Mirrorless and Panasonic-Leica 100-400

I currently use a Nikon D7100 with 300 F4 PV-VR and 1.4TC for birds , which I love - but even with that light lens it's a bit bulky and heavy especially  for travel. I also own a Panasonic GX85 M4/3 mirrorless, which is excellent for landscapes, people, street etc. photography. I have the "old" Panasonic 100-300 lens, burt it's a bit soft at the long end, and doesn't focus quickly enough for fast moving objects such as BIF. I'm thinking of getting the new 100-400 Panasonic -Leica lens to use with that system, but I'm reluctant to drop CA$2500 unless I know I can get at least as good image quality as my Nikon gear. I have seen excellent examples on line, but does anyone here have any experience with a M4/3 and that 100-400 lens? (I know the EM-1 Mk 2 might be a game changer, but it's not out yet).

Thanks,

Richard

Unfortuantely, a GX85 is never going to focus and track birds in flight like a D7100 regardless of what lens you put on it.

If BIF is crucial to you, stick with the DSL for reliable results. EM1 Mk II is not here yet but it should be very soon like in a couple of weeks soon and then we would see from actual usages how good or bad it is. Every body says image quality but it's all relative.If you choose to use m43 and expect dramatic improvement from its current image quality, well, keep hoping and it might come one day FWIW, I shoot Nikon and Olympus. To me, m43 is about portability,

It is certainly possible to do BIF with mirrorless, but I think the top line cameras such as the EM1 are needed. I have an EM-5 MkII for underwater and it is good at what it does but continuous AF is not that good really. This guy seems to get some really nice inflight shots with an EM-1 and 300mm f4:

http://www.feathersandphotos.com.au/for ... post367364

http://www.feathersandphotos.com.au/for ... post363934

http://www.feathersandphotos.com.au/for ... -in-flight

The bee eater and swallow are particularly challenging subjects, so it is certainly possible, but whether you can reproduce his results and what his keeper rate is, I don't know. The new EM-1 MkII may well improve on this performance but only time will tell. I doubt the 100-400 will be a match for the 300mm f4 in AF performance as it is f6.3 at the long end. For some reason you need to be a member to see full resolution images on the linked site.

ChrisRoss wrote:It is certainly possible to do BIF with mirrorless, but I think the top line cameras such as the EM1 are needed. I have an EM-5 MkII for underwater and it is good at what it does but continuous AF is not that good really.   This guy seems to get some really nice inflight shots with an EM-1 and 300mm f4....

I think some people use the Olympus EE-1 dot sight and it seems to help. A magazine review says this dot sight can be used with any camera.

Not the latest video but here's one of the early reviews of EM1-II C-AF and tracking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Rl8yc_zrc

Starting at 2:51 of the video.


Olympus seemed have a lot of confidence in their new camera that they dared to invite photographers to shoot BIF with it.