Panasonic 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Lens Review: A 200-800mm eq. zoom that you can carry around all day

by William Brawley

posted Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 4:49 PM EDT

Say hello to the biggest, baddest supertelephoto lens for Micro Four Thirds! Ok, well, "biggest" isn't really the correct term, as the new Panasonic 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Leica zoom lens is shockingly compact and lightweight when you consider its impressive 200-800mm equivalent focal length range. With Leica-approved optical performance, weather sealing as well as built-in optical image stabilization, this premium super-zoom lens is one of the most compelling offerings for MFT-based enthusiast and pro wildlife photographers.

The Micro Four Thirds system has tons of lenses to choose from, from a number of brands, that span an extremely wide range of focal lengths. However, one of the areas where this system falls short, compared to DSLRs, is that of powerful, high-end supertelephoto lenses. Sure, there's been a couple of long-range consumer-class zooms that stop at 300mm (600mm eq.), but nothing quite like the Panasonic 100-400mm. Similar to the Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO lens, the Panasonic 100-400mm is drastically more compact and more portable than a DSLR-sized supertelephoto lens.

However, by Micro Four Thirds standards, it's admittedly a bit large and heavy in comparison, and rather pricey.

So where does it stack up under lab-testing scrutiny?

We've just taken the wraps off our in-depth Panasonic 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Leica review, and we walked away extremely impressed with its image quality performance, AF speed and image stabilization. If you're an enthusiast Micro Four Thirds photographer who wants the ultimate in zoom reach for your next safari, we'd recommend considering the Panasonic 100-400mm.

For all the details, including test results, sample images and handling notes, jump over to our Panasonic 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Leica review. To see a selection of real-world images from the Panasonic 100-400mm f/4-6.3, check out our Panasonic GX8 Gallery (look for "100-400" in the filename).