Image courtesy: Admiringlight
Admiringlight (Click here) posted the full 40-150mm PRO lens review:
While the lens is predominantly stellar, there are a few things to watch out for. The lens flares badly when the sun is included in the frame or just out of it, and the autofocus can sometimes have trouble in dim light on an Olympus E-M5, but overall, I really enjoyed shooting with the 40-150mm. It’s got a fantastic range, excellent optical quality and a robust build quality that oozes professionalism. It is well worthy of the PRO label etched into the lens barrel.
40-150mm PRO shipping info at:
In USA/Canada at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus and GetOlympus Canada.
In Europe at Wex UK, Technikdirekt and Amazon.
In Asia at Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
64 Responses
Excellent, really looking forward to 300mm F4, hopefully it performs equally!
So many articles about a lens a minority of 4/3 users will buy.
Seriously: we already know it’s very good. Move on and tell us something new.
After all, this site is called 43rumors, not 43-we-have-a-good-tele-lens-at-last-and-we-are-very-proud.
You don’t have very many friends…now do you…..
Sounds like you can’t afford the lens and that makes you a sad little boy. You don’t have to read these articles/posts if you get so upset. =)
Wow. Weird comment. 😮
Point is, this is a rumor site. It’s called 43RUMORS
If someone wants to read about the 40-150, he’ll want a review, so he might open dpREVIEW.
You get it?
A year ago Olympus released the 12-40/2.8 and it didn’t cause such a stir. It’s a very good standard zoom, so a lot of people actually bought it. It’s also relatively small, so it works well with a small MFT body as a portable, travel-friendly kit.
On the other hand, 40-150/2.8 is actually quite large. It’s similar to the 70-200/4L (also in performance in built quality):
http://camerasize.com/compact/#482.444,469.294,521.412,469.367,ha,t
Surely, the 40-150 is not a lens which make people change systems.
And then there are the next 2 PRO lenses. The 7-14/2.8 (which will be hugely popular for travel / hiking) and the 300/4 (perfect for wildlife, hopefully priced like the Canon 400/5.6L).
So today you’re making a huge fuss about the 40-150, but I bet this will be (in 2-3 years) by far the least important lens from the PRO lineup.
why should i be proud, i dont own that lens unfortunately
Yes , better save for something even bigger such as 100mm F1.8 .
Mine is 90mm F1.2 & 12mm F1.0 approximately.
I’ll save for the 40-150mm which is convenience in travel. There is a reason why Olympus releases the lens soon after 12-40mm in PRO series… because it hits bigger market and more revenue than the nonexistent ultra fast primes.
The reason is not the “bigger market”. The reason is… they’re pushing the same idea, they’d tried a decade ago. And it worked back then… for a while. 😀
They released a pro body in 2003 and a whole lineup of pro lenses between 2005 and early 2007.
Back then we got 3 zooms (7-14/4, 12-60/2.8-4, 35-100/2) and a 300/2.8 prime.
Now we’re getting 3 zooms (7-14/2.8, 12-40/2.8, 40-150/2.8) and a 300/2.8.
Of course all these lenses are sealed and well built. Of course the old ones were a lot bigger and a lot more expensive. They were also better optically (relatively to what we got from other manufacturers back then and now).
Thing is though – when they released 4/3 in 2003, DLSRs were mostly APS-C and many people believed switching to digital will make FF sensors obsolete. The only FF body (1Ds) was HUGE and very expensive. Making a pro-level small sensor system might had seemed like a good idea.
A lot had changed in next 5 years and Olympus lost badly.
It is pretty much the same story now…
Exactly .
Give us something new .
The Olympus 40-150mm is new..so new in fact that it is not in stock at any major retailer…oh…dear…dear…..the jaded rumor Fanbois.
Common practice.
When you have a large client base (Canon, Nikon) you can announce lens when you already have some stock ready.
