Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150 mm F4-5.6 Lens, Telephoto Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G Series), Black

Product Information

For the last few years, I’ve been using my old Olympus 50-200 mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD Four Thirds lens for telephoto shots. I’ve always been pleased with its results. However, that old lens is big and heavy. This new OM System lens weighs in at a mere 0.841 lbs (381.4 grams). The new OM-1 and this lens together weigh less than the old lens with its MFT-3 adaptor attached. The new 40-150mm lens is certainly far smaller than any other lens of this focal range, and that makes it easier to use. Remember, this has the equivalent field of view of an 80-300 mm lens on a 35 mm camera.

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A nearly 100% crop of an oystercatcher that was about 20-yards distant, shot at 150mm f/4 1/2500 s, ISO 200. The image is nicely sharp. Let’s start with the constant fast aperture of 2.8, which is certainly the main characteristic that will attract users in the first place. On a Micro Four Thirds camera, it becomes even more important because it is likely the aperture you will use 90% of the time to get more light and a shallow depth of field. On my Lumix 35-100mm f/2.8 I rarely use apertures like f/4 or 5.6, and the same went for the 40-150mm. So good performance at 2.8 is essential for a lens like this, starting with sharpness. At the 150mm end, the angle of view narrows to 8.2°, equivalent to that of a 300mm lens mounted to a 35mm full-frame camera. The 75-300mm is no louche at 300mm, and it doesn't really matter in the scenarios it is most often used as the thermal waves in air will render most often all long telephoto lenses to same ball park.

Function button (L-Fn) mounted on the lens. It makes it possible to adjust functions corresponding to such custom settings on the camera body as "AF stop". If you shoot a lot of fast action in varying amounts of light, the twice-as-bright 40-150mm F2.8 Pro is more likely to get the shot while keeping those image-degrading ISO’s low. Zooming to 70mm maintains the excellent centre sharpness at wide open aperture and the clarity towards the edges is improved over that at 40mm, reaching very good levels at maximum aperture. Again, peak quality across the frame is achieved at f/5.6, where sharpness is excellent across the frame. As on the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 Pro, the focus ring can be used in one of two modes. A manual focus clutch mechanism is engaged by snapping the focus ring rearward, which also reveals a focus scale marked on the lens barrel. In this mode the lens is focused mechanically with physical stops at either end of the range. In the forward position the scale is obscured, you can still manually focus, as long as the camera is in MF mode, but turning the ring focuses by wire using the AF motors.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Lens Review

Zooming is not internal - as you can see, the front extends considerably upon zooming to 150mm. The zoom ring is sufficiently wide and neither too stiff nor too loose. Zoom creep is not an issue. The focus ring is narrow and ribbed, and is used to give impulses to the micromotor that moves the lens elements - in other words, it is not mechanically coupled. The lens accepts filters via a standard 58mm thread around the - non-rotating - front lens element. The constant f2.8 aperture is maintained throughout the focal range, a very useful feature and not just for shooting in low light. The physical aperture diaphragm construction is composed of 9 blades which produce a circular shaped aperture that should result in pretty circular blob highlights for out of focus elements. At the other end of the range the minimum aperture is f22. When fitted to the OMD EM1, the camera and lens combination is beautifully balanced. It feels just right, not just when carrying it around but when you raise the camera to your eye and shift your left hand from the tripod mount to the zoom ring. What surprised me was the performance of the E-M1/40-150 in low-light. Aside from dance show, I also decided to test the lens for the Electric Run 2014 where people participate in a non-competitive marathon at night wearing fluorescent and brightly-lit clothing. I was curious to see how the lens would behave in such a difficult situation where even other photographers with DSLR cameras were having a hard time. Surprisingly the camera and the lens worked really well and I only really found myself in trouble when the scene had a too little contrast or almost no light. If their customer audience is 80% of people that are doing 98% of the time prints size of 16x11" and 2% just little bigger and otherwise photos are on Full HD or HD displays, that is the starting point where the comparison will be made as it is the output that rules everything.The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f2.8 PRO Lens

This is an incredibly sharp lens (even wide open) and one that edges out its closest competitor, the Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm (70-200mm EFL) f/2.8 II POWER OIS Lens.

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And if you can make smaller and lighter without sacrificing the image quality in the output compared to best possible product you could manufacture, it is huge benefit. But when pixel peepers and gear heads gets their hands on the product, they throw the product out of the context and just trash it or praise it. I've had a bit more play-time with my new MC-20. It was a brighter day and I got a few more acceptable test shots. That said, the keeper ratio was still lower than I expected and I think there will be a learning curve to get more out of it. It's still early days, though I have a feeling it was easier to get sharp shots out of my P100-300 when the AF played ball. Maybe that is down to OIS vs IBIS at 300mm? Of course, it might just be that I've forgotten how many poor 100-300 shots I deleted. But if you’re photographing portraits or landscapes, speed hardly matters. Therefore, you might as well save some money and carry a lighter more compact lens. The M.Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8 Pro is environmentally sealed with 11 separate seals to keep out dust and moisture making it splash-proof and dust-proof as well as freeze-proof. I used the 40-150mm on the Olympus OMD EM1 – a weather-sealed combination – during steady drizzle without complaint from either. Regarding stabilisation, the 5-axis stabilisation of the E-M1 handled the bigger and heavier lens very well, and I managed to get acceptable results down to 1/3 of a second.

INCOME TAX (TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) ACT 1997 - SECT 40.150 INCOME TAX (TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) ACT 1997 - SECT 40.150

This lens achieves a compact, lightweight and high performance by taking advantage in this product of the hallmarks of the Micro Four Thirds System standard to achieve a maximum aperture of f2.8 at all zoom focal lengths and cover a telephoto range of 80mm to 300mm (35mm equivalent). To achieve compact, lightweight lens with optical performance exceeding that of the heretofore highly regarded Four Thirds System standard Super High Grade (SHG) lens, the lens employs such glass materials as the Super ED lenses, the ED or HD lens*2 as well as of EDA*3 and other aspherical lenses. The latest design technologies were also incorporated in developing the lens, such as making proactive use of ZERO (Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical) Coating to thoroughly eliminate ghosts and flare. As a result, with a maximum aperture at all zoom focal lengths the lens provides the high Olympus image quality that satisfies professional standards.Nevertheless, the Olympus 40-150mm F/4 Pro is the better lens. The samples and MTF charts show that the F4 lens delivers vastly superior image quality. Furthermore, the Olympus 40 150 F4 Pro benefits from flare and dust-resistant lens coatings while the cheaper lens does not. Source: Olympus So it is up to many many variable when a technically sharper lens (like 300mm f/4) can reveal its benefit over less sharp (75-300mm) and if such times when it would are rare (<10%) then question is, is it worth it? Does the subject really benefit from that tiny sharpness benefit then? Rarely. The lens gives excellent results in terms of sharpness, bokeh and versatility. It is certainly the biggest lens for MFT but don’t be fooled by its appearance. It is actually not that big for what it delivers.