I doubted long whether to invest money, effort and risk on a 300/4,5. I
already owned a 85~250/5 and liked it a lot, it performed well enough
even when coupled to the 2X-A to reach 500mm if the scene was not too
demanding. Besides, the 200/4 coupled to the 2X-A never really
disappointed me: I made more errors either when taking the picture or
when scanning, than those who could be seen when I nailed both. I needed
good reasons, and Gary's test didn't provide them. Ken's enthusiasm kept
me interested, and finally I found what seemed to be a nice late sample
of a 300/4,5. It was worth waiting for an MC version, as I happened to
find in its diagram that some of its elements were different. I binned
it at *Bay, and suddenly learned that it was risky for the seller to
ship it to another address than the one provided by the buyer. From that
point onwards, Chuck's help and Carlos Santisteban advice were of
critical importance. I had asked Chuck to inspect the lens and return it
if necessary, but seller was very reluctant to send it to Chuck's.
Finally, we all came to an agreement and the Zuiko arrived to Chuck's
home. After a very thorough inspection, one I couldn't have done better,
Chuck wrote me about his positive evaluation and went into a field test,
the 300 compared to the 85~250 @ 250mm at each F stop. He provided his
own 85~250, and I suspect his sample was made at the Wyoming factory,
because it has an extra f stop mine doesn't: between 5 and 8, his sample
has 5,6 and thus could be directly compared to the prime at the same F
value. ;-) [unexpected surprise below].
End of story: the big package you already saw, passed through Customs
without a question, without bureaucratic problems, without extra taxes.
This really made me happy !! I have in mind that this very unusual event
was possible because the 300 arrived on the date of birth of our
National Hero: José Gervasio Artigas, June 19 1764.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Gervasio_Artigas>
I'm pasting here what Chuck told me about his methodology (partially
edited, and omitted his conclusions, so you all can make each one's own):
I've finished the tests which are pretty simple. Just a collection of
stuff in the back yard with one shot each from both lenses at full
aperture, 5.6, 8, 11 and 16. I moved the camera closer for the 250
shots so that image size is very close between the two lenses. So there
are 5 shots for each of 2 lenses = 10. The camera was pointed slightly
downward.
In a nutshell, at f/11 there's nothing to choose between the 300 and
85-250 except longer focal length. Image quality appears the same.
There is a little sign in the lower right hand corner of each image
telling the lens (300 or 250) and the aperture. All of the tests were
shot at ISO 100 except that f/11 was done at ISO 200 and f/16 at ISO
400. I needed to keep the shutter speed reasonable and the 5D has
almost no noise at 400. The wind was starting to blow a bit during the
test so there may be a bit of motion blur in the flowers or in the hat.
I used mirror lock and a remote release but I can't beat the wind
completely.
Incidentally, none of the images has been sharpened for effect. Only
capture sharpening has been applied. If you want to try your hand at
sharpening I'm sure you can improve them a bit further. I just don't
sharpen until I know the final print or display size.
Cheers. More to come.
Chuck
*****************
I think they were somehow compressed when uploaded to Flickr. I will
leave them there for a couple of weeks, then I shall delete them since
I've reached the maximum amount admitted by Flickr beyond which I should
buy their Pro account and I'm not willing to.
Paired by F, 1024 wide
300/4,5:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3676298367/sizes/l/>
~250/5:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3676304677/sizes/l/>
300/5,6:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3676317365/sizes/l/>
~250/5,6: <failed to upload, should be 10 imgs here> seriously ! :-(
300/8:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3677142188/sizes/l/>
~250/8:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3677148612/sizes/l/>
300/11:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3677156614/sizes/l/>
~250/11:<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3677160016/sizes/l/>
300/16:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3676348867/sizes/l/>
~250/16:<http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando_gonzalez_gentile/3677163444/sizes/l/>
Enjoy, opinions welcome !
Fernando.
--
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