Olympus also released that picture of their full PRO lens line. And as you can see there is also the 300mm PRO lens (listed at BH). It’s the only one still “missing” and let’s hope Olympus will ship this one within 2015. One source told us Olympus goal for now is to start shipping the lens from November 15.
[poll id=”278″]
New Olympus stuff preorder links:
7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, WexUK, AmazonUK, AmazonDE,
8mm f/1.8 PRO lens: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, WexUK, AmazonUK, AmazonDE,
Titanium E-M5II: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, WexUK.
Accessories:
7-14mm Olympus LC-79 Lens Cap at BHphoto.
Olympus PPO-EP02 Dome Port for 8mm at BHphoto.
Olympus PPZR-EP05 Focus Gear for 8mm at BHphoto.
Olympus POSR-EP10 UW Anti-Reflecting Ring for 8mm at BHphoto.
57 Responses
Hell yes! but it must be TOP performer and about 1000 euro
It is PRO performer and about 1499-1599€
I think you may be about right, there. Much more than that and I’d look at a DSLR and a Sigma 150-600 S, for the fairly minimal outlay difference and increased versatility. Olympus need to be careful how they pitch this since so many other options have come along while they’ve been dragging their heels and playing with fisheyes….
So where are the “other options” in mirrorless land?
Haven’t seen any. Or do you mean the EF adapter with AF to m43.
I don’t consider the Samsung NX1 an alternative. Too big in my book.
Ah no I didn’t just mean in mirrorless land. I meant other options in general. But yes the Kipon adapter is definitely of interest. Much as I’m a big fan of m4/3 in general, I’m not bothered what camera + lens I use as long as it does the job. And that is what I think Olympus need to be careful of. When the lens was announced, the 150-600 lenses hadn’t made their significant impresson on the potential market (ie could have been tempted to switch) of DSLR users. And now the Kipon adapter threatens to make cheaper alternatives available too for existing m4/3 users – depending on the price point of the new 300mm. And if adapted lenses I’ve used already (various lenses with manual focus adapters) are anything to go by then the image quality of a long EF L lens on a m4/3 body will be just fine. Maybe Olympus will pleasantly surprise us with a competitive price of course.
My guess is that those solutions would focus much slower than the new 300mm with DVC-motors.
The 40-150mm F2.8 is lightning fast on the E-M1 and better results with CAF than with the DFD technique on GH4.
This is my experience at F1 photography!
If we take the other PRO lens prices as a guide, and compare to the few systems that have a range of lenses with such FOVs, then the 300/4 should unfortunately be significantly more expensive than the 7-14/2.8, for example. Supertelephotos are the most expensive lenses in any system. By far.
I’ll be most pleasantly surprised if I’m wrong.
I’d love a 70-300 F4 or even better 100-400 with Pro quality (even if it was F5.6), but a fixed 300mm F4 isn’t particulary interesting to me.
Exactly.
I tend to agree.
I have a decent quality legacy 300mm/5.6. Obviously a different animal, since nailing manual focus is incredibly difficult with such a long focal length. But I would never preferentially pick the 300/f4 over the 100-300 or 75-300 because I can’t justify it.
That said, I imagine that the majority of people would be picking it up intending entirely to use it as a 420mm/5.6 with the 1.4x TC, which makes it certainly more interesting.
Using a TC in addition certainly improve versatility and range (and I’ve already got the TC), but not being able to go below 300mm (or 600mm equivalent) is fairly restrictive.
It does, of course. But depending on the size of their subjects, I imagine many birders crop every single photo they take, so they want the longest, highest resolution lens that they can get, and very high pixel densities like on M4/3 (or 24-28MP APS-C) are big advantages.
Sure when you take photos of little birds. But go to sport stations, tracks and so on and you will see that 300mm is way too narrow.
Like taking photographs from one end of the horse race track gives benefit to use 300mm only on like 50m distance on the other end. Then you need to swap body (or worse case the lens) to 40-150mm to cover rest of the finishline.
Go to africa for safari and you don’t need that 300mm for big animals, 40-150mm is far better range for that! (Just came off on last month spending one week there).
Go to photograph bigger birds than seagulls and you don’t need 300mm.
You’re not wrong. I used a 14-140mm for 90% of my photos during a 2 week trip to the Galapagos, and needed every mm, sometimes within minutes or seconds of each other.
I’m just saying it entirely depends on what your use case is. A lot of people shooting birds, aviation, or skittish animals probably won’t mind having a fixed 300mm prime. Realistically, spending over $1000 for a fixed telephoto is never going to be a normal mainstream thing. This is to satisfy the pros who have been crying out for it as a way to complete their wildlife kit and fully make the switch to M4/3.
Perhaps it is difficult for anyone who is inexperienced in photographing with super-telephoto-lenses to imagine how to use one. But they should at least realize that there are many out there who are and can appreciate a quality super-tele lens.
