Unassuming lens for birding on a budget

I thought I'd write a review for the M.Zuiko ED 75-300mm telephoto lens because it is not exactly a much loved lens amongst birders, but when a beginner looks at the frankly terrifying prices of the more popular lenses it can be very off-putting.

I've been using this 75-300mm lens for 3 years - that is, ever since I started taking photos of the birds I have been watching for over 20 years. I started using it on a Panasonic Lumix G7, then upgraded to an Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark III and the 75-300mm came with me. I have it because I can afford it.

First, the pros. I find the zoom is nice and smooth, and it is a very compact and light lens. Even a young teenager would have no trouble carrying and using this lens for long periods of time. This is not a pro to be ignored - when birding, or with any wildlife photography, hiking sometimes all day is not unusual. What's the point of having a magnificent lens that you can't lift and hold steady?

But the cons. It's not a sharp lens at the further ends of its range, and even at the 75mm mark, you're not going to get really tack sharp images. And the autofocus is much faster on my macro lens - I don't know if that is an unfair comparison, though. The small aperture, especially at the 300mm mark where you use it most for birding means that you're going to have to use high ISO a lot, and because the images are not that sharp and can't cope with the noise, that can become a real annoyance.

Without further ago, here are a few images that show the 75-300mm in action, in good light and bad. As you can see, it is a capable lens for the price. If you are looking for really sharp images, possibly not for you. But on a budget and for a compact lens, I think it's not bad. (All images shown were taken on the Olympus E-M1 Mark III)

This Common Bronzewing was taken in bad light. ISO 1600. Cleaned up as much as I can in Lightroom

Pacific Black duck in good light. ISO 800, shutter 1/200. Full 300mm

Rainbow Lorikeets. ISO 1000, shutter 1/125. Full 300mm

This one of a Rainbow Lorikeet was taken in good light at the full 300mm. ISO 640, shutter 1/640, f/6.7

I am using it for the same reasons, i can afford it, lot of noise reduction also has to be used sometimes.

I would like to get the new 100-400, but its too expensive for me.

I actually find it a really useful lens. Here are a couple of field comparison I’ve done with it.

This one is a comparison between the 75-300, ZD 50-200 SWD w/ EC-14, 300/4 - https://vocal.media/photography/olympus-300mm-lens-shootout

This one is between the 75-300 and 300/4 - https://vocal.media/photography/olympus-lens-shootout-consumer-zoom-vs-professional-prime

I use it for backpacking and my daily bike rides. When I want top quality I bring the 300/4 or 150/2. When weight is a concern it’s the 75-300.

I like the 75-300 for what it is…small, lightweight and affordable. It’s also surprisingly good if I keep it within its limits.

Mine is sharpest at up to about 275mm and stopped down to f/7.1 or f/8. Also, I make sure to keep the shutter speed up as much as possible, even at the risk of a higher ISO. I also use it for bugs and such with a 16mm extension tube to get closer focusing… but distance focusing is limited to less than 20 feet.

Butterfly in flight with 16mm extension tube at about 15 feet

Crop from above photo

I mostly do full moons with my Olympus 75-300 II lens -

If I want to do birds, I must have that lens on before I leave the house. Changing lenses in sight of the birds scares them. Here is an Indian Minah on a shopping trip -

This blackbird chose to pose for me a few days later. I got 18 keepers -

I will not bore you with all of them -

He gave up on me after this one -

Henry

I agree with Mike regarding sample variation.  I wanted an Olympus tele-zoom for the full ProCapture functionality, but the copy I got wasn't satisfactory.

I returned it and bought the Panasonic 100-300 ii.  I gave up 25mm at the short end and got a little more light at the long end.  Overall, I've been very happy with my copy of that lens, but, like the Olympus, sharpness falls off a bit past 275 and it does much better stopped down.

Either lens is a great way to go long and light.

MacroDonata wrote:

I agree with Mike regarding sample variation. I wanted an Olympus tele-zoom for the full ProCapture functionality, but the copy I got wasn't satisfactory.

I returned it and bought the Panasonic 100-300 ii. I gave up 25mm at the short end and got a little more light at the long end. Overall, I've been very happy with my copy of that lens, but, like the Olympus, sharpness falls off a bit past 275 and it does much better stopped down.

Either lens is a great way to go long and light.

Judging from the threads on this forum, there has been more sample variation with this lens than with most other M4/3 lenses.

The 75-300mm that I bought was clearly inferior to copies owned by other forum members, especially over 200mm.  I eventually sold it and got a PL 100-400mm instead which is a far superior lens to my copy of the 75-300mm.

As the images posted in this thread have shown, if you get a good copy, the 75-300mm can be an excellent lens, especially for its cost and weight.

How is that moon shot so close/big ?

I did a moon shot few days ago and its pretty small compared:

plantdoc wrote:

Try Topaz sharpen AI with subject masking. You could be surprised how the results look for a non pro lens.

Greg

Would you kindly explain what is subject masking?

Here is sharpening with Too Soft/Normal/Auto

I enlarge the camera original x2 , then crop that to the size of the camera original.

My pocket zooms do 4x digital zoom. The E-M10s only do x2. I have assigned the Fn2 button to do that on the Mark IV.

It is in the first menu, called 'Digital-teleconverter'.

Hope this helps.

Henry

Well done! You also have  good copy of that lens.

Henry

Today i was lucky to get some shots from Eurasian pygmy owl, its a cool bird, and really small.

I took about 500 shots (L, and pro Cap L) and about 50 of them were OK sharpness. This lens tends to miss lot of focus, but some shots were pretty cool i think.

I wonder, if in a same situation the 100-400 oly  would hit more consistant focus ?

On the E-M10s you can select spot focusing on the Super Control Panel.

Using the Info button on the Mark II, spot, medium or full area can be selected. This bypasses the need to assign a function button in Custom Settings A for access to 'Set Home', and going 3 levels deep in that menu.

On the E-M10 IV, setting the area is only available on the Super Control Panel, and it avoids the duplication in 'Custom Settings'.

Up-Down on the 4-way toggle changes the area selection -

Henry