whatsoever.

This will be my mission today.