Turbofrog makes a good point in that it depends very much on what you like to photograph. After 3 years (almost) of shooting with 400mm and 300mm primes for wildlife, on m4/3 bodies, I could say that for my own needs this lens would be useful 80% of the time – very often needing the 1.4x as well. But there have also been times where I’ve needed to zoom out, which caused me to recently change lenses to a Sigma 100-300 EX (also with 1.4x converter if needed). I know a few guys who shoot 600mm on Canon FF bodies and they often fit a 1.4x. It’s not just birding either – I photograph mammals quite a lot and it’s rare that you can get close to a lot of them in the UK as they tend to be rather shy. And a lot of them are quite small too, so you still need a long lens even if you get within fairly close range. I also MUCH prefer to be out and about and not squatting in a hide, which tends to mean longer lenses are useful. Being able to handhold in some of the terrain I go out on is a definite plus, too!!
So it will be a “specialist” lens and not for everyone, but for those that need it, it SHOULD be pretty good. Just need to see the price then, for comparison with other options…..
I gave up and got ZD 300 2.8 + FD 300 2.8L as a more lightweight complement.
Still i might get it one day, but i am not sure if i want to sacrifice one stop of light in favor of weight and compactness, it might be critical for my work.
Just Hurry Up & Take My Money!!!
Only one missing? Not sure if i’d agree with that. I’d love a set of pro-grade fast primes with 12, 17, 25, 45/50 and 100mm focal lengths
You know what admin means. The last one missing from the ones that have been announced.
And 67.5 f1.0
Maybe it’ll be the next lens from Voigtländer if we’re lucky, but count on f0.95 to keep it in line with the rest of the M4/3 Nokton lenses.
Next year? We can only hope!
I expect a 14mm f/0.95 from Voigtländer to fill the gap between their 10.5mm and their 17.5mm lenses.
And an ultra wide (9mm) prime. And a 100mm pro macro.
It will be interesting to see more pro-line primes. That fisheye isn’t everyone’s first choice right away, no matter how good it may be.
F1 12, 25 and 50mm apparently coming.
No one knows are those going to be PRO line. It doesn’t matter if those would not be weather sealed at all or metal even! Better to have those prices down dramatically as they will sell m4/3 format dramatically! We don’t need more Voigtländer kind lenses!
And yes, only the one missing.
The holy trinity is now going to be finalized as long the 7-14mm gets shipped.
The 300mm f/4 PRO is very unique and not so uselful as too often with 500mm you are too close, so with same field of view as 600mm you are even more often too close.
Once people really starts using that and realize it is offering very narrow field of view, they learn it has limited use situations.
With respect, you don’t sound like you’re one of those who photographs with super-teles regularly. I have a feeling you also know not many who use tele-convertors with their 600s. So, yes, this 300 is useless to you as you do not seem to have a clue how to make use of it.
No way, Jose.
I have the 100-300mm f/4-5.6 OIS Pana (with custom r-roesch.de lens collar). Just the right amount of price/versatility.
The 40-150mm f/2.8 and 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO, wow, would certainly be nice to have. Or even the non-PRO 75mm f/1.8 and 12mm f/2. But you know. Money…
They are PRO gear and not intended for amateurs anyway.
A 100-300mm Pana or the 75-300mm Oly are quite sufficient for many amateurs that occasionally need a long tele.
For Pro’s or specialized amateurs the 40-150+TC and the 300mm F4 are must haves if wildlife etc is their game and they’d happily shell out the cash.
My reasoning is more that I just don’t use a tele that often. Especially on M43, where because of the crop factor things get tele rather quickly anyways.
You don’t have to be pro, to have a pro lens. I have the 14-40mm f/2.8, because of the versatility and quality. It’s not that I don’t have the money, it’s just that I want to spend what I have wisely and do kinda feel that I sorta need to convince myself of its necessity for my own use first. So I already have the Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 and additionally the Nikon Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED with a speedbooster, which for my kind of use, probably makes it a better idea to get the 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO instead for example.
Anyways. The article posed the question: ‘Are you considering to buy the 300mm f/4.0 PRO lens?’, so don’t be surprised if people react to it on their own behalf. 😉
And also think about the Panasonic shooter that doesn’t have sensor stabilization to his/her disposal…
Did I say you have to be pro to use a pro lens? Just read again, I said nothing of the sort. The 300mm is indeed the last of the promised lenses so far. It just isn’t everybodies cup o’ tea though.
But don’t complain about the money. Those lenses come at a cost.
I like it, 600mm F8 lens on 35mm camera, good for birding.
M4/3 gets so much more attractive with the PRO series. From 7-14 to 300mm… all metal construction. *drooling*
Olympus IBIS does stabilize the image on the EVF/screen during composition at such focal length?
it goes up to 1000mm
Yes.
Yes, it is very effective image stabilization (best of the glass) for extreme long telephoto lenses like example 840mm that offers same field of view as 1680mm on 35mm.
Very stable, very steady, very smooth and allows to have a camera still even handheld.
There is no OIS or other such system to offer same level.
