Oly 70-300 4/3 and Pany MA1 focus issues

The only camera that focuses the telephoto four thirds lenses well is the E-M1. And even then the native 75-300 and 100-300 are smaller, lighter, faster and sharper than the 43 70-300. The 50-200 is a different story, but also only really works with the E-M1.

 

4/3 lenses are some of the nicest glass in the universe, but most of them are built to be used with PDAF which, as has been said, is presently available only on the E-M1. When a CDAF camera has to deal with a PDAF lens, the mechanics of the lens just can't handle the CDAF focusing process very well. The long focus throws back-and-forth are what you end up with.

The only 4/3 lenses that are built to use either PDAF or CDAF are:

25/2.8
9-18/4-5.6
14-42/3.5-5.6
14-54/2.8-3.5 ii
40-150/4-5.6

none of which are super-telephoto that you're after.

If autofocus is a must for you, then moving to µ4/3 is the way to go. That said, safari shooting is usually done at a distance so you are probably safe manually focusing near or at infinity with your current lens.

 

I'm quite a fan of the 70-300 but even on an E3 it will hunt end to end on a regular basis and still not lock on, It does similar things on the EM1, i've learnt to work around it over the years by prefocusing in the target range and even then it will occasional hunt.
However despite the 70-300 being faster at the long end 5.6 v 6.7 you would be better served by the m43 75-300 on the EM5.

 

Just curious, but do you have Firmware version 1.4 in that 70-300? That allowed it to focus using contrast detect in live view for the Olympus E-series cameras. I was told it was necessary for use on M43 cameras.

I'm using the 70-300 on my EM5 , and it usually can focus within a second, although it occasionally goes nuts in poor contrast scenes and is off hunting. Also used it on my EPL1 way back when too.

However, if you bought a 75-300, enjoy it.