Zuiko Digital 150mm ƒ2.0 first impressions

[Phocal]

l

 

[maritan]

Loving the colours that this lens and camera is able to render. Beautiful stuff. Thanks for sharing.

 

[nstelemark]

Love this lens. Yes I think it focuses faster than the 50-200 as well.

 

[ijm5012]

How fast is the lens to acquire focus compared to other m43 lenses at 150mm? Would it be possible to make a video showing AF speed of this lens on your EM1?

Also, can the lens keep up with the EM1 shooting in either M or H burst mode with continuous AF?

 

[Phocal]

l

 

[ijm5012]

I have no m43 lenses to really compare it to, the Oly 60 macro but that lens is slow focusing.



I will try to do a video in the next week or so, sooner if I can find the time.



I don't use continuous AF that much but will give it a try next time I am out.

A video would be very much appreciated, since it would show me how fast this lens can acquire focus.

As for the AFC, I ask because I enjoy shooting motorsports, and this lens paired with the EC-14 & E-M1 would be a very capable 400mm f/2.8 eqv. system. However AFC performance is very important due to the speed of the vehicles. My worry is, can the lens deliver the FPS that the camera is capable of in either the M or H burst modes (primarily M, since you still retain Live View which you lose when switching to H burst mode).


Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it! Keep posting photos you take with this beauty!

 

[Holoholo55]

So my Little Tuna arrived, but have only really had a chance to take it out to a local subdivision pond in search of baby ducks. Managed to get two decent shots of an Egyptian Goose, no good baby ducks photos tho. While it is a bit shorter then my 50-200 SWD it is about 50% heavier. It seems to be heavier then it actually is because it is so small and fat, a lot of weight in a small area. That said, it is easy to handhold and I don't really see the weight being that much of a problem (maybe after a long day of shooting I will start to feel the additional weight). It also seems to focus a little faster then my 50-200 SWD, but that could be in my head......need to take both out and test them together.

The lens seems to be close to perfect on focus, maybe a little front focus. With the EC-20 (have not tried with the EC-14 yet) it is a bit off and I have it set to +13 at the moment. Waiting for my focus tune target to come in so I can test the 150 and the SWD without and with both EC's.

Both photos taken with EM1, handheld, and wide open at ƒ2.0. The first one really shows how shallow the DOF is at ƒ2.0.

View attachment 418930

View attachment 418931

Can't wait to get this out in the woods and see how it performs as my main wildlife lens.

Looks great so far. Nice color and saturation. Bokeh looks pretty good too.

 

[Phocal]

l

 

[Holoholo55]

Well I got around to doing the focus adjust on the lens today. Here is what I ended up with:

150 w/ EC-20 = +15
150 w/ EC-14 = -3
150 = +1

Seems like the EC-20 is always off that much and may be why a lot of people report it being soft. Hope to get out and test all this soon.

Hey Phocal,
How do you do the focus adjustment? You mentioned a focus tune target in your earlier post. Can you elaborate a bit or link me to a tutorial?
Thanks,

 

[Phocal]

l

 

[Holoholo55]

I bought and used this: http://michaeltapesdesign.com/focustune.html @faithblinded is the one who pointed me to this. I used the MK1 EyeBall while focused on a bird before the target arrived (the software is a download but you have to wait for the target which is mailed) and ended up with a setting of +13, so I got it pretty close on my own. To do that I just shot a photo at every setting (started at 0 and went to +20 first and never did 0 to -20) and looked at it while zooming in on the camera. Did not look at them on the computer, may have gotten closer to what I ended up with if I had.

Any more questions let me know. Will try to answer them.

Ronnie

Thanks! I'll look into it.