Olympus 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 IS lens

[Phocal]

So there's still hope for sealed primes, and Fuji sure has shown there is a market for them with their f/2 WR series.

Have they really? All they offer are the f/2 ones, nothing faster. So they haven’t really proven anything other than there is a market for weather sealed lenses, which Olympus has also shown.

A good friend of mine shoots Fuji and is jealous of our Olympus lenses. He is a wedding and event photographer and needs the faster lenses and because he sometimes needs weather sealed had two but both. He much prefers the Olympus approach where he could just buy the Pro primed and be done with it.

So the grass is not always greener.

 

[davidzvi]

Have they really? All they offer are the f/2 ones, nothing faster. So they haven’t really proven anything other than there is a market for weather sealed lenses, which Olympus has also shown.

A good friend of mine shoots Fuji and is jealous of our Olympus lenses. He is a wedding and event photographer and needs the faster lenses and because he sometimes needs weather sealed had two but both. He much prefers the Olympus approach where he could just buy the Pro primed and be done with it.

So the grass is not always greener.

Yes they have shown there is a market for small, sealed, relatively inexpensive, and optically really good primes. No they aren't the fastest being only f/2 (and f/2.8 in the case of the new 16mm). No they won't replace the faster primes. No they probably aren't what your friend is looking for. But the market between the kit zoom user and the Pro user (or those chasing speed) is probably a lot bigger than the Pro market. It's the same market the current Oly f/1.8 primes are targeted at, so yes I think it would be good for Olympus to update their Premium primes and make then weather sealed. They'd probably sell more of them then the f/1.2 Pros.

And no it's not a question of the grass is greener, the only prime I'm really looking for is an updated 14mm or 17mm, I'd like it to be an f/1.4 and smaller than the oversize Sigma. But we can't always get what we want and one of the Pro zooms on the roadmap is a higher priority for me anyway.

 

[Gillymaru]

My gut says the the 150-400Pro zoom will be 2x to 2.5x the price of the 300F4 prime, that way it doesn't eat any sales of the prime.
Oly AU list it at AU3900 putting the 150-400Pro at AU7800 to AU9700,
street prices AU3000 avg so AU6000 to AU7500

mmmm maybe AU7500 is close, hope it's cheaper but not going to hold my breath
The PL100-400 is current around AU1800, i'd comfortable pay 3x that for the Oly 150-400

I think the 90-250mm 2.8 4/3 lens was around $7500 Aud when it was on sale here, I reckon the 150-400 will be around the same price.
It will be much more expensive to build than the 300 f4 with the addition of the 1.25 teleconverter and that super costly white paint.
If it sells for under $7000 here I will be pleasantly surprised, it could even go close to $10,000 list price when released.
If the image quality of the zoom at 400mm isn’t better than the 300mm + 1.25 then I would have to seriously consider if it was worth buying.

 

[ibd]

The just updated lens road map suggests that this will be a 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 lens, WITH (DUAL) IS!

I hope that the relatively slow aperture will lend itself to a reasonable size. Similar maybe to the Pana offering covering the same focal lengths.

I'm quite interested in this lens.

Updated the thread title to reflect the new information.

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[Baenwort]

I'm just worried that with IS and being a non-pro lens that it will not be sealed.

Otherwise it looks like the lens I've been waiting for.

 

[RS86]

I'm just worried that with IS and being a non-pro lens that it will not be sealed.

Otherwise it looks like the lens I've been waiting for.

There seems to be two a bit long WS zoom lenses in non-PRO category. That 150-400mm Pro doesn't have the marking for WS, which it has. That lens will cost some huge money and is not very portable I think, so they will need some cheaper long zoom that is weathersealed.

 

[davidzvi]

There seems to be two a bit long WS zoom lenses in non-PRO category. That 150-400mm Pro doesn't have the marking for WS, which it has. That lens will cost some huge money and is not very portable I think, so they will need some cheaper long zoom that is weathersealed.

The color of the asterisk and the color of the "future" is the same (or at least too close), so you can't really tell if they are or are not weather sealed.

 

[RS86]

The color of the asterisk and the color of the "future" is the same (or at least too close), so you can't really tell if they are or are not weather sealed.

Yeah, it's weird. What I meant is that the 150-400mm is announced to be weather-sealed and there is no mark for it there. So we cannot make conclusions about other lenses either.

