The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC and the Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC is the longer of the two lenses at 314mm. The Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II with a length of 126mm, is 188mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC also has a larger diameter of 116mm compared to the Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II's 74mm diameter.
Below you can find a scaled side-by-side image of Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC and Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II to get a better idea of how their sizes compare in real life.
Comparison image of the Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC and the Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II Size and Weight The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II weighs 520g, 71% (1330g) lighter than the Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC's weight of 1850g.
Below you can find the dimension and weight table of the Telephoto Zoom Lenses in Micro Four Thirds Mount for size comparison purposes.
Super Telephoto Micro Four Thirds Mount
Filter Threads
The Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC has a filter size of 95mm whereas the Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II has a 67mm diameter. Larger filters are generally more expensive than the smaller ones given all the other features are equal.
Below are links to the 95mm filters that we recommend you to consider for the Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC:
And these are the 67mm filters that we recommend for the Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II:
Lens Mounts
Both the Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC and the Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II has the same Micro Four Thirds lens mount . Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Micro Four Thirds lenses are OM System OM-3 Astro , OM System OM-5 II and OM System OM-3 .
Focal Range
Olympus 150-400mm F4.5 TC has a focal range of 150-400mm and
2.7X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of
300-800mm when used on a FourThirds format camera.
On the other hand, the Panasonic 100-300mm F4-5.6 II has a focal range of 100-300mm and 3.0X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 200-600mm when used on a FourThirds format camera.
