Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. Lens Review
As everyone in my circle knows, I love landscape photography. Capturing the beauty and diversity of nature in different lighting and weather conditions is very rewarding. And being a perfectionist, I’m always looking for the ultimate landscape photography equipment for my journeys. I was thrilled when I came across the Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. lens. In this review, I will share my experience and opinion about the lens and its performance from a landscape photography perspective.
Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. – Lens Design
The Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. lens incorporates 17 lens elements in 11 groups, including one ultra extra-low dispersion (U.E.D.) lens, two extra-low dispersion (E.D.) lenses, and one ultra-high refractive index (U.H.R.) lens.
The lens is weather-sealed, can resist dust and moisture, and function in temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius.
It also has a minimum focusing distance of 0.54m and a maximum magnification of 0.5x for half-size macro capabilities.
Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. – Image Quality
On my Leica SL2, the lens produces eye-popping sharp, contrasty, and color-accurate images across the zoom range. The lens exhibited minimal distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberration, and flare. And the image’s out-of-focus areas are buttery smooth and produce pleasing circular bokeh.
I will let the images I captured around Old Folsom speak for themselves.
Note: The images on this page were captured with the Leica SL2 and processed using Capture One.
Here are several images captured at Nimbus Dam with a focal length of 70mm to 200mm. Note the lens’s outstanding depth of field and edge-to-edge sharpness.
And the wide-open shots that isolate the subject with creamy bokeh.
Here is an image captured handheld at 1/15 of a second with a focal length of 300mm to test the O.I.S. of the lens.
Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. – Conclusion
The Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. is a telephoto zoom lens for L-Mount cameras that offers phenomenal image quality, fast autofocus, macro capabilities, and a versatile focal range. It is a well-balanced lens on the Leica SL2.
The lens only costs $1,249.99, a steal for its superior image quality and feature set.
The Panasonic S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. lens will be part of my landscape photography camera bag for years.
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