{"id":4283,"date":"2014-12-04T22:41:11","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T03:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=4283"},"modified":"2014-12-23T09:57:09","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T14:57:09","slug":"review-olympus-m-zuiko-40-150mm-f2-8-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-olympus-m-zuiko-40-150mm-f2-8-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm f\/2.8 PRO"},"content":{"rendered":"

2014 is shaping up to be the year of the professional grade telephoto zoom lens.  Sony started off the year with their full frame 70-200mm f\/4 for E-mount, and Olympus, Fuji and Samsung all announced new f\/2.8 zooms at Photokina this year.  Today we’re looking at Olympus’ brand new M.Zuiko 40-150mm f\/2.8 Pro lens, which is the only one of the new lenses to go longer than the typical 200mm equivalent. The 40-150mm f\/2.8 has a field of view similar to an 80-300mm lens on full frame, with a constant f\/2.8 aperture and a professional grade build with weathersealing.  This is the second f\/2.8 telephoto lens for the Micro 4\/3 system, after Panasonic released their excellent 35-100mm f\/2.8 a few years back.  Olympus is really focusing on high-grade optics with their PRO line, and expectations are high for this lens.  The lens retails for $1,499<\/a>, but given the range, speed and build quality, that price point isn’t unreasonable, given that the lens performs to expectations.  Let’s see if it does.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Olympus 40-150mm f\/2.8 PRO on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with vertical grip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective.  You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here.  There are plenty of other sites that cover those.  I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting. <\/em><\/p>\n

Build Quality and Handling<\/h3>\n
\"The<\/a>
The 40-150mm f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you’d expect from an f\/2.8 telephoto zoom, the 40-150mm f\/2.8 PRO is not a small lens.  Well, it’s not a small lens for the Micro 4\/3 system, anyway.  While the 40-150mm is compact in comparison to full frame 70-200mm lenses, compared to the other lenses in the Micro 4\/3 system, it’s a monster.  This is not a discreet lens that fits in a tiny bag.  It’s got some size and some heft, and you definitely feel the weight when you first pull it out.  However, after walking around with it for a while, you do realize the benefits of the smaller Micro 4\/3 system. Even with the battery grip as outfitted above, the camera and lens did not weigh me down while I was out shooting with it.  I definitely recommend shooting with some sort of gripped camera, however, with either the accessory grip on an E-M5 or an Olympus E-M1.  The lens will handle well on the larger Panasonic bodies as well, such as the GH3 or GH4, but given the lack of optical stabilization, you’ll want to use a camera with in-body IS if you can.<\/p>\n

The lens is extremely solidly constructed of high-grade metals on the tripod collar, lens barrel and mount, with top grade plastics for the hood, zoom and focus rings.  The zoom ring is well damped and moves extremely smoothly.  The lens is both internally focusing and zooming, so the overall length stays constant at any focal length.<\/p>\n

The focus ring utilizes a focus clutch mechanism to easily switch between autofocus and manual focus operations, much like the Olympus 12mm f\/2 and the 17mm f\/1.8.  When the focus ring is forward, the lens will utilize autofocus, but the focus ring can still be turned for full-time manual focus adjustment and fine tuning after utilizing the autofocus motor.  When the ring is pulled back, a distance scale is revealed and the lens switches to manual focus mode.  There are hard stops at each end when the ring is pulled back, and while the feel is nice, it’s still a focus-by-wire system.  Much like the 12mm f\/2, though, manual focus with the ring pulled back is in discrete steps, and, especially at further focus distances, this makes achieving extremely precise focus during manual focusing somewhat more challenging.  I’m not sure why the same fine focusing ability that is available in autofocus isn’t there in manual focus mode.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 40-150mm’s tripod collar can be removed to minimize size.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being a relatively heavy and long lens, the 40-150mm comes with an included tripod collar.  Like all collars, turning the knob on the foot will allow you to rotate the camera between horizontal and vertical orientations without adjusting your tripod.  The collar turns smoothly and is well constructed.  The collar can be removed from the lens by flipping the foot to the top of the lens and sliding it off the mount end.  While this may be desirable in an effort to reduce overall size, I preferred to simply leave the collar on all the time.<\/p>\n

One nice feature of the 40-150mm f\/2.8 is the included lens hood.  After years of failing to include accessories like lens hoods with even their high-end lenses, it’s nice to see Olympus has reversed the trend recently.  Not only do you get the tripod collar in the package, but a very ingeniously designed lens hood is included as well.  The hood clips on like any other bayonet-mount lens hood, but instead of reversing, the hood slides back and forth in a similar manner to that of the hood for the Olympus 60mm f\/2.8 Macro.  To extend the hood, you simply pull on it until it clicks into place.  To retract the hood, a gentle twist on the spring-loaded ring around the outside of the hood will release the lock and allow you to slide the hood back into the compact position.  This mechanism improves speed of operation and convenience, and it was really nice to use in practice.  I have to say, though, with the hood retracted, the lens looks really fat. It is reminiscent of a shrunken version of a 200mm f\/2.0 lens for full frame cameras.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 40-150mm f\/2.8 lens hood extends and retracts easily<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lens also features a programmable function button that works with Olympus cameras.  Any of the programmable functions of the camera can be programmed to the L-Fn button, giving some extra versatility when using the lens.<\/p>\n

