In praise of the lowly Olympus 75-300mm

Thanks OP - great shot.

The thread made me to look through some of my 75-300mm photos more critically and I can see much sharper photo and much softer image (same light, same 300mm).

It looks like if you are a bit more careful with focusing and holding the camera (not entirely relying on the IBIS) the lens is capable of delivering much better image.

Back to the topic - my first  and second shots proved that 1/640 second was not enough to prevent movement blur. My last shot needed 4000 ISO for the lighting under a tree.  My bridge cameras never did 4000 ISO. 1/500 second does not freeze my flying gannets.

I told you I felt like an argument.

Off Topic again -

Henry

plantdoc wrote:

To obtain decent result with my copy, I need to keep the shutter speed up to 1/750 or faster unless using a monopod with my Oly m1 mk2. Stopping down a bit also helps. I have discovered that even with a very fast shutter speed, the shutter release must be very light and not when there is a last second jiggle. Slightly soft pics can be vastly improved with Topaz Sharpen AI to the point where I no longer want to invest in more expensive optics. Note, this program is very slow unless powered by a near gaming PC, especially the GPU.

Greg

If you can anticipate where moving subjects will be, a 2 second shutter delay can help to reduce camera movement.

Henry

Henry Falkner wrote:

plantdoc wrote:

To obtain decent result with my copy, I need to keep the shutter speed up to 1/750 or faster unless using a monopod with my Oly m1 mk2. Stopping down a bit also helps. I have discovered that even with a very fast shutter speed, the shutter release must be very light and not when there is a last second jiggle. Slightly soft pics can be vastly improved with Topaz Sharpen AI to the point where I no longer want to invest in more expensive optics. Note, this program is very slow unless powered by a near gaming PC, especially the GPU.

Greg

If you can anticipate where moving subjects will be, a 2 second shutter delay can help to reduce camera movement.

Henry

You just have to use electronic shutter with this lens. I mean, why wouldnt you.

plantdoc wrote:

To obtain decent result with my copy, I need to keep the shutter speed up to 1/750 or faster unless using a monopod with my Oly m1 mk2. Stopping down a bit also helps. I have discovered that even with a very fast shutter speed, the shutter release must be very light and not when there is a last second jiggle. Slightly soft pics can be vastly improved with Topaz Sharpen AI to the point where I no longer want to invest in more expensive optics. Note, this program is very slow unless powered by a near gaming PC, especially the GPU.

Greg

I agree, it seems that to help the IBIS out, the higher the shutter speed the better, particularly with lightweight cameras and longer lenses like the 75-300. The good news is that both my E-M10 IV and E-M5 III are pretty much noise free at ISO 1,000, so that is where I shoot them most times unless the shutter speed begins to exceed 1/5000.

NZ Scott wrote:

I took these photos in the Serengeti with a 75-300 mounted on an E-P3:

The toughest beef in the world - Tanzania buffalo fights off a pride of lions

Excellent work 👍

Here is a shot I took hand held at the Living Zoo in Indio, CA. I am happy with how the lens works.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/M.Zuiko%2075-300%20II/

Albert Valentino wrote:

NZ Scott wrote:

I took these photos in the Serengeti with a 75-300 mounted on an E-P3:

The toughest beef in the world - Tanzania buffalo fights off a pride of lions

Excellent work 👍

Why thank you, good sir.

S

Ainisru wrote:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/M.Zuiko%2075-300%20II/

Lovely.

I am using the 75-300 with both my E-M10 II and E-M10 IV on a tripod mount using the camera body fixture. The slightest wind causes the shakes at the 300mm end.

I have been unable to find a bracket that fits on the body at one end and a lens support at the other to suit the 75-300 lens in particular.

There are such mounts for other long lenses, some even come with a built-in tripod mount.

I dread the day when I find I can't stop shaking. It will be the end of my photography.

Henry

Henry Falkner wrote:

I am using the 75-300 with both my E-M10 II and E-M10 IV on a tripod mount using the camera body fixture. The slightest wind causes the shakes at the 300mm end.

I found the best way to stabilise the 75-300 was to support it with a small bean bag or a bag of rice.

This works great when shooting from vehicle windows but, of course, is not always practical in some other situations.

I have been unable to find a bracket that fits on the body at one end and a lens support at the other to suit the 75-300 lens in particular.

There are such mounts for other long lenses, some even come with a built-in tripod mount.

I dread the day when I find I can't stop shaking. It will be the end of my photography.

Henry

GinaRothfels wrote:

I nearly bought a used copy of the Olympus 75-300mm today, but I found it impossible to control the camera shake at 300mm (I have extremely shaky hands and they were really bad this afternoon). No doubt the fact that I was using an ancient OM-D E-M5 (mark I) didn't help.

I ended up buying a used 17mm f1.8 instead.

Nice - the 17/1.8 is a lovely little lens.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

As the only Olympus lenses I've ever owned were the 12-50mm kit lens and version 1 of the 40-150mm, I guess this is a commitment to upgrading my camera, which I've hardly used since buying into the Canon M mount.

Once I've got a better camera, I may have another look at the 70-300 as I'd like a long lens for shooting the birds in my garden. I'm currently using the Canon EF-S 55-250mm on my M60 mark II but thought IBIS might give me better results than the stabilisation in that lens.

GinaRothfels wrote:

Henry Falkner wrote:

I am using the 75-300 with both my E-M10 II and E-M10 IV on a tripod mount using the camera body fixture. The slightest wind causes the shakes at the 300mm end.

I have been unable to find a bracket that fits on the body at one end and a lens support at the other to suit the 75-300 lens in particular.

There are such mounts for other long lenses, some even come with a built-in tripod mount.

I dread the day when I find I can't stop shaking. It will be the end of my photography.

Henry

I hate using a tripod and certainly can't see myself using one for shooting birds, so I guess this isn't the lens for me.

Have you tried a monopod ?

I have found 200mm to be about the threshold where I turn off IBIS and let lens IS take over from my E-M1 II. When I shoot my adapted EF-S 55-250, I am very happy with the IS performance in that lens, on that body – especially at the full 250mm. The tradeoff there is that sometimes I have to take a shot before the lens IS will kick in. I find this more the case with the Viltrox EF-M1 adapter than with the Commlite AEF-MFT adapter.

Having said all that, the 75-300mm is still on my list as an everyday-carry lens, now that my interests have shifted to photographing local birds. With that setup, I will have to rely on IBIS, or hope for good enough light to allow for very fast shutter speeds. (The 55-250 is optically terrific, but I would like faster autofocus target acquisition, as well as C-AF. Hence the switch to a native lens.)