Also, large companies (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic) usually have decent distributors in most countries. It’s not that obvious with Olympus.
As this is a niche lens in (still) a niche system – I guess they make not many and ship them to order.
orgazmic sensor 16,6 mp sensor 🙂
I mean
7-14 F2.8 or ultra fast prime lens fr Oly .
More people might be buying it than you may be aware of, one aussie store I know of has sold 600 plus already just on pre-order.
some people just horny for new stuff, without buying it
PFFTT!! -HAHAHAHA!
600? Word? One store, 600?
Not even B&H is going to move 600 of these. What a fish tale.
What store is this? I want to call to confirm this. Seriously.
you hope its not true silly you lol
Now Mr.Crap….you KNOW that they do not give you access to the phone at your institution.
600 easily….
I know one COMPUTER STORE that sells dozens of these in a week. You can as registered user to check their order amounts and sales dates and amounts and yesterday they got 24 of these for websale and 18 for shelf and today after all 24 were delivered, all 18 were sold from shelf too around 2-3 per hour. And now again backorder is 41 (currently) and next order coming is “Pending”. Since start the store has received few like 4-6 of those per week with couple big shippments and continually people have been ordering them.
And if going to look bigger money camera stores, they have even more sales and it is about dozens per day almost but you pay 300-400€ extra…
I believed that the sales would be around 1 per day rate at good for its price but….
Just ignore MrALLCAPS. This troll does not deserve any attention.
I usually read it as MrALLCRAPS
LOL! His jealousy and grudge prove the lens is really good.
And the store you’re talking about is…?
Because it looks more like a story. 😀
You do understand the math on what you’ve written?
“dozens a week” 🙂
First of all: how many large computer stores are there (in wealthy countries)? 1000? And then you have photography stores. And general stores.
So how many pieces would be sold in a year totally? 1 million?
There were ~20 million lenses for “crop” cameras sold in 2013.
I don’t know the exact share of MILC. Lets assume its 25%: 5 million.
In the same year 3 million MILC cameras were sold. We can easily assume each of them was sold with one lens in kit. We can also assume that the number of kits body+40-150/2.8 will be insignificant.
Result? Half of all MILC lenses sold would have to be 40-150/2.8. Still reasonable?
So now: my guess.
2 million lenses sold separately. Given the high price of 40-150/2.8 and lots of cheaper and smaller alternatives, I’d say: 1% max (and I’m very generous). 20 000.
500 pieces in a shop selling mostly in US (where MILC aren’t that popular)? I don’t think so. 🙂
Do you even remember that this objective is a NEW and sales reflect to that? I didn’t do fool claim trying to lie or invent something as stores registered (you need to be existing customer) customet can see sales to estimate availability and when to buy something. I only stated the values there was reading at that moment.
And if you would not be idiot, you would know that new body or objective receives at start a lots of sales and if the product is needed, it keeps sales up for longer.
And DSLR sales cant be really compared to DSLM sales as you cant buy DSLM at all from so many places as DSLR and at all at so cheap prices (try to get a 18-24Mpix DSLM camera with 18-35mm zoom for under 360€).
Step to pro store where you see most sold cameras are either top DSLR or DSLM and you get totally different values too.
If a store X (specialized to cameras) has been selling for about 15-30 a day for few week… Its huge.
I was talking about yearly sales, because they’re easy to understand and interpret. Or so I thought…
So lets analyze once again. I’ll write everything in points and you can tell me which of them you find unacceptable / faulty.
0a) Each lens is used with only one body (this is needed to analyze. While questionable, it shouldn’t bias the analysis by much).
0b) Oly bodies are used with Oly lenses only (this is in your favor)
1) 20M crop lenses sold in 2013 [1]
2) ~20% mirrorless share in the market – based on camera sales [2]
3) Olympus share in mirrorless ~30% – based on body sales [3]
4) Each mirrorless body sold with 1 lens ([3] – most bodies are cheap, surely kits; but even OM-D’s are usually sold with a lens), so 3M lenses in kits, non of them is a $1500 tele zoom.
