Any telephoto zoom 4/3 Lenses for E-M1 that are much better than similar m4/3?

Here's a new angle/question. First, the basic facts:

1) EM-1 will natively use older 4/3 lenses.

2) E-M5 will not use older 4/3 lenses without adapter kludge.

3) The m4/3 lens lineup for zoom telephotos is somewhat different than the older 4/3 lineup.

4) General consensus is that the advantage of the E-M1 over the e-m5 is not image quality, but somewhat better autofocus for moving objects. On the other hand, the E-M1 is bigger.

Question: For people who have both the e-m5 and e-m1, and familiarity with the speed of focusing and image quality of zoom telephotos for both 4/3 and m4/3, are there any zoom telephoto lenses FOR 4/3 that are better than, for example, the Olympus 75-300 II?

Oly 50-200 2.8-3.5. Legendary, it seems.

I have both and should correct one thing, the EM1 and EM5 both need an adapter to use 4/3 lenses, the major difference is the EM1 effectively auto focuses them and the EM5 doesn't. While I have a Panny 100-300, I generally use the 50-200 plus EC14 teleconverter because of its' higher quality. The penalty is a much heavier lens though.  Focus speed is acceptable for all but the fastest action.

Olympus has announced a 300 f4 prime will be released in 2015 for micro 4/3, which likely will be the best solution.

Bob G

I should clarify my last post, auto focus is fine on the EM1 only.--
Bob G

As far as I know, all the 4/3 lenses work decently well with the E-M1.  And since there are no alternatives with similarly bright apertures, you could argue they are all better than any native MFT lenses, before you even get to a discussion of image quality or focus.

I personally shoot the old 150mm F2 with both teleconvertes, and I find it works fine on the E-M1.  Since there isn't any sort of equivalent until the 300mm F4 for MFT comes out, I have nothing to compare it to.  I hope to get my hands on a 50-200 at some point as well, since it'll be a stop faster and sharper at 283 mm with the teleconverter when compared to the 75-300, which is an ok lens for what it is.

Just my two cents, there aren't many options currently for MFT once you go beyond 150mm.

Wally

Corpy2 wrote:

Here's a new angle/question. First, the basic facts:

1) EM-1 will natively use older 4/3 lenses.

E-M1 also requires "adapter kludge".

2) E-M5 will not use older 4/3 lenses without adapter kludge.

3) The m4/3 lens lineup for zoom telephotos is somewhat different than the older 4/3 lineup.

Yes

4) General consensus is that the advantage of the E-M1 over the e-m5 is not image quality, but somewhat better autofocus for moving objects. On the other hand, the E-M1 is bigger.

Question: For people who have both the e-m5 and e-m1, and familiarity with the speed of focusing and image quality of zoom telephotos for both 4/3 and m4/3, are there any zoom telephoto lenses FOR 4/3 that are better than, for example, the Olympus 75-300 II?

Yes. The 50-200 is a very good lens (High Grade in Olympus' terms). This will be better than any existing M4/3 tele for IQ, but not as fast for focussing. It's very bad for focussing on the E-M5, but most people find it usable on the E-M1. With a 1.4 teleconverter it gets out to 283mm.

Above that is the 90-250 f2.8. This is a Super High Grade lens. It will cost several thousand dollars, and weigh several pounds. IQ is exceptional. Focussing is slower than M4/3 lenses, but, as above, apparently usable on the E-M1.

Bob657 wrote:

I have both and should correct one thing, the EM1 and EM5 both need an adapter to use 4/3 lenses, the major difference is the EM1 effectively auto focuses them and the EM5 doesn't. While I have a Panny 100-300, I generally use the 50-200 plus EC14 teleconverter because of its' higher quality.

Have you actually shot side-by-side test images with the 100-300 versus the 50-200 with TC? Even if the 50-200 would be a better lens wide open than the 100-300 wide open, it would surprise me if the difference is such as to make up for the use of the TC. Using the TC means that you will be left with only about 70 percent of the lens resolution that the 50-200 is capable of when used without add-ons.

The penalty is a much heavier lens though. Focus speed is acceptable for all but the fastest action.

Olympus has announced a 300 f4 prime will be released in 2015 for micro 4/3, which likely will be the best solution.

Bob G

gandalfII wrote:

There is no noticeable image degradation with ec14 and 50-200. There is some using it with the 50 macro at infinity but none in the macro range.

A 1.4 TC takes the resolution down to about 70 percent of what it originally was (if the TC is very good). In a side-by-side test with and without TC at the same subject magnification, that's likely to show. Have you done any such testing? If so, are you willing to share the visual evidence with us?

DonSC wrote:

that the 50-200 + TC is better than the m.43 zoom. I'd love to see some side by side shots. If it were appreciably better I'd pick up the m.43 zoom. Unfortunately I think Anders is right that the TC will degrade the quality.

Any lens is has better image quality without a TC.  However, the 50-200mm SWD with EC14 still gives very good results at all focal lengths.  It is exceptional without the TC.  I cannot compare it to the 75-300, since I do not have that lens.  I can compare the combination EC14+50-200 to the FTs 70-300 which appears to be similar in quality to the 75-300 and the 100-300 Olympus and Panasonic mFT lenses.  The  EC14+50-200 is considerably better than the FTs 70-300 at any aperture or focal length (better contrast and sharper - 70-300 loses some quality at 300mm).  However, the largest difference is in the ability to use the EC14+50-200 wide open.  The 70-300 must be stopped down at least to f6.3 and better to f8.  The EC14+50-200 can be used at f5.  This allows one to keep the shutter speed higher and/or have a lower ISO and thus get better image quality than one would get with a slower lens.  Unfortunately, I cannot show you any direct comparisons between the two with the E-M1, since I have only used the 70-300 once to see how it worked with the EC14 since I got the E-M1 (70-300 +EC14 not great, but does give you 850mm equivalent).  Attached are a couple of images with the EC14+50-200, the first with the junco wide open (f5 with bright backlighting - sun and snow) and a bee stopped down (f9) to give some idea of what you could expect.  However, there are penalties in terms of size, weight and price compared to either of the current Olympus and Panasonic mFTs telephoto zoom lenses.  These problems were not important for me, since I already had the lens and EC14 and the combination is much lighter with the E-M1 than the E5.  MFTs users may find the combination too large and heavy and I personally would advise using them with the grip.

DonSC wrote:

that the 50-200 + TC is better than the m.43 zoom. I'd love to see some side by side shots. If it were appreciably better I'd pick up the m.43 zoom. Unfortunately I think Anders is right that the TC will degrade the quality.

I can even say you don't need the TC to replace the 75-300mm lens:

If you stop down the 50-200 to its sweet-spot 200mm/f5.6 it this much sharper than the 75-300Mk2 I owned, that you can upscale the picture 150% and it is still sharper than the at its sweet spot 75-300mm @f8.

But if you use the FT lens wide open, you get a fast tele (200mm f3.5) and a very sharp portrait lens (100mm f3.1).

And the 50-200mm shows less shutter shock due to uts weight.

I sold my 75-300mm after comparing it to the 50-200mm ...