Focus Performance<\/h3>\n

The 40-150mm f\/2.8 is billed as a pro lens, and as such, focus speed is important.  For the most part, I found the 40-150mm f\/2.8 to focus extremely quietly, quickly and accurately.  In good light, focus was nearly instantaneous, and accuracy was outstanding.  Unfortunately, I don’t own a Micro 4\/3 body that has Phase-Detect AF capability, so I couldn’t really test continuous autofocus, but the focus speed is fast enough that I have no doubt it would perform as well or better than the other very fast focusing Micro 4\/3 lenses.<\/p>\n

However, I did notice that in lower light, the lens had a lot more problems.  While the lens did OK in most situations in dimmer light, there were plenty of times it went sort of crazy hunting.  Because of the sheer speed of the focus motor, it hunts very quickly, but there is no doubt that, at least on the E-M5, it does have a tendency to hunt in some instances indoors and at night.<\/p>\n

One nice feature is the great close-focusing ability of the lens.  With the broad focal range to 300mm equivalent and the close focusing distance of only 0.7m, the 40-150mm f\/2.8 is capable of capturing subjects as small as about 3 inches across. While this is well out of macro territory, it is great for closeups of flowers or other small objects, as well as extremely tight portrait work.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n
\"Columbus<\/a>
Columbus Statue – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 40-150mm f\/2.8 PRO @ 150mm, f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 40-150mm f\/2.8 PRO indicates its position as a professional-grade optic right in the name of the lens, and it lives up to this billing in its resolution abilities.  The lens seems to be optimized for the portrait range distances, and in this range, the lens is incredibly sharp from f\/2.8 throughout the entire focal range.  Center sharpness is brilliant and even edge and corner sharpness is very good at f\/2.8, and improves to excellent when stopped down just a smidge.<\/p>\n

While the lens is optimized for closer focusing distances, it’s no slouch further out either, though it falls just short of the very best lenses near infinity.  Central sharpness is still absolutely brilliant throughout the focal range, even wide open, though the edges at f\/2.8 do tend to suffer a bit. They are good, but not exceptional.  Stopping down to f\/5.6 brings the edges and corners to very good territory  here, while the center remains stunningly sharp.  While there are sharper lenses for landscape use, the level of resolution should be enough for all but the most critical pixel peepers when focused near infinity.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

Short telephoto zoom lenses tend to be a go-to sort of lens for portrait photography and event shooting, and as such, the out of focus rendering is of concern to most photographers.  The 40-150mm f\/2.8 is a bit of a mixed bag in this regard.  Overall, there’s nothing too objectionable about the bokeh created by the lens, but it also doesn’t generate that smooth bokeh that many other f\/2.8 telephoto zooms can create.<\/p>\n

Specular highlights are generally evenly illuminated, and the lens avoids bright-ring highlights for the most part. However, out of focus highlights do show the tell-tale onion-ring pattern that is indicative of aspherical elements in the lens design.  In many situations, the overall rendering of the lens is quite pleasing, but once you start focusing a bit further out, images can get just a touch nervous in the background depending on the scene.  The image below is just such a case.<\/p>\n

\"Waiting<\/a>
Waiting to Cross – Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus 40-150mm f\/2.8 PRO @ 140mm, f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Contrast, Color and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n

The Olympus 40-150mm f\/2.8 produces images with high levels of contrast throughout the focal range and the aperture range.  The only mild dip in contrast seems to come wide open at focus distances around 15-40 feet away. However, this is very minor and can be easily compensated for in post-production.  Color is rich and natural, with good color response and a neutral rendering.<\/p>\n

The lens controls chromatic aberration very well, both laterally and longitudinally, so there’s nothing much to worry about here, except perhaps at the wide end, where a bit of lateral CA can creep into the corners.  At the mid and long ends of the zoom, though, it’s extremely minimal.<\/p>\n

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting<\/h4>\n

The 40-150mm f\/2.8 is quite benign when it comes to distortion, with nothing field relevant in the images.  Vignetting is also generally well controlled, with some minor vignetting visible at f\/2.8, but gone by f\/4.  However, if there’s one weakness with the 40-150mm, it’s flare.<\/p>\n

\"Flare<\/a>
Flare is definitely a weak point with this lens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This lens flares horribly if the sun (or a reflection of the sun) is either in the frame or just out of the frame.  Large purple swaths of flare obscure the image and contrast is massively reduced.  Even when the sun is just barely out of frame, a bright purple flare will be quite apparent at the edge of the image frame.  The lesson? Don’t shoot this lens into the sun, unless you want to compose with flare in mind.  Check out the image above to see how bad it can get.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

\"40-150_close\"<\/a>Pros<\/h4>\n