Showcase Olympus 300mm f/2.8 ZD 4/3

[ak300]

Rare as it is, I think, some of you are perhaps interested in image samples of this lens:

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/320 s, f/3.5, ISO320)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/320 s, f/3.5, ISO200)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/200 s, f/5.6, ISO250)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/500 s, f/3.2, ISO200)

More images can be found here:
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-14
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-20

Best regards,
Alex

 

[JudyM]

Thank you for posting these. I doubt I'll ever be able to justify the expense of such a lens, but it still interests me to see good quality examples of what a lens is capable of. You put it to good use, those are very nice photos.

 

[walter_j]

B&H lists this at $7000. so much for that idea

 

[OzRay]

They must have been stuffed animals, as surely a 4/3 lens couldn't focus fast enough and accurately enough on a m4/3 body to get such excellent results.

 

[Rasmus]

Simply amazing. I just have to figure out a way to try one of those lenses. Wonder if I'll be able to resist buying one if I do though. I get the feeling that the chanses of getting a really fast native supertelephoto are slim. :/

 

[Amin]

Beautiful work with this lens!

 

[OzRay]

The 300mm is a fantastic lens, with the 150mm of equal standing. I was considering a 300mm when I bought my 90-250mm for sports, but the latter won out because it gave me more flexibility across an entire football field when the action moved in and out. In a way, I wish Olympus had made a 100-300mm f2.8 instead and that would have perfectly complemented the other SHG lenses, but that may have become a very expensive lens indeed.

 

[ak300]

Thank you for your comments.

The 300mm is a fantastic lens, with the 150mm of equal standing. I was considering a 300mm when I bought my 90-250mm for sports, but the latter won out because it gave me more flexibility across an entire football field when the action moved in and out. In a way, I wish Olympus had made a 100-300mm f2.8 instead and that would have perfectly complemented the other SHG lenses, but that may have become a very expensive lens indeed.

It is quite ok for my type of photography. But there are quite different expectations out there how autofocus has to work or not. For me it's ok.

Simply amazing. I just have to figure out a way to try one of those lenses. Wonder if I'll be able to resist buying one if I do though. I get the feeling that the chanses of getting a really fast native supertelephoto are slim. :/

The 300mm 4.0 will come and I think, it will be a great lens.

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/125 s, f/2.8, ISO640)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/200 s, f/3.5, ISO200)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-14 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/250 s, f/4.0, ISO320)

Best regards,
Alex

PS: a small size comparison

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[ak300]

Some examples utilising the EC-20:

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-20 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/200 s, f/8.0, ISO250)

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( Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-20 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/400 s, f/7.1, ISO200)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-20 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/250 s, f/7.1, ISO200)

Best regards,
Alex

 

[OzRay]

Those are very good results with the EC-20. I never got sharp results with the 90-250mm using mine and so settled on the EC-14 as the defacto extender. The only lenses that seem to work with my EC-20 are the 14-35mm and 35-100mm lenses.

 

[Rasmus]

Yup, there's a 300 f/4 coming, but f/4 is not f/2.8 and I already get 350/2.8 with good results when I put the Metabones Speed Booster on my Nikon 500 f/4 P. Without AF, of course, but even at f/2.8 I frequently struggle to keep shutter speeds up. BTW, those EC-20 images look just as stunning as the ones without EC-20.

 

[ak300]

Those are very good results with the EC-20. I never got sharp results with the 90-250mm using mine and so settled on the EC-14 as the defacto extender. The only lenses that seem to work with my EC-20 are the 14-35mm and 35-100mm lenses.

My personal impression is that EC-20 was optimized to produce best quality on the Zuiko 150mm and the EC-14 was especially designed for the Zuiko 300mm (examples of Zuiko 150mm 2.0 & EC-20). Most of the quality of 300mm & EC-20 is dedicated (or not) to the tripot head combination you are using. Vibrations are really limiting what you can get out of the combo.

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-14 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/400 s, f/5.0, ISO200)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-14 on Olympus OM-D E-M1, 1/80 s, f/4.5, ISO400)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 & Olympus Digital EC-14 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/60 s, f/4.5, ISO400)

Best regards,
Alex

 

[Amin]

Stunning photos in this thread!

 

[ak300]

The rules say: "* Images from lenses adapted to regular 4/3 are also welcome here since a lens adapted to regular 4/3 will have the same imaging characteristics as the same lens adapted to Micro 4/3."

Thus, I want to add some of my favorites using E-5:

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus E-5 with 1/400 s, f/4.0, ISO400)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus E-5 with 1/320 s, f/3.2, ISO200)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus E-5 with 1/320 s, f/3.2, ISO640)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus E-5 with 1/640 s, f/2.8, ISO400)

Best regards,
Alex

 

[Rasmus]

By the way ak300, how well do you think the 300/2.8 and the 150/2 work on the E-M1 compared to the E-5? I can see that you can get insane sharpness, but is your keeper rate better on any of the cameras?

Skickat från min Nexus 4 via Tapatalk

 

[ak300]

By the way ak300, how well do you think the 300/2.8 and the 150/2 work on the E-M1 compared to the E-5? I can see that you can get insane sharpness, but is your keeper rate better on any of the cameras?

Most of the time I feel they are on a par. At larger distances E-M1 focuses slightly more exact than E-5. Of course, both lenses are not m.Zuikos with the great accuracy of the contrast autofocus - but they fit my needs.

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/400 s, f/4.0, ISO250)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/125 s, f/3.2, ISO640)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/400 s, f/3.2, ISO320)

Best regards,
Alex

 

[OzRay]

Yes, I found that vibration was the greatest enemy of the 90-250mm and EC-20, even on a tripod, but I think that you're correct in saying that the EC-20 was optimised for certain lenses. I'm glad to hear of other's good experiences from 4/3 lenses on the E-M1, Your experiences reflect mine, in that the 4/3 lenses seem to work as well, if not better, on the E-M1 than on the E-5.

 

[ak300]

Your experiences reflect mine, in that the 4/3 lenses seem to work as well, if not better, on the E-M1 than on the E-5.

Thank you for summing up my sentences in the way you did. I think that's the best way to describe my experience. (Usually I tend to describe things too complicated in English. Sorry for that.)

Some examples how blur is rendered:

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/250 s, f/3.5, ISO200)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 1/400 s, f/3.5, ISO320)

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(Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 300mm 1:2.8 on Olympus E-5 with 1/320 s, f/2.8, ISO400)

Best regards,
Alex

 

[wildwildwes]

ASTOUNDING images Alex! Thanks for sharing! Made my evening read!

Cheers-

Wes

 

[jrsilva]

Thank you Alex for sharing your stunning photos with us.
Congratulations for such a good work.
You are doing a great job, no matter the fact you're using top gear.

I'm a common G5 + Panasonic 100-300 user and I'm very surprised how you managed to achieve such sharp results with low shutter speeds (1/320, 1/125 or 1/60!!) on a long focal length.
As a rule of thumb, I always try to use 1/1200 or at least 1/800 as the minimum shutter speed when using my Panasonic 100-300, and even so, sometimes I get blurred pictures...
All of your pictures posted where were done using tripod or monopod?
Does the success of that sharpness you're achieving have much to do with the E-M1 IBIS?