PANASONIC-LEICA DG 100-400 - Second Take

The First Time when we visited the Wellington Zoo was in 1988, (the first week when we arrived from Penang); since then, we probably went back only once!

But yesterday, taking advantage of a rare SUNNY WINTER DAY, my Home Minister and Moi went walking down the memory lane again!

1988 at the Wellington Zoo! © C.Y.Leow

Apart from reliving our lost youth, I had another mission on hand, to give the PANASONIC/LEICA 100-400 super zoom a good run for their money!

That is yours truely at the Wellington Zoo with the Lumix GX8 and the hefty 100-400 on my neck, sorry for the fake Nikon camera strap; that was the only neck strap I can find among my junk!

That is my better half with a free roaming emu, both pictures were shot with my little GM1.

Pictures you see below are all taken with the Lumix GX8 with the 100-400 (unless specified) at different zoom range, apertures and shutter speeds.

Most of the shots, directly below it, will have a 100% crop to show the sharpness.

All pictures were shot HAND HELD, the GX8 was on Aperture Priority mode, AF was on 1- Area, Dual I.S.  was active. Shutter was on electronic and medium burst.

This was taken outside my house, from the deck; before we head to the zoo.

Data:  ISO 800  F/6.3  1/100 second  400mm (800mm Eq).

We were shown a NZ TUATARA (The tuatara Sphenodon punctatus has been protected by law since 1895).

Data:  ISO 400  F/5.6  1/1,250 second  187mm (374mm Eq).

The BOLIVIAN SQUIRREL MONKEY with the largest brain to body ratio of all primates at 1 to 17, the ratio for human is 1 to 35!

Data:  ISO 400  F/5.0  1/1,250 second  195mm (390mm Eq).

Data:  ISO 400  F/7.1  1/100 second  195mm (390mm Eq).

Data:  ISO 400  F/7.1  1/640 second  264mm (528mm Eq).

Data:  ISO 400  F/7.1  1/80 second  100mm (200mm Eq).

Data:  ISO 400  F/5.6  1/30 second  100mm (200mm Eq).  WOW!  1/30 !!

Data:  ISO 400  F/6.3  1/100 second  400mm (800mm Eq).  WOW!  800mm @ 1/100 !!

The shots of the SUMATRAN TIGER was not as sharp as I thought, the bottom crop was only 50%, as you can see, it is quite soft.  I blamed the very thick glass panel that was in front of me which I shot through. That must have buggered up the sharpness!

Data:  ISO 400  F/5.8  1/500 second  318mm (663mm Eq).

Data:  ISO 400  F/6.1  1/640 second  213mm (426mm Eq).

My last lot of pictures were shot above the chimpanzee dwelling, this panorama will give you some idea how far I was from these primates.

The pano was shot with the tiny 12-32 on the GX8 in pano setting.

DID YOU KNOW the Wellington Zoo's CHIMPANZEE DWELLING have a MILLION DOLLARS VIEW of NEWTOWN?

Data:  ISO 400  F/5.6  1/400 second  236mm (474mm Eq).

Our lack lustre lunch at the tuck shop  ;)

Famous Last Words...

Do I enjoy using this super-zoom lens?

Very much!

I like the powerful 200-800mm Eq zoom range that allow me to "pull" my subject from afar...

How this solidly built optics balance beautifully on the GX8 and the auto focus speed is very swift.

My only concern is the zoom action from 250-400 is "a bit stiffer" than I thought, but this might be the way it was designed to prevent "zoom creep". 

Zoom creep can be totally eliminated from this lens by using the zoom lock ring in the front of the lens.

For delivering a HUGE 200-800mm Eq range, the 1 Kg weather sealed lens is actually quite light.  At least I survived the 4 hours walking at the zoo with the GX8 combo!

If you shoot a lot of birds and wild-life, take a look at this beauty.