5) In case of Olympus “enthusiast” bodies (M, P) sum up to 12% of all sold (again [3]). My guess is: people won’t buy a $1500 lens for a PL body.
6) A guess (based on my experience): an enthusiast buys 6 times more lenses than an entry-level user. This gives us that 45% separately bought Oly lenses are for an advanced body. 40-150/2.8 will be among them.
1-4 give us:
(20*0.2-3)*0.3 = 0.3 [million Olympus lenses sold separately]
5-6 give us:
300*0.45 = 135 [thousands Olympus lenses sold separately for more advanced bodies]
Error is most likely huge. However, this is some approximation of how many lenses Olympus can sell yearly.
How many of these could be a $1500 big zoom? I don’t know.
I guess this will be a third lens for most people. And there are cheaper and smaller alternatives.
On the other hand, as you’ve said, this is a new lens and many people have been waiting for it. Still, I doubt a figure larger than 20K globally is possible.
Sources:
[1] http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/s-2013_e.pdf
[2] http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-2013_e.pdf
[3] http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/full-2013-japanese-camera-sales-data-olympus-and-sony-rule
Whether its m43, Pentax, Sony, Samsung, Fuji and not to mention Canon and Nikon, basically all of them : latest new kid will take up all the dance floor, specially if it is high end.
Should Canon come up with a v2 of any of their L lens, be assured that for a while their forums will be flooded with reviews, rants and raves while the rest will be locked in suspended animation somewhere in a time vortex.. “One more thing, that new aps-c kit lens. NO THE NEW L 2.8/300 !!! I WANT I NEED I WANT”
Yeah, admin could just fill in by inventing rumours. Apart from holding back details of the E-M1 firmware update, I think he pretty much passes on what rumours he has. You didn’t have to look at the article or make comments. You are perfectly free to improve your signal to noise ratio by being more selective in which articles you choose to view.
Go count how many articles there are about reviews of the GH4 – see you next week.
I really don’t get it since the very size and bulk of this lens is huge for m4/3 systems even if very good optically. Why would I pay upwards of $2,000 for this lens when I can get a Oly 40-150mm/F4-5.6 for only $ 100 or almost given away with many kit combos? In this day and age with relatively good high ISO performance at least to ISO 1600 why do you need this fast a lens in the first place for fast enough shutter speeds unless intending to use with telextendars 2x or 1.4x to extend its range and obviously don’t need for portraits use for shallow depth of field? As author points out the lens flares badly in bright sunlight and autofocus in poor light not great with EM5. so there are some shortcomings. The size of the 35-100 F2.8 lenses seem OK for m4/3 but not much longer. Bouncing around in an open top landrover on the go on African safaries I would not want to be using this lens for quick impromto pictures.
Clearly, YOU don´t need it.
happy bouncing then lol!
Now THAT’S funny!!!!
I was always impressed by the small telephoto kit lens from Olympus. I took some of my favorite shots, through careful usage of this lens.
But DoF could be shallower and in anything but sunny midday shooting, things can get challenging even with IBIS on your side. So a couple of extra stops can help avoid some blurring and/or lower the ISO to get cleaner shots.
Current owner here… just hoping to shed some light on things.
“…huge for m4/3 systems…”
Yes, it’s larger than other m4/3 lenses, but SMALLER than other systems. I can still get this lens, a Leica 25mm 1.7 (m4/3), an Oly 75mm 1.8 (m4/3), an Oly 50mm 2.0 macro (4/3), and an 11-22 2.8-3.5 (4/3) along with my EM5 and a flash… in a SMALL bag (an older Lowepro, approx. 12″ by 12″ by 5″). The only thing I’d comment about this lens, as far as bulk, it that it is indeed on the heavier end. It’s a thick chunk of glass, this one (yet still lighter than other systems).
