This article features five M.Zuiko 100-400 mm HHHR test images captured at the Royal Botanical Gardens, along with 100% crops of each. As regular readers know I enjoy pushing myself and my camera gear with various challenges, just to see what will result. On a personal basis I don’t spend any time pixel peeping my images… but I do appreciate that some readers would like to see some 100% crops periodically so I included them in this article.

The five M.Zuiko 100-400 HHHR test images in this article were all captured handheld during overcast conditions with focal lengths ranging from 308 mm to 560 mm… equivalent fields-of-view from 616 mm to 1120 mm. My camera set-up also included the M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter.

I created these test photographs with an E-M1X using Manual mode and single point auto-focus. The in-lens stabilization of my M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom was turned off, as I prefer relying on the IBIS of my E-M1X when using this long telephoto zoom lens.

I had no idea what to expect when creating these M.Zuiko 100-400 HHHR (handheld high resolution) photographs. There was some intermittent breeze on this particular afternoon. I needed to time my image captures as best I could, during very brief lulls in the breeze. My efforts were met with varying degrees of success.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

First, let’s have a look at a flower image captured using a focal length of 308 mm, efov 616 mm.

Above is a 100% crop taken from the photograph. Next, let’s have a look at another flower photograph created using a focal length of 391 mm, efov 782 mm.

As you view the 100% crop of this image, you’ll notice a tiny spider on one of the flower petals.

The next three M.Zuiko 100-400 HHHR test photographs were all captured with the lens fully extended to 560 mm, efov 1120 mm.

And, here is a 100% crop from the above photograph.

Our final test flower image was cropped to 7395 pixels on the height, then resized for web use.

Here is the 100% crop from the above M.Zuiko 100-400 HHHR test photograph.

Our final HHHR test image is of a dragonfly perched on the end of a stem. It should be noted that I was able to capture a good number of dragonfly HHHR test images similar to the one below. I think the high contrast detail in the wings and body of the dragonfly helped the HHHR function with my E-M1X lock on to the subject.

This knowledge will certainly have me use my E-M1X’s HHHR function with more insect subjects when using the M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom, including when incorporating the M.Zuiko MC-14 teleconverter into my overall set-up.

As we can see with the 100% crop above, the detail is quite good.

If you own an E-M1X or E-M1 Mark III with the handheld high res HHHR mode, I would encourage you to try it out with some of your longer length telephoto lenses. This was my first ever attempt with my M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom. I was encouraged with these initial HHHR test results… especially with my dragonfly images. This bodes well for for some of my future insect photography.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process. Crops are noted. This is the 1,056th article published on this website since its original inception.

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