Digicameinfo confirmed the new Leica 100-400mm MFT lens will be announced on January 5th. So these are all the products Panasonic will launch on the same day:
– DMC-TZ100 (colors black and silver)
– DMC-TZ80 (colors black and silver)
– LEICA DG VARIO-ELMAR 100-400mm F4-6.3
– HC-VXF990 (camcorder)
– HC-VX980 (camcorder)
And on January 6 Olympus will launch the new 300mm f/4.0 PRO lens!
19 Responses
It looks great !
And it does indeed seem that it has a sliding hood.
(hope it’s not be a big beauty ring)
I have to “give it up” that the Panny Zoom is a nicer looking object than the Oly….(at least the prototype photo that we have be seeing forever now)….
I will not be buying it…but it is rich looking!!!!!! Nice. No toaster parts there! LOL!
The front end is curious looking …is that a retractable hood??? I guess we will find out soon enough…what a beauty!!!!
No doubt, the olympus is a hodge-podge of satin & gloss with too many seams and angles. Its only aesthetics but still I can’t figure why they didn’t choose a modern flat black and clean lines for the pro series.
The Oly looks very nice to my mind. Actually far more impressive than this Leica. And that is how I feel with all Oly pro lenses. Just my opinion. Downside: big and heavy and not something I want to carry around in my bag. I didn’t get into mFTs to toss things like the 40-150 f2.8 and this lens. Surely not without OIS and when it comes to the 300 mm F4 also not because of very restricted use for my shooting. So it will be the panny 100-400 then…
Olympus PRO line design is highly praised in the “camera gear fashion” people. And they do look excellent.
But the thing is that the idea to use metal is strange by few reasons:
1) They get very cold in cold weather = annoying to hold!
2) The paint wears off with every hard impact (PRO gear gets hard impacts) that reveals the silver metal.
3) The focus/zoom rings tooth doesn’t improve grip as well as would have a rubber (and be warmer too! And protect against impacts!).
But the design in PRO line is better than in most Zeiss/Leica lenses!
It would not surprise me if it was a beauty ring.
Would really be a shame if it is, isn’t leica meant to be in the Bauhaus/minimalist pure functional spirit ?
But true there is one on the 15mm 1.7
Its not that i am against sliding hoods, but 1< inch aint much, a big tele like this could extend way more without being in the frame.
plus sliding hoods dont offer much protection, most big tele lenses are designed to stand on their hood. Cant recommend that with a sliding hood.
I bet if this is a retractable hood..that it slides out more than it appears with a very sturdy mechanism, based on the other Panny/Leica lenses…no detail was missed..and there is always an extra touch…especially in the more recent releases.
The sliding hood on the Oly 40-150mm is FANTASTIC!…(I do not ever stand an expensive lens on its hood…just bad form in my world).
Never mind.
Looks more like a screw retainer lenshood like on the Nocticron would find its place there.
What I cannot see is the tripod mount – is this large knob to tighten/loosen it?
Maybe the tripod collar is that black hump on the bottom, toward the right side of the lens in the 2nd photo?
Unusual….but possible.
It looks like the last inch or so is slightly smaller in diameter. That may be a place to add a friction fit hood in addition to a smaller sliding one. I have a Canon 300mm FD L that has a similar hood design like that except the extra hood can be secured with screws.
Olympus 40-150mm sliding hood is excellent and ultra sturdy. To break it you need to drop the lens from >1m height to ground. One friend dropped his in that way from veist level (1m) and it protected the lens.
Thanks 🙂 i only had experience with legacy sliding hoods, seems they improved
What is that small circular “button” to the right of the other lens control swithes?
Normally that’s for releasing the tripod collar, but i dont see a tripod collar :/
For sure there is a tripod collar, but I guess non removable (reason why the tripod foot seems to be in two pieces) and so very well integrated, and the knob is to turn the collar to switch from landscape to portrait.
Can anyone get a clear view of that filter size? Looks like it might be a 72…