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[OM] Hats off - Zuiko 300mm ƒ/4,5 <--> 85~250mm ƒ/5 shootout, by Chuck.

Subject: [OM] Hats off - Zuiko 300mm ƒ/4,5 <--> 85~250mm ƒ/5 shootout, by Chuck.
From: Fernando Gonzalez Gentile <fgnzalez@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:50:30 -0300
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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