Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 G Vario Aspherical MEGA OIS Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras

by Panasonic

• Aperture Lowest at 4.0
• Auto-focus
• Mega Ois Lens

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.9 x 2.9 x 5 inches ; 1.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0043VE28S
• Item model number: H-FS100300
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 22, 2010

Product Description

Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 G Vario Aspherical MEGA OIS Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

115 of 120 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Close to the Killer App for Micro 4/3 (Update) December 9, 2010

By B. Fuller TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Amazon Verified Purchase

It has taken Panasonic a long time to realize the one of the biggest strengths of M4/3 is exploiting the 2x crop factor. They have now done that with the 100-300mm lens. This lens is the equivalent of a 200mm-600mm f/5.6! Wow (In 1:1 Tele Extender Video mode you get a 2.6x extender fro a 520-1560mm f/5.6 equivalent lens). If you check your specs you will see 600mm prime lenses come one stop faster and cost around oh $14,000. That is not a typo. They also weigh 11 pounds. So they are hardly something you would tote around. Now ideally, Panasonic would come out with a 300mm f/2.8 and f/4. Those would be super lenses on the M4/3. However, they would be bigger and heavier than this lens. So this lens is perfect for bright daylight shooting of birds, sports, safari animals. Just about anything you need to reach out and touch.

This is Panasonic's largest M4/3 lens so far and weighs in at 1.14 lbs. To give you a comparison, Nikon's 70-300 mm lens weighs in at 1.6 lbs. Unfortunately at 4.9" long it is not as small as I think it should be. The Nikon 70-300 VR is 5.6" long so not that much bigger and that is an FX lens. However, with that said this is a solid lens with great construction. It is typical of all of their heigh end lenses such as the 8mm Fisheye and 7-14mm wide angle. Something to note is this lens will be unwieldy to use on all the Olympus M4/3 and the Panasonic GF lines.

This lens takes very nice photos and the autofocus is very fast. Especially on the GH2. The Image Stabilization works as advertised.

Overall, if you are looking to take pictures of birds, your kids soccer games, or anything else that you would use a 600mm lens then this is the one to use on the M4/3 system.

As a comparison the Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6....7 is smaller and lighter and covers a greater focal range. However, it does not have Image Stabilization as that is built into Olympus cameras. So this would not be a good lens for Panasonic users. Also, I prefer the build and feel of the Panasonic. However, that is my personal bias. Oh the Olympus is $900 vs $600 for the Panasonic.

Update

Now that I have had a chance to play with this lens on the GH2 for a while, I can say this combo is great for shooting wildlife. The GH2 has an Extra Tele Convert (ETC) mode that makes this lens the equivalent of a 840mm (Medium ETC) and 1200mm (Small ETC). When you shoot in this mode you are getting an 8mp and 4mp image respectively. Yes you can crop a picture to get the same magnification. However, by selecting the ETC mode you are more likely to focus to an ultra sharp image on your subject. Also, it saves you 1 step in your work flow and saves space on your computer. So I find the ETC mode useful for stills also. As a down side it effectively makes your sensor smaller so it is not that useful in high ISO situations.

Overall, a brilliant lens and a no brainer if you are looking for extra reach on you M4/3 system. Read more ›

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as heavy as I thought! March 7, 2011

By P. Dirlam

Amazon Verified Purchase

When I got this lens, I expected it to be very heavy. I was surprised! It is heavy but doesn't feel at all as heavy as my Panasonic 14-140mm lens. You'd think the fact that it is longer than the 14-140mm lens that it would be awkward but it isn't to me. But I did downsize from a Canon 50D with a 100-400mm L lens and that setup weighed in at over 6 pounds so the 2 pounds of this setup is much lighter anyway. The quality of the 100-300mm lens is good. It is not spectacular but it still is very good. It comes in at 600mm whereas my Canon L lens was right at 640mm. In comparing the same shots at full telephoto, there isn't much difference and surprisingly, the quality of the shots are very similar. This lens costs $529 whereas the Canon L lens costs $1500! I am very happy with the results of this lens and so far, all the Panasonic/Leica lenses I've purchased. The shots are not as good in quality as the Canon EOS series but close and at less than half the cost and 1/3 the weight, I am very happy once again. I now own the G2, 14-140mm, 100-300mm, 45mm Leica macro and the 20mm f1.7. All of these lenses and the camera with the spare batteries, memory cards, charger and other miscellaneous gear in my camera bag weigh in at just over 7 pounds. My Canon setup with not as many lenses weighed in at 12 pounds. My Canon setup set me back over $5,000. My current setup cost just over $2,500. Half the weight and half the price. I'm sold on Micro four thirds!!

