rscheffler wrote:
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Any reconsideration now that Sony has announced the 100-400 f/4.5? It's virtually the same size and weight as the 150-400 but half the price. No built-in TC and pixel density of the new a7RVI at ~67 MP is still short of 80MP FF equivalent reach in the OM-1, not to mention it's not a fully stacked sensor with the speed of the OM-1... but I'm guessing image quality differences at the pixel level will not be that much different.
The proof will be in the pudding but at least based upon PCMagazine’s testing of the Sony 100-400/4.5 and OM 50-200/2.8, I would expect the 150-400 to still eek out better performance. The 100-400/4.5 isn’t outperforming the 60MP sensor the way that the Sony GM300 is. The 50-200/2.8 is outperforming the sensor based upon the predicted Strehl ratio based upon the ability of the lens to maintain sharpness down to a very tight f-stop. So if the 150-400 is built similarly, it will be good.
That said, all of the analysis still really insists that there room for OM System to discount the 150-400 but while it’s still unique in many ways, they have no pressure to drop the price
I’m seeing that eBay prices seem to be going up not down…
AlanD wrote:
The proof will be in the pudding but at least based upon PCMagazine’s testing of the Sony 100-400/4.5 and OM 50-200/2.8, I would expect the 150-400 to still eek out better performance. The 100-400/4.5 isn’t outperforming the 60MP sensor the way that the Sony GM300 is. The 50-200/2.8 is outperforming the sensor based upon the predicted Strehl ratio based upon the ability of the lens to maintain sharpness down to a very tight f-stop. So if the 150-400 is built similarly, it will be good.
That said, all of the analysis still really insists that there room for OM System to discount the 150-400 but while it’s still unique in many ways, they have no pressure to drop the price
I’m seeing that eBay prices seem to be going up not down… ...Show more →
I agree we need to see more about how the 100-400 performs at the pixel level. It's price point is interesting because it is considerably lower than similar focal length lenses from competitors, such as the Canon EF 200-400 or 100-300/2.8 w/1.4x TC, or Nikon 180-400. It will be interesting to see the price of Nikon's recently announced 120-300/2.8 TC. So the question in my mind is why is it that much less expensive (what has been optically sacrificed for this price point)? Obviously it's slightly slower at f/4.5, which is kind of irrelevant nowadays. And it doesn't have a built-in TC.
Has anyone noticed that the 150-400's price in Japan is considerably lower than in the USA? I was not looking to find this out but while recently in Tokyo and visiting camera stores, one had the 150-400 in stock at JPY 792000, which is 720000 pre-tax. USD equivalent of the pre-tax price is about $4500. This price is also listed on the Map Camera website while Yodobashi is JPY 800000 pre-tax (about USD 5000). Compare this to the current price at B&H of $8600...
I was browsing the camera stores in Tokyo precisely because of the usually modestly better pricing currently in Japan for a number of other brands, but this really caught me by surprise because this lens has historically been difficult to get and has commanded a premium.