 

[hoodlum]

I'm just worried that with IS and being a non-pro lens that it will not be sealed.

Otherwise it looks like the lens I've been waiting for.

While the non-pro 12-200 doesn't have IS, it does have weather-sealed construction. So a non-pro lens can be sealed and I would think that would apply to the 100-400 as well.

 

[Holoholo55]

While the non-pro 12-200 doesn't have IS, it does have weather-sealed construction. So a non-pro lens can be sealed and I would think that would apply to the 100-400 as well.

There are other non-Pro weathersealed lenses like the 60 f2.8 macro and 14-150 II as well as the 12-200. So, the avenue is there.

 

[Bushboy]

Just give us a powerful telephoto that doesn’t cost the earth and is outrageously sharp. I couldn’t care less if it doesn’t have stabilisation, weather proofing, and large aperture.
Just keep it simple, let if focus close, be lightweight, and be affordable for everyone. They will sell a truckload.

 

[swifty]

I think it’d be great if all Olympus products going forward include at least some basic weather sealing.
It’d create a nice marketing message.

 

[Ross the fiddler]

Just give us a powerful telephoto that doesn’t cost the earth and is outrageously sharp. I couldn’t care less if it doesn’t have stabilisation, weather proofing, and large aperture.
Just keep it simple, let if focus close, be lightweight, and be affordable for everyone. They will sell a truckload.

If it's f6.3 at 400mm then I want OIS so I can utilise the Sync IS function, otherwise it would need to up the ISO or maybe used on a tripod at 400mm. Body IBIS at that focal length would not be as effective alone, especially being a lighter lens & on a lighter body. The lens you describe is what we already have in the 75-300 (f4.3-6.7) lens.

 

[Baenwort]

Their are nonpro weather sealed and now non-pro IS but there hasn't been both in one lens that wasn't also pro. That is my worry, I'd take WR over IS due to my usage environment and how it makes me feel more comfortable to every day carry my gear in a readily accessible manor.

 

[Bushboy]

The lens you describe is what we already have in the 75-300 (f4.3-6.7) lens.

No, not what I’m thinking at all.
I’m thinking a prime lens, 300 or 400 mm , old school, but sharp. I wouldn’t care if it was manual focus only. And I certainly don’t expect to hand hold it.
I’m thinking a budget, but optically excellent, wild life/nature photographers lens..???
I’m sure lots of peeps would buy it, unlike the expensive models they keep trotting out... but I’ve been wrong before! ?

 

[Ross the fiddler]

No, not what I’m thinking at all.
I’m thinking a prime lens, 300 or 400 mm , old school, but sharp. I wouldn’t care if it was manual focus only. And I certainly don’t expect to hand hold it.
I’m thinking a budget, but optically excellent, wild life/nature photographers lens..???
I’m sure lots of peeps would buy it, unlike the expensive models they keep trotting out... but I’ve been wrong before! ?

Olympus was going to produce the 300mm lens without OIS but they delayed production to add OIS so the output could be better with syncing OIS & IBIS. They want their Pro lenses to produce the best of quality & are unlikely to produce something that would be criticised, like a basic 400mm prime lens that wouldn't be able to be stabilised as well with the resulting output. They get enough criticism already from those that have all sorts of reasons to do so, but the intended users appreciate what is produced.

 

[RichardC]

Olympus was going to produce the 300mm lens without OIS but they delayed production to add OIS so the output could be better with syncing OIS & IBIS. They want their Pro lenses to produce the best of quality & are unlikely to produce something that would be criticised, like a basic 400mm prime lens that wouldn't be able to be stabilised as well with the resulting output. They get enough criticism already from those that have all sorts of reasons to do so, but the intended users appreciate what is produced.

Which makes sense. A sharp 20mp image beats a fuzzy 36mp one - especially when you can capture them at the rate of 60fps.

 

[Bushboy]

Look, your all insane.
I give up.

 

[RichardC]

Look, your all insane.
I give up.

La-la-la I don't care. Insanity is bliss, and it's not illegal yet.

 

[wjiang]

I just picked up a very good condition used PL 100-400 for about 50% RRP... I don't get Sync IS, but I'm not sure what use that would be for waders, swimmers, and fliers...
I would definitely welcome a smaller and lighter option, however.