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There is a minute improvement in sharpness between f/4.0 and f/5.6 which is really only noticeable in lab-like conditions. I was able to take full advantage of the f/4.0 maximum aperture without worrying about paying a price in sharpness. Our primary interest in this lens is from the perspective of shooting birds, so the lens first real test was a Treecreeper close to our local canal. Autofocus becomes slightly slower with the teleconverters, especially in challenging conditions. Again, in my tests, the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO on its own focused on the distant wall in 0.52 seconds on average. With the MC-14, that jumped to 0.72 seconds, and with the MC-20, it took 0.87 seconds on average to focus on the same wall in the same light conditions. This difference was definitely apparent when using the teleconverters in real-world situations, too. I would recommend using them only when the light is plentiful. DC-G9 + M.300mm f/4 + MC-14 @ 420mm, ISO 400, 1/400, f/5.6 In the Field: Wildlife Photography The stabilisation on the lens combined with the camera body stabilisation continues to amaze me to the point where I rarely take a tripod out with me now. No, that’s not true. The aperture will be THE SAME. If you measure the exposure trough this lens wide open on any M4/3 camera, and then the same scene with any FF 300 or 600mm lens open to f/4 and mounted on any FF camera – with same ISO you’ll get the same exposure time as on Olympus. Aperture is a physical property of lens, not a sensor. F/4 lens will be always f/4, no matter how big is the sensor inside the camera you’ll mount it on: for example, if I mount my full frame 70-200/2.8 Pentax lens on K-1 II or my APS-C K-3 III – it always will be f/2.8 maximum aperture lens.
The sharpness of this lens is truly a thing of beauty. Compared to other telephoto options for Micro Four Thirds I’ve used, the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO blows them out of the water in terms of sharpness. I've now had the 300mm F4 Pro for a little over 3 months. The main development has been that I've upgraded to the Olympus E-M1 MKII as the auto...
On average it took the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO 0.52 seconds to acquire focus. Interestingly, both the Olympus 100-400mm f/5-6.3 and the Olympus 100-300mm (a relatively old copy, though) took 0.80 seconds on average to acquire focus. In other words, the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 is about 50% faster than my copies of these other lenses. DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 1000, 1/160, f/4.0 Use with Teleconverters For the price difference between the two lenses, we would absolutely recommend the MC-20 –not only does it deliver super telephoto range for sports and wildlife shooting, it also doubles the magnification for super telephoto macro shooting. This kind of no-nonsense functionality usually makes teleconverters a bit boring to write about. However, when it comes to Micro Four Thirds (MFT), teleconverters suddenly become a whole lot more exciting. However, keep in mind that crop factors also apply to aperture; so, using this lens is akin to using a 600mm f/8 on full-frame.’ Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
The 300mm focal length may not sound very long at first, until you consider the 2x crop factor and high pixel density of Micro Four Thirds – it’s a 600mm full-frame equivalent. However, keep in mind that crop factors also apply to aperture; so, using this lens is akin to using a 600mm f/8 on full-frame. I’m not complaining – that’s simply why this lens is so much smaller, lighter, and less expensive than a full-frame 600mm f/4. DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 500, 1/200, f/4.0 Performance I've now had the 300mm F4 Pro for a little over 3 months. The main development has been that I've upgraded to the Olympus E-M1 MKII as the auto focus capability of the E-M5 MKII just wasn't up to birds in flight, which was something I was keen to have a go at. Of course the caveat, as with any teleconverter on any format, is a reduced maximum aperture of a given lens. A 2x converter results in a 2-stop reduction, meaning that the 40-150mm f/2.8 becomes an 80-300mm f/5.6, and so on. For good measure, I did a simple autofocus test with the OM-1 to see how long it took to focus from the minimum focusing distance to a distant wall. I did the same with the Olympus 100-400 f/5-6.3 and the Olympus 100-300 f/4-5.6. These are my results.I think it’s pretty clear what Nicholas is saying here. It’s not just the DOF that is changed, but also total light gathering capacity. In other words, if all else is equal (i.e. exactly the same subject and distance, light, etc.), a 600 f/4 lens on full-frame will gather much more light than a 300 f/4 on micro four thirds. This matters especially in the case of wildlife: in low-light scenarios, a 600 f/4 shot on full-frame will be much less noisy than a 300 f/4 shot on micro four thirds, where both shots have been equalized to the same viewing size. An autofocus range switch is located on the side of the lens. It can be switched from 1.4-4m, 1.4m-infinity, and 4m to infinity. This helps limit any autofocus hunting behavior; I found it especially helpful when photographing subjects at close range. There is also an image stabilization switch on the side of the lens, as well as an LN-f function button. I should add that uploading the lower image to my blog seemed to soften it a bit, the image is actually even sharper than this. Theres obviously a lot more to think about with this combination. Im interested to see how its close focusing (down to 1.4 metres would you believe) works for dragonflies and other small subjects like lizards, and theres also still the question of how well the auto focus performs over time compared to equivalent DSLR combos.
Useful review. I am thinking of pairing it to my recently acquired GH5. I am using a PL100-400 with some good results (better now with the GH5). I just prefer primes - as they will (obviously) always be sharper - and the f4 wide aperture is also a big, big bonus. It's a fantastic performer that, thanks to the optimum optical design of its master lenses, produces fantastic images that would otherwise be impossible to achieve on the system.This first shot of a swift in flight I'm particularly pleased with and for me confirms that the Olympus MFT set up can now compete with Canon and Nikon for shooting wildlife. I believe the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO is an excellent telephoto lens for wildlife. Aside from the Olympus 100-400 f/4.5 TC1.25X IS PRO, this lens is likely the best lens for wildlife photography for Micro Four Thirds. As a macro and herp photographer, I am also impressed by the 1.4m minimum focusing distance on the Olympus 300mm f/4. At such a close range, this allows for an image reproduction ratio of 1:4, which is much greater than you’ll usually find on a long telephoto lens. Combined with the maximum aperture, this can create a very nice bokeh and a ‘telephoto look’ for portraits of smaller animals. And the 2x crop factor of Micro Four Thirds means you can fill the frame with very small subjects. DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 125, 1/200, f/4.0 Competition If 300mm is simply not enough reach, the Olympus MC-14 and Olympus MC-20 are both compatible with the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO. These teleconverters multiply the focal length by a factor of 1.4 and 2 respectively. Pair it with the Olympus OM-D E-M1X and you also get the benefit of Sync IS (which employs the in-body and in-lens stabilization in tandem) that gives you 5 stops of image stabilization – meaning that you can shoot without a tripod.A 1200mm lens you can use handheld? That alone is worth the price of admission.
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