LUMIX 100-400mm LENS TOO SOFT FOR WILDLIFE ON MY GH4

F

flinty

Veteran
Yes as i say at anything past half the Zoom its too soft,does anyone use a Canon 400mm fixed lens with an adaptor on the GH4,i am a bit wary as an acquaintance had a Canon zoom lens ruined useing it with a metabones adapter,but with the results i am getting its pointless recording anything not close.
 
I shoot with a 75-300mm lens and at the long end atmospheric distortion really has an affect. I think the sweet spot is about 220mm and f/8. I always try to get closer.
 
Thanks for the reply,the trouble is getting close is often impossible,plus i would be lynched in some cases.
 
The 100-400mm is as good as 250-1000mm on the GH4 and it cant anything like good resolution at full length.
https://vimeo.com/207419895
There is a blurred look to all full length clips.As for getting close we all like to, the cameraman in the film did and frightened everything away,the cameraman in the film did and frightened all the birds away,good job there was only cameras where i was and not guns :Drogar-Mad(DBG):
 
flinty said:
The 100-400mm is as good as 250-1000mm on the GH4 and it cant anything like good resolution at full length.
https://vimeo.com/207419895
There is a blurred look to all full length clips.As for getting close we all like to, the cameraman in the film did and frightened everything away,the cameraman in the film did and frightened all the birds away,good job there was only cameras where i was and not guns :Drogar-Mad(DBG):
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That did not look good. It looks to me like it is not in focus.
 
Perhaps you have a problem with that particular lens, the lens works great at all focal lengths!

Here is a handheld test with IBIS at various focal lengths:

 
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flinty said:
Faraway subjects never look in focus no matter how i try,i expected not in focus to be said.
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What aperture are you using? Over f/8.0 diffraction will become a factor.
I agree with the previous poster, the video looks out of focus.
 
Like in the film above close up subjects are not too bad on mine,but subjects farther away have a blurred soft look.
 
Pilot error then,a man taking stills with the new olympus and the 100-400 said his stills were only useable up to 300mm or 600mm with stills crop,i hope if i change to the GH5 which has less video crop it may be better but then some reach will be gone.
The GH4 with a lens that cost more than my RX10 MK111 should resolve more detail at full range than the bridge camera with clear zoom on
RX10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTSWjAvCgnQ&t=11s some clips post cropped as well.
 
Cary Knoop said:
Today Panasonic published a new firmware update for the lens for improved OIS performance.
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Thanks Cary,i think mine is faulty or the GH4 but why would only the long end of the lens be the fault of the camera ,its realy hard to tell if the shot is sharp in the LCD or the viewfinder for me on the GH4,The last time i used the set up i even edited all what i thought was exceptable footage ,but on watching the edited film on on my 4k TV i was pleased at how the long shots seemed fairly sharp but half way through it changed the rest of the wildlife film had the soft blurred look that has been peeing me off, yes every single long clip from half way through.
 
flinty said:
Thanks Cary,i think mine is faulty or the GH4 but why would only the long end of the lens be the fault of the camera ,its realy hard to tell if the shot is sharp in the LCD or the viewfinder for me on the GH4,The last time i used the set up i even edited all what i thought was exceptable footage ,but on watching the edited film on on my 4k TV i was pleased at how the long shots seemed fairly sharp but half way through it changed the rest of the wildlife film had the soft blurred look that has been peeing me off, yes every single long clip from half way through.
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What aperture do you typically use for the long shots?
 
flinty said:
Well i never close below f8 if possible,and on the day the footage softened i never changed settings from what i had been useing.
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So if you setup a tripod and set the lens to 400mm you can't accurately autofocus on a chart? If not you may have some flange focal distance or actual lens problems.
 
Cary Knoop said:
So if you setup a tripod and set the lens to 400mm you can't accurately autofocus on a chart? If not you may have some flange focal distance or actual lens problems.
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It has done on a chart, but in the field its not all the time as i said at times its fairly sharp and then like the other day half way through filming it all 400mm footage turned soft but not out of focus as i did not realise at the time.
 
flinty said:
It has done on a chart, but in the field its not all the time as i said at times its fairly sharp and then like the other day half way through filming it all 400mm footage turned soft but not out of focus as i did not realise at the time.
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How do you set and/or lock focus?
I presume you are not using continuous auto focus.
 
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