In praise of the lowly Olympus 75-300mm

One more example of why I keep using this small Olympus telephoto-zoom. It's light enough to take everywhere, and while it can't equal the quality of optically superior (and vastly heavier) telephoto primes or so-called 'Pro' lenses, simply being able to have it with me, allows me to take images like this one.

this distant red-tailed hawk is soaring into the clouds which partially blanket the snow-capped central Oregon Cascades, behind it.

The lens is relatively small and light enough to take it on random walks or hikes and not feel that it's either weighing you down, or unbalancing you. That way, when the occasion arises, it's ready to shoot. A number of more experienced photographers than I am, have faulted this lens for its apparent relatively slow AF speeds. But in my own limited experience, the lens seems to focus acceptably quickly, both in Single (S-AF) and Continuous (C-AF) autofocus modes.

taken in the E-M1's C-AF+TR setting (AF tracking mode)

I have used this lens for two years now - more often now that we have a bee hive.

If I don't irritate the bees by getting too close, they don't irritate me -

The picture below has 2x digital zoom and cropping on it -

On my E-M10-IV and tripod combination, inspite of its compact appearance this lens is still front-heavy. I must remember to tighten ALL the knobs on the tripod. This morning's video shows that the camera has slowly tilted down during the 29 minute clip length.

Henry

I had no complaints at all with the 75-300, even on my old E-M5. Well, I did have some trouble with stabilization on that camera, pretty much cured with careful use of monopod, even in safari vehicles (Botswana, India). I'm using the pany 100-400 now, on my E-M1 III. That's a bit better in every dimension, but a big jump in price. Stabilization good enough that I trashed my compulsively-used monopod for most recent safari.

Just a few random 75-300 samples:

You can look at the batch in my Zambia/Botswana Gallery.

Zambia, Botswana 2013

Oh, and here's a Hawaiian wave. This one was selected for a local show, but I also essentially duplicated a surfing shot that appear on the front cover of a surfing mag (the professional crew came and set up precisely in front of me!). Oh, heck, I'll include that one, too.

I bought this lens 2 years back and returned it but now I am buying a used one after realizing that 600mm with better sensor size in Olympus may enable me to get better quality images compare to small sensor cameras.

I hope to keep this lens this time.

Thanks,

VadiV

Thanks everyone for bringing this classic lens to my attention! Yesterday I took delivery of my copy of version I, in Acceptable (poor) condition from Amazon Japan for US$185. I had a hunch that the afore-listed mold and cloudiness would be easily cleaned away. Sure enough, after ten minutes it was dispatched. I even got a nice big hood in the deal. I am taking my new/old lens out to shoot today, but so far the test shots from my balcony have been quite promising! I look forward to this becoming my daily driver for when I don’t know what I may see but I definitely know I don’t want to tote the 50-200 SWD around.

I received my 300mm lens and tested it yesterday, I get some blurry , out of focus images. I also got few good ones. Images are not sharp at 300mm even with decent shutter speeds. Can this lens be a defective one ?

Is this normal ? Thanks for your input.

VadiV

A contribution from my 75-300mm @ 300mm

The NZ native pigeon, posing in the sunlight.
And I think I missed focus a fraction.

gary0319 wrote:

Nice examples, thanks for posting.

I don’t use my 75-300 for birding but it has become my standard for trips to botanical gardens for close ups of bugs and butterflies. I use it with my E-M5 III or E-M10 IV with a 16mm extension tube attached which gives me a shorter close focus distance, while still allowing autofocus out to about 18 feet. My copy is sharpest backed off to about 270mm and stopped down a tad, which still works fine for my use case. I got mine on a 20% off refurbished sale for about $350, IIRC. Well worth the price, I think

A few examples.

I ran across some kite boarders on the trip back from the botanical garden so the 75-300 was pressed into service.

Using C-AF with all focus points for cluster focusing at about 15 feet, tight crop.

How do you consistently get these nice dark backgrounds?

Tedolph

tedolf wrote:

gary0319 wrote:

Nice examples, thanks for posting.

I don’t use my 75-300 for birding but it has become my standard for trips to botanical gardens for close ups of bugs and butterflies. I use it with my E-M5 III or E-M10 IV with a 16mm extension tube attached which gives me a shorter close focus distance, while still allowing autofocus out to about 18 feet. My copy is sharpest backed off to about 270mm and stopped down a tad, which still works fine for my use case. I got mine on a 20% off refurbished sale for about $350, IIRC. Well worth the price, I think

A few examples.

I ran across some kite boarders on the trip back from the botanical garden so the 75-300 was pressed into service.

Using C-AF with all focus points for cluster focusing at about 15 feet, tight crop.

How do you consistently get these nice dark backgrounds?

Tedolph

Mostly it's simply a dark background to begin with. Might help it along a bit with Lightroom, but not much.

Before getting this lens, I didn't do that much 'telephoto shooting'. Now, to my surprise, I find myself carrying it along on some outings (possibly because of its light weight), and that allows me to 'see' some potential photographic subjects...in ways which my 'normal' (closer to a classic 50mm FOV) or a wider-angle lens, wouldn't allow me.

Like this advertisement for an automobile transmission repair shop.

A random shot from my morning walk on a nature trail alongside a local creek. Very lightly cropped.

Quack!

I have to say, this modest lightweight lens...is turning into one of my more versatile bits of glass.

My recent ones, and I like the color and sharpness.

Thanks,

VadiV

This is a gem of a lens. I don’t own it, but have always been very impressed with it’s rendering.

No, it's not a faster and heavier 'Pro-quality' lens. But all things considered, it keeps surprising me (pleasantly!) with its quality. Case in point: this random shot of a visiting Blue Jay this morning.

I know some users have complained about 'softness' at the extreme telephoto end (300mm) of the zoom. I'm not one of the complainers.

I'm pretty pleased with my 75-300 as well.

Lightly-cropped, and very lightly-processed...another reason why this smallish (for a telephoto-zoom) lens delivers.

this male wood duck is enjoying a moment of contemplative avian solitude in the small creek that runs alongside a nature trail in Ashland, Oregon

Mait wrote:

This one i did noise reduction

Wow, these are spectacular?  Can you get results like this from the 16 MP sensors with this lens too (like the EM 10 Mk 2)?

These are definitely better than what I get with my Nikon P900 with a lot more zoom!  The feather details are spectacular!  I have to keep my P900 at base ISO 100 or 200 at the most to get results like this.  Maybe the P950 can match this with RAW, but it involves a lot of work.

NZ Scott wrote:

It's a good lens when there's plenty of light.

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

S

wow this is cruel, I cant stand meat eaters.

I would have ran over those lions

Glad the buffalo won