“…very good optically…”
Yes, it is. Like Oly75mm-good if you ask me, but sadly there’s no test I can run that will prove this to someone else. I don’t come by money easily, and saved for this lens from the moment it was announced. In light of that, I am not disappointed in the least.
“…the lens flares badly in bright sunlight…”
No, directly AT sunlight… so only if you are wanting the sun to be IN your shot, or just slightly out of it. I haven’t tried this myself, but I can indeed confirm that it works just fine in all other aspects of “bright sunlight”.
“…autofocus in poor light not great…”
Let’s be honest, this is likely a level of light far below what your $100 lens could dream of focusing in. I upgraded from the 45-200 Panasonic, and I can confirm that the Oly 40-150mm Pro focuses in lower light quite well enough for me, and is both more accurate and faster than the Pany. Is it better than a Fullframe? I suspect that is where the comparison is being drawn, but don’t have experience to comment further.
“…obviously don’t need for portraits use for shallow depth of field.”
Um, then you can also save your $100 and skip the other Oly lens too?
“Bouncing around in an open top landrover on the go on African safaries…”
There you have it, finally a reason I can agree for why you shouldn’t buy this lens. Please, everyone, NEVER do this to your Oly Pro glass. I think the $100 lens may just be the better lens for you.
In my opinion, based on my use, the 40-150mm f4-5.6 sucks. There’s a good reason why it is so cheap. Of course you can make good use of it, but it’s really another planet compared to this new zoom lens. Yes, I own the slower plastic mount 40-150mm and I have “played” with the new f2.8 40-150mm for hours, that’s why I say that.
(And no, I won’t buy it since I don’t need it, for portraits I prefer my 75mm and Nocticron)
Agree .
For portrait works , 45mm , 75mm & Nocticron are more than sufficient.
That’s why I’ll ignore this lens .
How do you ignore the lens by following every 40-150mm discussion around? Your clicks increase the popularity of 43rumors.com. I bet there will be more 40-150mm news coming because you are so obsessed with the lens. 😉
Do you know why 45mm f1.8 costs almost same as 40-150mm f3.5-4.5? (180€ vs 140€)
It isn’t the similarity in quality but by sales amounts. While 45mm delivers totally different quality, the 40-150mm isn’t bad at all. Often better than what is sold to Small Format with similar range. Only bad things are small aperture and pump zoom design.
Companiies make the price. If people stil buy it, even if expensive, better to them, and there’s no need to lower the price.
Now, comparing 45mm f1.8 to a 40-150mm f4-5.6 is quite unfair.
Having said so, we should comsider that the 45mm is newer than the zoom lens. Quality build sucks for both, but at least the prime has a steel mount.
Numbers of internal elements differ also.
I’m not the guy in charge to put prices on lenses at Olympus, but as I said, the new f2.8 zoom is another planet compared to the old zoom.
At f2.8 it’s sharp as the 75mm at f2.8.
My old 40-150 is sitting on the shelf since a long time.
HAHA look like sour grapes from someone who can’t afford the lens. KC’s post is actually more useful because he has experience with the lens.
what a silly vain moron……
Relax! You just lost by resorting to name calling.
I don’t get your point. Having looked at a wide range of sample photos taken with this lens, I think it is pretty obvious this is possibly the best zoom lens made by any manufacturer ever. That is why a lot of people will pay it’s asking price. I think it is very reasonably priced for what it is. You could pay more for a single focal length lens in other systems that have lower resolution.
Pros who shoot wildlife and go bouncing around in open top landrovers in Africa have for decades been taking much larger and more expensive pieces of glass with them. It is part of the reason they get such stunning images people pay them for their results. Pelican case with custom foam insert – sorted.
When you move with a car, you can carry bazookas… Those Nikon and Canon 300-600mm primes or zooms with f2.8-4 range light density delivery to designed image circle.
It is easy as you rest combo on special rig.
