Our OM-D E-M1 hands-on coverage:
Low-light performance – Olympus Europe interview – M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens – Autofocus
During our short yet intense stay at Castle Leslie we also had the chance to have a first look at the new M.Zuiko PRO 40-150mm f/2.8 by Olympus. The lens is part of a new “Pro” line and will be released in 2014. This will be the second Pro lens for MFT after the 12-40mm f/2.8 which will be available along with the E-M1 in November.
Since the lens was a prototype, it wasn’t operational. In fact, I couldn’t even mount it on the camera as it wouldn’t lock. As such, my impressions mostly deal with its size and build quality.
The lens is built like the 12-40mm: very strong with a nice metal feel, the same ribbed zoom and aperture rings and a Function 1 button on the side. It is remarkably light and compact if you think about the focal range it covers (80-300mm in 35mm equivalent format). Being a prototype, I guess the weight wasn’t definitive.
I also happened to have the Panasonic Lumix 35-100mm f/2.8 with me at the time. As you can see from the pictures, the Panasonic counterpart is smaller (half the size). It will be interesting to see which one is better to have in your camera bag from an image quality point of view. However, if compactness is a priority, I can already say that the Lumix wins hands-down. The Olympus is bigger due to the 50mm addition to its maximum focal length and the fact that it is dust, splash and freeze proof. The Lumix is splash and dust proof only.
Personally, I like the idea of having an extra 50mm to work with. If you shoot a lot of events like I do, having 50mm extra (the equivalent of 100mm) is very useful at times when you cannot get close to your subject. I really hope that the image quality will be good. From what I saw during my time with the 12-40mm, I doubt my hopes are in vain!
Finally, Olympus told us that two more lenses for the PRO line are on their way – a wide-angle zoom lens and an extreme telephoto zoom lens. At the moment, we don’t have any details regarding either focal length or aperture.
Below, you can watch our hands-on video where you will get a sneak peek at the new 40-150mm f/2.8 as well as some AF-C samples taken with the E-M1 and the Lumix 35-100mm f/2.8.
There isn’t any information about the price of the lens yet but we suspect that it will be around $1000-$1200.
Hi Antonio, yes it is detachable.
Hi Mathieu, thanks for the review. Can you tell me if the tripod attachment is detachable?
thanks
Antonio
Unfortunately there isn’t much news about the lens yet but I am sure we will see it at Photokina in september.
Is there any news about the new PRO MFT 40-150mm lens ?
Is there a release date?
I don’t know if it’s a back breaker, I think it will still be light and compact if we think at the focal lengths it covers. I’m also sure that the quality will be on pair with the 12-40mm with the same build quality.
Certainly, it is hard to beat the compactness of the Lumix 35-100mm 😉
If the image quality of this new tele zoom is anything like the 12-40mm f/2.8, it will be a stellar performer. I think it will be a very, very good lens. However, it’s too big for me and although I’m in the market for a tele zoom, I’ll have to skip this lens. It’s a back breaker and I can’t see myself hauling this beast all day. Suddenly the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 seems a lot more interesting. The Panasonic is not the sharpest lens out there and I have no doubt that the Olympus will wipe the floor with it, but it’s still a very capable, fast and small zoom.
Hi, no idea as it wasn’t written on the prototype sample I had. My guess is that it will be larger.
Hi I was wondering if you had any idea what size filter it will use? Will it be 62mm like the 12-40mm or something larger? Thanks
That would be a lot for a MFT lens.
It’s gonna cost more than that. I’d say $1500-$1700.
Figurati 🙂
Ottimo lavoro, grazie!
Thanks Lucas. I also use my E-M5 for theater shots because its shutter noise is very low. The E-M1 shutter noise seemed slightly louder to me but I think it remains discreet for this kind of situation. I briefly tried the E-M1 with FT lenses and the AF works well. In AF-C, it isn’t as fast as with MFT lenses but it is only slightly behind in my opinion. But I need to do more testing with different FT lenses to give a better opinion.
Many thanks for this review. I haven’t seen yet such a detailed comparison of the image quality of the M1 vs M5 and your focus on sharpness and noise is really helpful.
I have an M5 and love it, but really look forward to better focusing performance with my SLR lenses like the 50-200mm Olympus lenses. I do a lot of photo shoots for theater groups and the E-M1 looks like a nice upgrade even if it didn’t add better Phase Detect focusing.
Maybe I’m living under a rock but I’ve not yet heard of the 40-150mm pro lens. This looks fantastic – although my FT 50-200 is my favorite lens of all time, I’d be very happy with a smaller and lighter alternative with fast CDAF focusing.
Best regards,
Lucas