Olympus mZD 40-150mm f/2.8 pro lens

see also:

• 3x telephoto zoom lenses for Micro Four Thirds
• Olympus OM System mZD 40-150mm f/4 pro lens
• a catalogue of Micro Four Thirds lenses
• 3-5x standard range zoom lenses for Micro Four Thirds
• wide aperture telephoto in 135-150mm range for Micro Four Thirds
• 8-10x super-zoom lenses for Micro Four Thirds
• comparison of telephoto zoom lenses
• my review of this lens
• my review with the MC14 1.4x teleconverter for hiking
• my lens tests - bokeh and flare

image courtesy of Robin Wong

• formerly announced Sept 2014
• a fantastic lens only let down by less than optimal bokeh on busy backgrounds - avoid this by choosing your backgrounds to compliment your subject
• if you are buying this I would strongly recommend buying the kit WITH the MC14 1.4x teleconverter as it is better value for money and gives you more telephoto reach which you will appreciate
• Note that the MC-14 converter cannot be used with a Four Thirds adapter and cannot be used with any other Micro Four Thirds lenses other than the Olympus mZD 300mm f/4 PRO lens at present due to the protruding optic, but can be used with some legacy full frame lenses.

• 40-150mm (eq. to 80-300mm)
• constant f/2.8 throughout zoom range
• 16 elements in 10 groups
  • including Olympus ZERO-coated HD, ED, EDA and - for the first time in an M.ZUIKO lens - Super EDA glass
  • to reduce risk of misalignment, only three are moving groups, with only one of those three groups performing actual zooming (the other two compensate for chromatic aberration and maintain image quality)
• innovative new dual linear voice coil motors for focusing
  • “separating the focusing mechanism into two lens groups controlled by individual linear drive motors makes AF performance extremely fast and, with no gears involved, nearly friction-free and incredibly quiet”
• 72mm filter thread
• 160mm long and lens length does not change on zooming or on focussing
• 880g with tripod adapter (760g without)
• collapsible lens hood LH-76 is fantastic but prone to damage and may require gluing (replacements cost ~$AU99)
• weather-resistant - 11 seals
• freeze-proof
• manual focus clutch mechanism
• L-Fn button
• close focus to 0.7m giving subject area of 8x6cm
• optional dedicated MC-14 1.4x teleconverter (~$399) which makes it 56-210 f/4 (eq. to 112-420mm)
• compatible with Olympus mZD MC-20 2x teleconverter to give 80-300mm f/5.6 (160-600mm telephoto reach in full frame terms)
• $US1349

• my review of this lens
• my lens tests - bokeh and flare
  • bokeh can be busy with busy backgrounds particularly when used at shorter focal lengths, but seems to be comparable to prime lenses such as the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 when this is used at f/2.8
  • flare is generally well controlled but shooting directly into a setting sun can give a large magenta flare below the sun
  • sharpness is excellent wide open but not quite as a good as the Olympus ZD 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 lens
• Pekkapotka.com hands on
  • more vignetting but perhaps better micro contrast at 150mm than the superb Olympus ZD 150mm f/2.0 super telephoto lens
• pekkapotka's birds in flight tests
• Robin Wong's initial thoughts
• Robin Wong's 1st tests at a zoo and for female portraiture using S-AF only
• Robin Wong's tests with 1.4x converter, C-AF tracking and comparison with 75mm f/1.8 lens
• http://leighmiller.zenfolio.com/blog/2015/3/olympus-ed-m-zuiko-40-150mm-f2-8-pro-3-month-update
• shooting horses at polo 9fps C-AF
• review of the 1.4x TC
• https://luminous-landscape.com/olympus-40-150mm-lens/
• ePhotozine review
  • very sharp centre wide open at 40mm but very soft edges
  • sharp across the frame wide open at 70mm
  • sharp at f/4-8 at 150mm, a little softer wide open
• Photozone.de
  • excellent lens although bokeh can be busy if backgrounds are busy
  • sharpest at f/4 (and f/5.6 with 1.4x TC)
• http://www.samudranil.in/blog/?id=123897549606#.VdR0npckOix
• https://www.lenstip.com/479.1-Lens_review-Olympus_M.Zuiko_Digital_40-150_mm_f_2.8_ED_PRO-Introduction.html
  • thankfully, unlike most tele-zooms, this lens is sharpest at the tele end of 150mm, but is sharpest at f/4
  • unfortunately, using the TC you get a big hit in sharpness as well as affective aperture such that centre shaprness wide open is almost half that of the much more expensive, optically superb Panasonic Leica DG Elmarit 200mm F2.8 Power OIS lens wide open at f/2.8, so you may need to use it at effective f/5.6 to get its best sharpness with the TC (ie. at f/4.0)
  • minimal long CA - more pronounced at 90mm
  • lateral CA well corrected but doubles with TC on
  • no significant issues with spherical aberration but some onion ring appearance of bokeh circles
  • distortion level remains practically zero at every focal length if corrected in camera, but uncorrected is 2% barrel at 40mm, almost nil at 90mm and 0.7% pincushion at 150mm (almost none with TC on at 150mm)
  • mild coma at the edges at wider angles, minimal at 150mm even with TC on
  • moderate astigmatism of 7.3% (12% with TC on)
  • partial cat's eye bokeh circles in corners
  • 0.6EV vignetting wide open at 40mm, 0.5EV at 90mm, 0.94EV at 150mm (this halves with TC on)
  • lens flare is pronounced if sun hits front glass
  • fast AF
  • build quality is outstanding, it comes with an interesting focal range, provides an excellent image quality and overall it would be difficult to find any serious flaw in it

comparison with Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 OIS: