Long time wait on 70-300 arrived

[Oíche]

At last, first thing I do is check the manufacturing date code and it's 2024 so they literally recently made this and shipped it assuming ASAP given the shipping delays due to the Star Wars rebels in Yemen.

• Xiaomi - M2012K11AG
• 4.7 mm
• ƒ/1.79
• 1/50 sec
• Center-Weighted Average
• Auto exposure
• ISO 100

The zoom ring on this is nice, the 24-105 is a bit stiffer. It feels good on S5ii, lighter than my Pentax 300mm f4.5 prime. I can't believe people complain about the weight or bulk, it's only about 25mm bigger than the 24-105 f4.

I'm going to test it later to check the optics, maybe vs the Pentax prime also.

 

[dirk]

Congrats to the lens and that it finally arrived. I am curious whether you will like it. But if you do not find it too big, it very likely will please you.

 

[Oíche]

Congrats to the lens and that it finally arrived. I am curious whether you will like it. But if you do not find it too big, it very likely will please you.

It was smaller than I thought even though I checked dimensions before I got it. I had the Pentax DA* 60-250 f4 before that weighed well over 1kg. So far AF is nailing the focus at 300mm MFD 0.5x magnification, great colours and OOF macro rendering is creamier than Tony Northrupp

 

[Pete_W]

Good to hear it can do 'Toneh'.

 

[Oíche]

Good to hear it can do 'Toneh'.

Haha, 11 round aperture blades work great compared to pentagons/hexagons with my Pentax legacy lenses. It's difficult to call that character looking at the images TBH.

 

[JamesMorgan]

Mine also arrived over the weekend after a reasonably long wait. Bought if for a safari later this year. So far just one photo shoot on the local hills. No elephants, but the sheep were obliging subjects. So far, very pleased with it. Size and weight not an issue. I need to test if more in low light (as I expect a lot of safari opportunities will be around dawn)

• LUMIX S 70-300/F4.5-5.6
• 300.0 mm
• ƒ/5.59999990463
• 1/320 sec
• Pattern
• ISO 160

 

[Oíche]

I spent all night testing it at 300mm at around 3.2m distance to a 'test chart' of 4 CDs for corners and a post it note centre.

I tested it against my Pentax F*300 f4.5 prime at every aperture from wide open and I am flabberghasted and delighted at how good it was everywhere at all apertures with 300% loupe A/B comparison in Lightroom on 48" 4k OLED. The SAF pinpoint nailed the focus in the middle then I switched the lens to MF to prevent variation.

I also tested the 24-105 f4 at 105mm.

I'll try and post A/B comparisons with 300% zooms to corners and centres soon.

I never thought it would come close to the Pentax prime but I was proven wrong, to the extent I can't believe it.

JamesMorgan, that's a really nice photo and looks like you got a nice one also. The OOF area and transitions are superb. Sheep are great models who never charge anything and they all like Pink Floyd so I feel at one with them.

 

[Pete_W]

Mine also arrived over the weekend after a reasonably long wait. Bought if for a safari later this year. So far just one photo shoot on the local hills. No elephants, but the sheep were obliging subjects. So far, very pleased with it. Size and weight not an issue. I need to test if more in low light (as I expect a lot of safari opportunities will be around dawn)

Great photo!

I will add that I am impressed with the very precise f=stop recorded in the photo's caption: ƒ/5.59999990463

 

[Oíche]

ƒ/5.59999990463

It's slightly faster than a f5.6

 

[JamesMorgan]

I've now tested the lens a little more. Still very pleased with it - a few observations that may be helpful to others.

a) There is lens creep when held in my chest harness. Not a particular problem as there is a lens lock switch (that can only be engaged at 70mm). I thought I had got into the simple routine of moving the lens lock switch every time I put in my chest harness and unlocking it as I remove it, however, a couple of times I have moved the wrong switch without noticing. This has turned off lens OIS. I was wondering why my slow shutter speed images were suddenly much more blurry - which does show how good the OIS is normally. I'm sure this is only a temporary issue whilst I get used to the position of the switches.

b) 300mm on FF is not really long enough for small bird photography. I sort of knew this already and use m43 for bird photography, but was interested to see how the cropped images from FF compared to my m43 setup. It can compete, but you need to be very patient to get closer to the subject. Things might change if Panasonic release a high MP version of the S5. My main intended uses for this lens are large animals (safari), insects and landscapes. I plan on continuing to use m43 for bird photography.

c) In low light (30 min before dawn), AF noticeably slows down but is still usable on static subjects. At ISO6400 and full aperture I was down to around 1/10 second. The OIS can cope with this handheld but you would need very obliging wildlife to avoid subject blur. I might also take my 85mm f1.8 on safari to get 3 more stops of light.

A couple of photos. The first is a Dartford Warbler showing what is possible with small birds (heavily cropped) and the second is an obliging subject demonstrating low light performance (around 30min before dawn)

• LUMIX S 70-300/F4.5-5.6
• 300.0 mm
• ƒ/5.59999990463
• 1/800 sec
• Center-Weighted Average
• 0.7
• ISO 500

• LUMIX S 70-300/F4.5-5.6
• 99.0 mm
• ƒ/5
• 1/8 sec
• Center-Weighted Average
• ISO 6400

 

[Oíche]

The small bird photo is great, it actually worked better not getting closer and showing more of the landscape and the bokeh is class.

Regarding using the wrong switches, reference the braille type raised dots on the AF and you'll quickly learn it intuitively.

Regarding the lock at 70mm, this makes sense as it makes the lens more protected when fully retracted and less likely to bang off something when carrying it.

So far my 70-300 seems to focus better than the 24-105 f4 indoors although I only briefly tried it, it could be settings on the S5ii or something as I'm no master of it... Long learning curve.

 

[Pete_W]

however, a couple of times I have moved the wrong switch without noticing. This has turned off lens OIS. I was wondering why my slow shutter speed images were suddenly much more blurry - which does show how good the OIS is normally. I'm sure this is only a temporary issue whilst I get used to the position of the switches.

Yes, I've switched OIS off accidentally a few times when pulling the camera out of the bag. As soon as I do a half press of the shutter to focus, it is immediately obvious. The stabilisation makes a massive difference when shooting long!

A couple of photos. The first is a Dartford Warbler showing what is possible with small birds (heavily cropped) and the second is an obliging subject demonstrating low light performance (around 30min before dawn)

Great photos!