Olympus 40-150+1.4TC & 300mm f4+1.4TC will be damn super sexy lightweight and small for the angle of view they deliver, and offering a f2.8 or f4 light density to designed image circle size without teleconverter and THAT is amazing.
Next time when I go to safari in east Africa, I highly believe I have only the Olympus Pro objectives with me and the E-M1.
That kit delivers super dense light to the designed image circle in much smaller size and weight than any other for any other format, delivering stellar 114-2.9° angle of view.
And while m4/3 receives to stops more light than Small Format, it is huge benefit to capture fast moving chase situations to get subject separated, sharp and free of motion blur.
in a way it look s like an APS-C lens :-/
Only an aps body is a “lil” bit ticker, but who notices that, right? Prob this zoom’s image circle covers the aps circle closely or extends it as some of the great zuiko lenses do.
No, they aren’t.
Below: Fuji E2, Oly M10, Fuji T1 and Oly M1.
http://camerasize.com/compact/#493.388,521.94,520.408,482.411,ha,t
First pair: with smallest lenses in the lineup.
Second pair: with a ~50mm equivalent.
Problem here is, that MFT actually has rather large register. Only Leica and Samsung have bigger flange distance in the current mirrorless segment.
As a result bodies for Fuji X-mount and Sony E-mount (even FE) can be narrower than MFT. And they generally are.
However, this is not that important, because all MILC are quite small – even too small. E-M1 and A7 are the only ones with proper grips, which make them usable with longer zooms. Of course 40-150 looks “cute” attached to a GM1, but this combination is hardly usable handheld.
yes sorry i meant a dslr body not a mirrorless..ofcourse there is lil difference, except for the lenses…i dont need to watch picure comparisons for coming to such conclusion .
But you’ve mentioned sensor size. DSLRs are large not because of sensors (check Sony A7) but everything else – including a huge empty space in the middle.
When MILC performance gets at least as good as DLSR’s, Nikon, Canon and Ricoh will also dumb the mirror (Ricoh already started, as their AF isn’t far of MILC :P)
This means that in 2-3 years we will most likely have at least 4 MILC systems with large sensors (FF and APS-C).
Olympus will once again end up being the company with the small sensor and marginal sales. It didn’t end well with Four Thirds.
So while I like MFT as a cheap portable alternative, I would not get serious into this system as an amateur. And $1500 lens is a serious commitment for most people.
Professionals analyze things differently. Most of them might be able to switch the system every 2-3 years.
i wasnt talking about sensor size but about te image circle of some uiko lenses being large enough to cover the aps format, which prob makes fast ooms like this. ofcourse the A7 is no DSLR but a mirrorless too, I think you and me are talking about 2 different aspects.
You are talking different things. You clearly said about image circle, not the sensor itself to body.
thats what i said
Yeah…I get that.. I just took delivery on the Kit (Lens and TC1.4x) from Osaka. Not sold here in the US and the items are back ordered here. I pondered the purchase for a while…and yes it is a large lens “for micro four thirds”. An f/2.8 80-300mm for an APS-C camera would me MUCH larger.
I can say that this set up is WAY smaller than my Canon 5D3 with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 II. And the Canon 1.4x III is WAY bigger than this little Olympus sliver.
The lens is incredible…what blow me aware is the clarity and contrast with the TC attached. Its unbelievable.
Here is the thing. This lens takes this system to another place and I see myself creating images that I would not have reached for with my “small camera system”.
The lens definitely isn’t for everyone who has a MFT system…but it definitely serves a purpose in my kit and it is a great option to travel small and light, have a lot of reach and stellar IQ.
thanks for your psychic insights.
yet, I dont really care for the 12-40, 7-14 or 300, but this 40-150 is very enticing. Go figure, huh?
Of course it is. Everyone talks about it and it is so good!
Will you buy one? I mean: will you really buy one?
You’re logged in as guest, no one will check.