Products that need to call themselves “pro” are not. Please visit my website to find reviews of superior Nikon and Canon cameras and lenses that are used by actual pros. The puny m43 sensor does not look good even downsampled to 4 mp!
If you cannot afford real cameras, please start being a better photographer by setting your camera to P8rofessional) mode!
Sadly it looks like this lens is going to miss my next Africa safari, so I probably can’t go all m4/3 for that trip. Would have been an interesting test of m4/3 versus the DSLR.
I wonder if another “surprise” pro lens will pop up, like the 8/1.8 that wasn’t on the radar until they pre-announced it. I could see a fast 25, or a pro-version of the 60 mm macro showing up like that.
Btw, isn’t the optical formula surprisingly simple compared to other super-telephotos? The other pro lenses were more in line with their full-frame counterparts in terms of complexity.
Never mind, maybe it’s similarly complex to say a canon 600/4.
Hmmm…
This new Olympus 300mm f/4 lens has 18 elements.
The Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lens has 15 elements.
The Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens has 16 elements.
The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4E PF ED VR lens has 16 elements.
The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens has 15 elements.
…So I have no idea what you are talking about ?
Question is, how close will it focus natively?…
I’d prefer Panasonic alternative with OIS… But what’s wrong with my 100-300 4-5.6? It’s perfect and lightweight even for tourism! The problem is often in the atmosphere.
It’s really poor wide open, that’s the problem.
Agreed, but that’s based on multiple reviews of the lens, I haven’t tested it myself, but these reviewers seem to know their stuff. They claim the lens needs to be either stopped down or kept below the full 300mm range if you want sharp shots. But I also agree, OIS is needed in such a long range lens if you’re not shooting on Olympus. So for me, neither the Lumix or Olympus lenses will do.
Can’t tell if that’s heat-distortion or awful noise-reduction or both, but it’s certainly not a convincing shot 🙁 The”1338″ at the right bottom edge of the frame is blurry and the rest of the color is so smudged, I can’t even tell what’s causing the problem. I have seen the 100-300 Lumix do much much better. Maybe smacking a UV filter on might help a bit with the atmosphere?
Who doesn’t like big pro lenses for tiny little sensor camera
100-300 f4 or 100-400mm f4-5.6 from Panasonic or
150-300mm f4 working with 1.4x TC from Olympus would be so, so good!
For now we can wait and see if the new Kipon AF adapter will work on Canon, Sigma 100-300mm DG f4! 🙂
There are videos about that, with excellent autofocus performance. But Kipon is silent about does IBIS work. So you are forced to use OIS (that is worse than Olympus IBIS on telephotos).
There are a few answers in the comments of those 3 youtube videos.
I can’t remember if IBIS was mentioned, but electronic aperture setting, full exif info and developmento of reducer version has been confirmed.
Cant think of why IBIS wouldnt work. But that would be unfortunate and a deal breaker for 2/3rd of the buyers i think.
I am more afraid that only Canon lenses will work and only newer ones.
3rd party reverse engineeredtheir own Af just like Kipon did. So that is my concern.
Kipon claim the IS will be supported:http://www.kipon.com/en/articledetail.asp?id=80
Yes it would be good if third party lenses work too!
As far as I’m concerned, there are still plenty of “pro” lenses missing. Like weather sealed “pro” versions of Olympus’ primes. The 12, 45, and 75 respectively. Does no good to have a weather sealed body if the lenses I wpuld use most are not also sealed.
Maybe the tag line should say one of “announced” PRO lenses is still missing. I have a hard time concluding that the Zuiko folk will soon have little to do. If they continue with PRO lens development (likely assumption) the next thing could be all the f1.4 or f1.2, weather-sealed primes, such as are conspicuously missing. Was it ever not obvious that the f1.8 line was a deliberate decision? The main thing is, all these more expensive lenses generate credibility and excitement. Along with the sensor changes that are coming, Olympus’ goal is to build a system that can do EVERYTHING. The one habit that will have to change is the lens you mount when you are going for bokeh. The equivalent focal lengths will be longer.
While I would love a very high quality 300mm lens in my gear, I have to say the fact that it is a prime, makes it less attractive to me. I have 3 primes already, all in the 25-75 mm range, and I really do enjoy them. But when we get into the 200mm+ area, I would certainly prefer the ability to zoom out, as it’s very hard to judge such a distance for perfect framing, especially if you have to decide and shoot fast, like you often do in nature photography.
I’m just saying that’s my reason for not getting this. If I practiced I might learn to see the image before I pointed the camera, but the flexibility of a zoom is practical when working at telephoto ranges. I could deal with a zoom at F/3.5 if the IQ was good. I would love it if the Lumix 100-300 came anywhere near this in image-quality, but sadly it (apparently) sucks at minimum and maximum range, performing best somewhere +/-25mm of 100 and 300. So I’m waiting. Hope the owners of this Oly 300mm enjoy it though, can’t wait to see what you shoot 🙂