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic four thirds lens! January 31, 2011

By SouthTexasGal

Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this lens to mount on a Panasonic DMC-G2 micro four thirds camera. With great anticipation, I took the camera/lens combo with me on an early morning wildlife shoot. I was a little daunted when conditions turned out to be dismal...misty rain and very low light. However, I figured that if the lens was all I hoped it would be, I would get some good shots in spite of the conditions. A number of deer came to within 20' of me, and I was extremely pleased with the quality and detail of the shots I took of them - fine details were abundant with little noise, and with minimal editing, I got some very pleasing results! Later in the day, after the sun came out, I took the same camera/lens combo with me on a stroll around our ranch. My first impression was how easy the camera/lens combo was to carry around, and I am a small, petite lady. While on my stroll, I found some macro photo ops of ants doing what ants do...and what excellent results! At the 100 end of the lens, with the camera set on IA, I brought home shot with great clarity and detail. Even my pro photographer friends were impressed. So far, this has been one of the more brilliant purchases I've made, and I plan to put the lens to lots of use. I will post photos I've taken with the lens to the lens' product page...please check there for my shots.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Buy January 5, 2013

By David Siegfried

This is a telephoto superzoom lens for Micro 4/3 cameras that translates into a "35mm equivalent" of 200-600mm. Typically a lens like this gets used at the long end the majority of the time for "birding" and other wildlife pursuits. Crop sensor cameras like M4/3 have an advantage in this arena, because they allow you to get more "reach" with a much smaller and lighter setup. A Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS Lens costs over $12,000, weighs over 10 lbs and can't be hand-held for more than a shot or two; add another $1000 for a sturdy tripod and gimbal head and you're stuck lugging around a LOT of gear. This lens, on the other hand, weighs slightly over 2 lbs paired with a GH2 and is totally hand-holdable for long periods.

Does that mean that this lens can produce images that look as good as a 600mm DSLR lens? Well, unfortunately not, because there is no free lunch. What happens when you scale everything down is less total light gathering ability, plus with a zoom versus a prime lens there are usually some compromises. I would have preferred that Panasonic had just put their effort into a 300mm f/4 prime lens and gone for the best optics possible. F/5.6 is a relatively slow lens and that is a limiting factor. On a bright sunny day, you can shoot without support and get a lot of keepers, but in any circumstances that have less than optimal light, such as on a cloudy day or in the shade of trees, where you find many birds and animals, you might want to have a monopod available to prevent the dreaded camera shake, even with the image stabilization.

All that said, you can do a LOT with this lens that you could never do without getting into a super-expensive, bulky, attention-drawing DSLR rig. A few others have complained about the optical quality but I've found it to be quite good.... With a super telephoto field of view, your technique is going to be the most important factor in getting clean shots. With long-distance shots you're also going to have more image degradation with thermal currents (heat waves) and atmospheric pollution than you are with any optical shortcomings in this lens. Panasonic's built-in lens correction takes good care of chromatic aberration, distortion and light fall-off, and the lens is about as sharp as it gets wide open, so it's not really necessary to stop it down further. F/8 may technically get you a bit more sharpness in the corners, but your friends won't notice.

Build quality is a bit on the cheap side; it's a typical plasticy consumer lens, but what do you want for $500? This lens is going to get you some nice shots if your subject is relatively static. Don't expect to get breathtaking shots of birds in flight--I've tried, and it doesn't seem to stabilize very well for panning.

For an affordable super-zoom solution at this high magnification, your choice pretty much comes down to this or getting one of those superzoom "bridge" cameras like the Panasonic FZ200 or Canon SX50; this lens on a GH2 or similar is far and away going to get you the more professional-looking results. What's more this lens is a good investment as the quality of Micro 4/3 bodies and sensors will continue to improve over time. But just because super zooming ability has been reduced down to a compact package doesn't mean that nailing great shots of wild & flighty creatures is going to be easy. It still takes a great deal of patience, a steady hand, and development of your craft. The journey is fun, so enjoy! Read more ›