Photography News Issue 29

Photography News Issue 29 absolutephoto.com

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Preview

First look

Olympus M.ZUIKO 300mm f/4 IS PRO lens One of the first to shoot with the M.ZUIKO 300mm f/4 PRO lens, wedding and landscape shooter Warren Fleming went wild with it in his native South Africa. How did it survive the test?

Specs

Price £2199.99 Format Micro Four Thirds Mount Micro Four Thirds Construction

17 elements in 10 groups Special lens elements 3 Super ED, 3 HR, 1 E-HR Coatings Z Coating Nano Filter size 77mm Aperture range f/4-22 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes Minimum focus 1.4m Focus limiter Yes Maximummagnification 0.24x Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser 5-axis sync IS, up to 6EV Tripod collar Yes Lens hood Built-in Weather-sealed Yes Dimensions (lxd) 227-280x92.5mm Weight 1.17kg without tripod adapter Contact olympus.co.uk

Words & pictures byWarren Fleming

One of the main aspects of the Olympus camera systemthat appeals to me is the build quality and the weather-sealing capabilities. I’m not shy to test my equipment, and if it’s made for it, I will push it to the extremes. I’ve had an E-M5 body completely submerged in saltwater – twice, covered in ice while shooting star trails and covered in massive amounts of dust to test every part of it. I havemassive faith in theweather- sealing capabilities of the OM-D and ZUIKO lens range. I did not get to test this lens with rain or moisture as I was in a desert, however there was a serious amount of dust. And by dust I mean the finest powdered red sand of the Kalahari. If there was any possibility of dust getting through any seal on the lens I have given it the best chance of doing so. I shot images in a dust storm where visibility was less than one metre and after a careful inspection post cleaning, the lens seems not have any noticeable sand inside. I have no doubt it is sealed just as adequately for moisture. Cold temperatures I also cannot comment on, however there were a few occasions where the lens and camera reached high temperatures. Some of those times left the camera giving heat warnings. Having the camera and lens on the seat next to you in the car, the kit can reach a temperature of over 50°C quite easily. The lens uses a dual stabilisation method, IBS and lens IS. I managed to test the IS down to 1/5sec handheld in order to get sharp images – which is just incredible. The ability to shoot

at lower ISO ratings and still get the exposures that you would at nearly twice the ISO is a certified bonus and is definitely a point that will market and sell the 300mm f/4 lens well. I do not feel that stabilisation is a key factor to getting great images – it is more of a bonus – but for those who suffer from shake, IS is a massive plus point. Picking up the camera, pointing it atthesubjectandfocusingisaccurate; nine times out of ten it was spot on for me – that’s pretty much always my experience with my OM-D camera and lens set-ups. Focusing speed was genuinely impressive. The lens was very fast in pulling focus from close-up to far- away subjects. The speeds at which the motors went from infinity to close-up and vice versa were very impressive. I found if the correct focus selection points are used, nine

out of ten images are sharp and accurate on the point at which the focus was set to. I use continuous autofocus (C-AF) mostly for birding photography and moving subjects. Photographing birds is a great test for this lens. I attained a rate of between seven and eight images out of ten that were in focus of birds in flight, provided they were not too large in the field of view. If the subject was more than 40% of the frame I found it problematic to keep sight of the subject, let alone pull focus. Perhaps the dot sight would have helped with this. However, when the subject was smaller in the field of view I found it very easy to keep the subject focused and the camera performed marvellously with the lens to keep the subject sharp throughmost of the images. Judging from the Raw files I examined in Adobe Camera Raw,

image sharpness is extremely good. Closer subjects are obviously more detailed and using the various focus limiters on the switch does make a huge difference. I struggled a little bit with subjects that were further away, but the immense heat rising from the ground in the desert gives a slightly softer focus anyway. This lens is very sharp and the optics are every bit as capable in terms of clarity as the renowned wildlife lenses from Canon and Nikon. Comparing images with a companion, who was shooting with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II and 300mm f/3.8, with sharpness turned off, the clarity when zoomed in 100% was mostly identical. Aberrations aren’t a concern. My images suffered very little and on closer inspection, there was virtually no purple/magenta aberration in the finer details of an animal’s coat.

Initial verdict

Overall, I was genuinely impressed, particularly with the speed, accuracy and sharpness of this lens. Until now, Micro Four Thirds shooters have been lacking a prime with this reach, the kind of focal length that wildlife and action shooters want in their arsenal. With a couple of records to its name – Olympus is claiming the world’s most powerful six-stabilisation system and the world’s shortest focusing distance for telemacros – and its weather- sealing, this 300mm f/4 could be what they’ve been waiting for. Currently its price tag sets it at the top of the Micro Four Thirds lens options, time will tell if that’s a sum shooters are willing to invest.

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