I’m logged with real name. I can honestly say I’ll never buy it. And that i think it’s a silly lens anyway. Olympus should focus on the role they’re good at. They should try to attract advanced compact users. They should not try to steal customers from the upper end. This is a lost battle. :/
So lost, that they can’t keep up with demand for this lens? It’s december, but in most places you can only pre-order it… and rather long waiting list too. There are more people switching from dslr’s because of those high grade lenses, now it certainly an option. Robust and weathersealed. Your advice to olympus sounds silly at best, your opinion vs many happy user reports from first pre-order arrivals.
Also, simply your name on internet is not better than a nickname, if something like facebook was linked to your account, little bit more weight to it. But like this, it is simply a long nickname.
The reason for long shipping is VERY obvious. You really don’t know?
Olympus (as usual) releases a lens when they start large scale production. Manufacturing and shipping to US/Europe takes at least 4 weeks.
And then there is the issue of production output. They need a special production line for the 40-150/2.8 (unique coatings, very large lenses).
Hence, this is not about priority. They can’t make 40-150/2.8 instead of anything else. They have a plant which will make X of this lenses in a year (at a constant rate). Because most buyers ordered already, they will have to wait.
End of story. 🙂
I guess people got spoiled by smartphone manufacturers, who sell millions in the first week. But this is a different strategy and a totally different product.
You fail to get my point, orders for this lens are a lot higher than what olympus expected. I’m quite surprised you still think olympus should not go in this direction, when it obviously works better than expected for them. Asked in some local stores where i usually go and pre-orders keep growing.
Anyway, suggesting what is bad or good for such a major company without any reliable statistics and research is plain stupid. Can’t say it otherwise. There are already quite many happy owners and i’m also really glad oly went for the pro series. Although i won’t be getting one until next year, at the end of winter.
Sadly another lens i was really hoping to see got canceled from pana, 100-300 f4. But at least oly will make 300mm f4, not as convenient, but it will be available at least.
I’m not saying this lens doesn’t sell better than expected (although I seriously doubt).
I’m just stating the facts.
1) Olympus always announces products very early and people who pre-ordered have to wait. This practice is common for many manufacturers.
2) For this lens they had to setup a separate production line which will make at some (more or less) constant rate. Because many buyers order lenses early, there is always some delay in shipments. Olympus simply can’t make 5000 lenses in the first month and then cut production by 75%.
You really stick to DPR for reviews, still? It hasnt been releasing proper reviews for some time.
That depends.
For sensor performance I use DxOMark (almost exclusively).
For ergonomics and features (which is the more important part for me) I go to 2-3 different places. DPR is usually the first one I check, because I’m a frequent guest of the forum.
I usually ignore lens reviews at DPR, because they’re clearly not very good at this.
But bodies? I think they’re very decent.
Lately I watch more and more youtube reviews. One can easily learn that most youtube “celebrities” are conceited morons, but this is still the easiest way to check e.g. the AF speed.
For some reason there are no standardized tests published – even though it’s rather easy to think of possible methods. :/
It is a lens that’s making people switch systems, because it fills a big hole that was preventing people from switching. “yeah I’d get an E-M1/GH4 but there isn’t a decent telephoto lens yet.” The only reason left not to switch is the lack of an ultra-long tele.
Really?
For most people the main reason to switch to MFT is the small form factor. It’s great for travelling light, it’s great for everyday use for reporters (or paparazzo).
This 40-150/2.8 is not exactly small. It should have been smaller and Olympus knows how to do it. Maybe they decided to cut development costs. :/
For anyone that thinks that this lens is “large” Check this out:
http://j.mp/1vDzvBu
The Sony lens has 100mm less reach and is only an f/4
The Canon has 100mm less reach on a 5DIII
Both the Sony and the Canon setup are not only much larger and have less reach but they weigh much more than the Olympus setup.
They do have considerably better IQ, but the Oly has very good IQ.