Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150 mm F2.8 PRO Lens, Telephoto Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G Series), Black

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Lens construction: 15 elements in 9 groups (2 ED lens, 1 super ED lens, 1 HR lens, 2 aspherical lens) I think that broadly referring to the MFT aperture of 2.8 as 5.6 on full frame is somewhat misleading. Corner-to-corner sharpness is also tremendously good, with almost no change in sharpness from center softness at every focal length. The blur characteristics are very flat. For all intents and purposes, this lens is sharp, everywhere, all the time from ƒ/2.8 to around ƒ/11-ƒ/16, where we see minor diffraction softness coming into play.

The first thing a full-frame fanboy, like me, might say about the Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 Pro is that it’s ‘only’ equivalent to an 80-300mm F5.6 lens on a full-frame camera. True enough. Unique Another very interesting characteristic of this lens is the closest focussing distance of 70cm throughout the entire zoom range. As such, you can focus at 70cm even at 150mm or when using the MC-14, since the minimum focus distance isn’t altered by the teleconverter. This expands the versatility of this lens even more because it allows you to take near-macro shots. E-M1, 1/60, f/ 8, ISO 200 Perhaps the only downside with this lens is the appearance of some chromatic aberration. It's mostly visible as light purple and green fringing at the shorter focal lengths and most seen in the corners both wide open and stopped down to ƒ/8. By the time you zoom into 70mm, however, the visible corner CA is greatly reduced and continues to be very minimal to virtually invisible at longer focal lengths and at all apertures.Be sure to have a fully charged battery in the camera and installed OM Workspace software. Follow the "Update Your Firmware" link above to obtain this software. I’ve mentioned how well balanced the M.Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8 Pro feels when attached to the OMD EM1, the internal zoom mechanism means the the front of the lens doesn’t extend when you turn the zoom ring, maintaining the same overall length and balance. The front element doesn’t rotate when focusing so you can use a circular polarizer with ease. The lens has a 72mm filter thread.

Before I move on to talk about the optics and focusing, just to note that like several other lenses in the Olympus range the 40-150mm f2.8 Pro has a L-fn function button on the barrel that can be assigned to one of a number of functions from the custom menu on the camera. Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro optics Staying with optics, another important difference between the lenses is the presence of optical stabilisation on the Leica, which in my tests delivered up to six stops of compensation at 200mm. In contrast, the Olympus lens is unstabilised, instead relying on body-based stabilisation in your camera. If you have an unstabilised body, then the Leica is much more attractive thanks to its optical compensation. The OM System 40-150mm f4 Pro is capable of focusing as close as 27 inches from the front of the lens. At 150mm, that’s about a .41x macro on a 35mm equivalent. It gets in pretty close for atelephoto lens. In addition, the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm lens has a so-called L-Fn button, which allows users to temporarily suspend continuous auto focus when something suddenly comes between the lens and your intended subject. This is mostly useful when shooting a movie clip with C-AF enabled, but the feature can also be used when photographing action.Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test. In the world of online photography forums, one of the negatives you will read about m4/3 systems is the inability to achieve a shallow depth of field. In portraits and especially at weddings, beautiful bokeh is looked fondly upon and part of some very salable looks for clients. It should not be the sole objective, but I digress. Despite all the restrictions most of us currently need to comply with - we still should be very thankful for what we have, compared to hundreds of millions if not billions of people on this planet. We have roofs over our heads, there is enough food (and toilet paper), TV, internet, and we can take a walk outside.

Olympus servicing includes a complete inspection of all functions and repair and/or replacement of all parts necessary to ensure your product meets factory specifications. The Olympus also maintains a maximum aperture of f2.8 throughout its focal range, and again it’s very usable at this setting. At its maximum focal length of 150mm, the corner performance may not be as crisp as the Leica, but there’s no issues towards the middle of the frame and remember at 150mm the Olympus is essentially one stop brighter / faster too, allowing you to maintain lower ISOs or faster shutters. The Leica DG 50-200mm f2.8-4 is a compact and high quality telephoto zoom for Micro Four Thirds bodies upon which it delivers a 4x range equivalent to 100-400mm. This is an ideal range for sports, action, distant portraiture and some wildlife too. The focal ratio may not be constant, but is sufficiently bright to give it the edge in low light and shallow depth-of-field performance over cheaper telephoto zooms. The focusing is fast and quiet, the optical stabilisation achieved up to six stops in my tests, and like all of Panasonic and Leica’s collaborations, the build quality is excellent with smooth mechanics and a weather-sealed body. Shooting action, the lens performed well in sequential low burst mode. Photographing a runner heading straight towards the lens, I had only about a ten percent miss rate shooting at 10 fps. When it gets it right the 40-150mm f2.8 produces stunningly sharp detail. This time set to S-AF mode with the light fading, but still bright enough to shoot wide open at 200 ISO with the stabilisation enabled.A lens like this is useful only if its autofocus is 100% reliable autofocus when paired with your camera of choice, and here again there is very little to complain about. In Germany, we recently see more and more Phacelia fields in autumn as a means for green manure. Some farmers are demonstrating a very good sense and taste for coloring the landscape by interspersing sunflowers. Of course, such a lens does come with some built-in downsides. While it’s absurdly light for a zoom of its capabilities, it’s still a big heavy lens by most other measures. Therefore, its leave-at-home factor is higher than the smaller, less capable Olympus 40-150mm F4 Pro. And, of course, the Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 is one of Olympus’s more expensive lenses. The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro telezoom ships with a detachable tripod collar. When attached, it allows camera rotation, eliminating the need to tilt the tripod head for switching from landscape to portrait orientation or vice versa. There are markings on the lens barrel to show 90° rotation points. The size of the foot is well matched to the weight and bulk of the lens. Like the 12-40mm f/2.8, the second M4/3 “Pro” lens released by Olympus has been designed with professional photographers in mind. It features a strong and high-quality finish with an all-metal construction. It is splash, dust and freeze resistant, a true premium professional lens that is just as good as an equivalent DSLR Pro lens. It has a complete internal zoom mechanism so the length of the lens doesn’t change when zooming in or out.

To keep this lens light and compact, there’s no stabilization system built-in. Olympus bodies typically have some pretty great stabilization though. I managed to shoot this lens at 40mm for a two-second exposure, though I had a much better hit rate with a 1.3-second exposure.

The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens accepts 72mm screw-in filters. The thread does not rotate on focus, making the use of polarisers that much easier. Sharp, fast focus, the closest focus of any such lens. Great hood, rain impervious, good into the light.