With my Olympus M.Zuiko 100-400 decision made, and my lens on order, I’m now like many other folks anticipating the arrival of my new lens. This article shares a selection of new photographs of an osprey fishing, and discusses my M.Zuiko 100-400 decision.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

When I first bought my Olympus gear a little over a year ago I decided to use the M.Zuiko PRO 40-150 mm f/2.8 with the MC-20 teleconverter for my bird photography. This combination has served me quite well, helping me capture a good range of bird images. The reach was a bit short for my liking, but workable much of the time. There are regular occasions where I simply watch a bird fly by and make no attempt to photograph it as it is too distant.

While it is an excellent lens, the M.Zuiko PRO IS 300 mm f/4 was not of any interest to me. I’ve never liked using prime lenses. I much prefer the flexibility of zoom lenses. Plus, the PRO 300 mm f/4 has no practical application for me when doing client videos, whereas the PRO 40-150 mm f/2.8 is a great lens for video work.

Initially I thought that I would wait for the upcoming M.Zuiko PRO 150-400 mm f/4.5 with built-in 1.25X teleconverter. I have no doubt that this lens will be superb, just like all of my other M.Zuiko PRO lenses. A recent knee injury brought a dose of reality to my thinking. I realized that this lens would be too large and heavy for me to use it for extended periods of time. So, when the M.Zuiko 100-400 f/5-6.3 was announced it attracted my attention.

I did some research on the Olympus M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 zoom, with reviews by Petr Bambousek and Frank Smith being of special interest. On a personal basis I don’t pay too much attention to typical camera gear reviews done by other photography sites. The experiences and work of professional photographers are much more meaningful to me.

The fact that the M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 accepts teleconverters was a key consideration for me. I’m more than happy to give up a stop or two of light to get additional reach. I already own the MC-20 teleconverter and I’ll no doubt use it frequently on my new lens. I anticipate there will be many opportunities where there will be sufficient light to shoot at f/13 with an efov of 1600 mm.

However, from a practical viewpoint only using the MC-20 would be limiting from the perspective of having sufficient available light. So, I ordered the MC-14 teleconverter. This will allow me to shoot at f/9 with an efov of 1120 mm. I’m anticipating that the MC-14 will be mounted om my M.Zuiko 100-400 most of the time. Compatibility with Olympus teleconverters made my M.Zuiko 100-400 decision quite easy.

At this point the M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 is on back order with Olympus Americas so I’m not sure when I’ll be receiving my copy. Rest assured that once it does arrive I’ll be putting it through its paces and sharing my experiences and photographs with you. I think this lens, and the upcoming M.Zuiko PRO IS 150-400 f/4.5, have the potential to attract a lot of interest in the nature and birding segments of the market.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured hand-held using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process. Images were cropped to taste, then resized for web use.

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