yukonchris's reviews

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro M.Zuiko Digital ED

I've owned this lens for several years, and together with the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, is one of my two favourite micro four-thirds lenses. I've found it to be reliably sharp wide open, at every focal length. It's 40mm to 150mm range makes it a versatile optical tool. It is competent for bird and animal photography, so long as the subjects are not a long way off. In a limited number of circumstances, it even makes a good landscape lens. All that said, it really excels in portrait and news photography, allowing one to achieve beautiful portraits, head shots, and more. I love the clean detail and accurate eye focus I routinely achieve when taking photos of people using this lens and the E-M1. Finally, in addition to all of its other strengths, the 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro makes for a useful and very sharp close focusing lens. While not a true macro, at 150mm it will focus close enough to allow sharp and detailed images of subjects that might not appreciate closer inspection from true macros, or lenses with shorter focal lengths.

If I have any complaints about this lens, it is the somewhat busy bokeh that can appear in certain images when the lighting and distances conspire in just the right way. I have also found that the retractable lens hood, while very convenient, should be treated with some respect. The hood mechanism definitely doesnt like the kind of fine grit that can accumulate in some sandy and windy locales. That said, the lens seems very comfortable in wet or cold conditions.