Olympus micro 4/3 40-150mm Zooms trade-offs.

JWinNC said:

I bought the Olympus ED 40-150 1:4-5.6 lens because it was cheap. It is not too shabby for the $100 price. Now, it has me thinking of the corresponding pro lens. It is 40-150mm f2.8 and about 13-times the price.

Has anyone used both of these? Just how much better is the pro lens? How about with a 2x converter.

I have an OMD E-MIII and I use it for nature photography, some sports, and portraiture. I'd consider myself a skilled hobbyist. I most frequently use an Olympus 25mm f1.8 because it is versatile, small, and light.

thanks!

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I don't know how much better the pro version is. But there is a cheaper route. I bought the older Olympus 70-300mm f4-5.6 which is the older four thirds mount. And I bought an eBay adapter which routes the electrical connections through the adapter. And it works great.

If you have the Olympus EM1 either mk1 or mk2, if focuses reasonably fast. Other Olympus models don't work so good with it.

Here is an example. The focus was on the standing bird (to the rear) and the front bird was a bit out of focus.

If you travel a lot, the smaller lens is a better choice.

Weegee said:

If you travel a lot, the smaller lens is a better choice.

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Of course it is. But I bought the four thirds 70-300 for less than $200. That alone makes it feel a lot lighter.

I have the EM10 Mark III and it is still pretty new to me. I like it quite well though and I think the micro 4/3 format will work quite well for me.

I own and still use both. The plastic 40-150 goes into the kit when I'm traveling light. The rest of the time it's the Pro, which is my most-used lens. Better in every way, other than the price-weight thing.

Cheers,

Rick

I also use the 70-300 on my E-1, E-M5 and E-PL1 with a Viltrox AF adapter as well as the 14-45 and 40-150, they work quite well on the MFTs.

Also if you like to do some Macro 40-150 Pro is amazing.

Another alternative worth consideration is the 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7. It is generally agreed that this lens is quite sharp at 75 and maintains good sharpness to perhaps 250mm. I use mine regularly at 300 and get very usable results for birds and surfing. At 423 grams it is easy to handhold and carry as a walk-about. You need a tripod, bean bag etc., or damn steady hands at 300mm. IBIS helps!

This lens is an alternative but certainly not a substitute for the 40-150/2.8.

This is US$400 now and as long as you realize it is f6.7 on the long end it will not disappoint. Focus is fast and my experience is very positive with C-AF.

Good luck!

I really like my 70-300 on my EM1.2, much better than I did on my E-620 and I thought that combo was fine.

A. C.

I have the cheaper 40-150mm version bought secondhand for bugger all. and and also own 12-40 F2.8 and Panny 100-400mm lenses among many others ............i was to upgrade the 40-150mm to the f2.8 model and did a comparison shoot in the local camera store. RAW shots and same camera body on the same day for both lenses. as a matter of course i run my shots through DXoptics Pro 10 (just upgraded to Photolab). and without checking exif info..... was rather perplexed to admit i could not readily detect which lens took which shot. Perhaps a little micro contrast difference but easily compensated for. The bottom line is that the F2.8 is not 10 x better optically and the cheaper option is as many suggest a superb bargain optic. I will probably still spring for the expensive lens because it is a thing of engineering beauty wider aperture.... but heavier... blah blah blah. But i do not really really need to own this hand on heart. By the way i shoot for Alamy Live News and Stock, The cheaper portable optic has earned me thousands of pounds to date recording hard news events cos it is always with me, so i can reassure you on the dollar worth of the imagery. By the way i regard Photolab as pure witchcraft !. My two penny worth. rob

The really nice thing about the cheap 40-150 other than almost comparable image quality to the 2.8 pro lens for lots less, is the non heart failure when it slips out of your hand and hits whatever hard surface you happen to be standing on.

I consider my cheapo 40-150 to be a very sharp, light, easily replaced great in normal light little marvel. I don't leave home without it.

Since your favorite lens is on the smaller size what about the Panasonic 35-100 F2.8? While it's a bit shorter on the long end its' physical size is pretty close to the 40-150 F4-5.6 at only 4mm wider and 16mm longer.

The 2.8 pro is much sharper and much faster. At f5.6 on a sunny day the two lenses are comparable in IQ, but what you're paying for is the ability to capture sharp photos at 150mm wide open at f2.8. If all you really need is a max aperture of f5.6 at 150mm, then you will be fine with the 40-150 f3.5-5.6.

My experience with both is that the PRO lens is many times faster to focus so it is much better for sports and wildlife, will work much better for anything on gloomy days, and the TC is excellent,

The 4/3 40-150 renders warmer, often produces more pleasing out of focus backgrounds. I did not like the TC.

I paid about $800 for a good used PRO and $250 for the TC.

I found the 4/3 lenses autofocus slow on CDAF only cameras. The lenses rack back and forth. They are designed to work with PDAF and hybrid PDAF/CDAF cameras like the EM-1, but are still not nearly as fast as m43 lenses.

Sorry I thought you meant the 4/3, not the micro 4/3 40-150.

The PRO version is much, much sharper, and the TC does not degrade the image. You lose a stop but its still constant f/4, brighter and sharper at 420mm than the 40-150 is at 300mm. At 300mm the PRO is two stops brighter, way better for low light.

The PRO lens handles well with the EM-1 because the body has a big grip. You will appreciate a third party screw on grip for the EM-10. That might work for you but its much smaller than the EM-1 grip.

Quality lens, slow focus, needs a lot of light. M43 version a little more money if you buy used, lighter and very fast autofocus. Renders cooler. I bought refurbished for $350.

The 14-150 is my travel kit lens.