On 4/30/2021 2:15 PM, Mike Gordon via olympus wrote:
Glad you had a great day at Point Reyes. That ProcaptureL is looking
attractive and not available on the PL 100-400.
The whole business is complicated. A while back Ctein was curious whether a PL 100-400 would do what he needed for a
project. I lent him mine for a couple of days. Here's what he had to say about it:
"Hard to say how good the lens is by any objective measure. It's insanely hard to critically test an optic like that.
Stuff that's far enough away that depth of field isn't a problem, there are atmospheric ripples and distortions to deal
with at the 400 mm lens. Stuff that's close enough that that's not a problem, I have to compare multiple frames made
with the same aperture where I shift to the camera to move the point of focus to different parts of the field of view.
It's a pain and not terribly precise."
I would add that DoF IS a problem, not with testing, but in use. He did rent
one and was pleased with the results.
You will probably recall this comparison of several 300 mm lenses.
<http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/tech/Lenses/300mmLenses/300mm.htm>
I don't recall if I posted this little video, that shows why that test was seriously flawed, at that time.
<https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/279563550>
That's at only ~40 m, on a mild day, @ 300 mm. Longer FLs, longer focal distances and more air movement makes it more
problematic.
At real distance, over salt marsh, optical quality of the lens becomes moot.
<https://photos.app.goo.gl/mBHxbXnC34CGKdUb6>
In the desert, only 125 yds is enough.
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MooseFoto/index.php?gallery=California/Carrizo_Plain&image=_A004347cr.jpg>
All of which is to point out that finding out both how good and how useful
ProCapL is isn't all that easy.
The Egret photos I posted are not pleasingly sharp out of camera. I took quite a lot of shots before it flew. They are
pretty much all equally unsharp, including the many when it was standing stock still, hunting. I know this lens combo is
capable of sharp results. It was early afternoon on a warm day, and I was shooting through air close to the sun warmed
ground, so I expect that is the main culprit.
The most effective mode in Sharpen AI is Stabilize, which could be read to mean the problem is movement. But I suspect
it works at a small enough scale that the movement being corrected is neither camera nor subject, but effects of air
shimmer.
I was shooting @ 560 mm eq. at first. When the bird came closer, I zoomed to 370 mm eq. Yes, at that point I should have
taken the TC off. But it was just as I was reaching to do so when it took off.
I have as yet not tried the lens alone @ 300-400 mm for things like Flutterbys. Should be better, with the shorter focal
distances.
In any case, don't expect to try the Oly 100-400 with ProCapL and magically get perfect shots. 😁 It's a powerful tool,
but with limitations and a learning curve.
Heading Up Moose
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What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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