Customer Reviews

Olympus 50-200mm Zuiko Digital f/2.8-3.5 ED Lens for Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the second lens I got for my E-500. The combination is superb. The lens is fast focusing and razor sharp wide open. I had the 40-150 to compare, as well as canons 70-200 f4L on a rebel xt. This lens is sharper, has better contrast and is faster, worth every cent.

Wow. I just got it. And already I can't say enough. I love this lens. The pictures are wonderful.

Given like many of you, I have limited means, I feel vindicated about my decision to save up (I understand how you feel attempting to reconcile the cost of this lens vs. the cost of your camera... some of us will spend more on THIS lens than the camera body...ouch! ...right now that'd be everyone save the E-330 crowd and the Panasonic DMC-L1) and BUY THIS ONE.

Understand, the advantage this lens gives you is a larger max aperture (f2.8-3.5) at all focal lengths which translates into much better action shots (your subject is in focus and your background is blurred) and greater opportunity for low light images (e.g., candlelight) at a better ISO (e.g., you might get away with ISO 200 on a shot instead of 400 translating into less noise). Couple that with the knowledge that your 50-200mm lens functions as a 100-400mm (factor is 2x given the 4/3rds sensor size compared to a 35mm frame) and you've got a lens that is as versatile as it is beautiful. Your only downside is that it is heavy, so you're going to have to either start working out or for long shoots (e.g. your kid's soccer match) bring the monopod (there is a well centered mount that comes with the lens).

In any event, why would you buy this lens? The same reason you'd make any purchase surrounding your camera setup. Because you're after GREAT pictures (leave the average stuff to the point and shoot crowd). With this lens on the end of your Olympus E Series camera, you can get there. So start saving (time for a garage sale?) and soon you'll be the envy of the soccer pitch, football field, and dance recital with your beautiful, versatile Olympus 50-200mm Zuiko f/2.8-3.5 ED lens that you, with great wisdom and foresight, bought because you're taking great pictures...

I cannot recommend this lens highly enough if you feel you need a lens with this much telephoto reach. For those of you who have "old school" experience, this lens is about as large and heavy as those 70-210mm zoom lenses that became ubiquitous with 35mm SLRs back in the day, but it has a more solid and beefy feel to it. It's a very well crafted bit of kit without question.

I would have to say that the defining characteristic of this lens is its' reputation of being razor sharp from edge to edge, even at maximum aperture. It's simply stunning. I have to disagree with another reviewer in that I don't find the bokeh to be particularly great unless one shoots wide open (in which case it's very good indeed), but excellent sharpness with so-so bokeh seems to be a characteristic that this lens shares with it's sister lens the Zuiko 14-54mm zoom.

Autofocus speed is only average, but accuracy on my E-500 is excellent. Camera handling is compromised with such a large lens, but removing the tripod mounting foot subtracts a considerable bit of weight from the combination. The lens hood is absolutely huge and I wonder if one significantly smaller wouldn't have sufficed for 90% of user's needs, but it is well made and I have toyed with the idea of buying a second and turning it down to about 1/2 the length of the standard hood just for those days when I don't need a lens hood that's nearly as long as my lens.

In summary: This is one of the best lenses in the Digital Zuiko line and as long as you are prepared for a large lens you will very likely be highly pleased with this lens because it performs optically so very well.

I've had my E1, 14-54 and 50-200 for over two years now. They have performed flawlessly. As all Olympus bodies have automatic sensor cleaning, and all three are weather and dust sealed, in over 20,000 photos I've never had to worry about dusty or rainy conditions. I've taken pictures on the beach in windy conditions, indoors at school concerts handheld in low light, and in pouring rain. I've always been delighted with the pictures I get, and the 50-200 is a star performer. It's very sharp, compact for the reach (400mm 35mm equivalent) and speed it gives. And I've since bought the 7-14, giving me an incredible range coverage in 3 lenses.

This lens is a real winner. I have several 4/3rds bodies and numerous lenses including a couple of the very top end Zuiko Digital Lenses. For the money this lens just can't be beat for compactness and performance. A real jewel. I think lenses like this, the 11-22 and the 50 make the Olympus system something really special. They are weather proof, perform amazingly well and relative to the big guns are very affordable and compact.

Digital bodies are disposable... glass is an investment.

In many ways this is part of the matched set with the 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 lens. They both are similar in f stops and both can use the same set of filters.

The commonality is ends there though. This lens is noticably higher in quality. If I were taking two otherwise identical pictures at 50mm f4, you could see the difference, especially on prints larger than 4 x 6 (10cm x 15cm).

This is a heavy camera and with the hood it is huge too. When you take picture with it, you point the lens and the camera follows along.

Pros:
* Great bokeh
* Shares filters with 14-54mm f2.8-3.5

Cons:
* Because its closest focus distance is 1.2m, it is not the best bug or flower camera
* Heavy

I bought this lens for taking photos of junior high and high school sports events. So far, I've used it in gyms for basketball and I'm very pleased with the action portraits it's allowed me to capture. The fast lens and close-up ability of the lens make it perfect for capturing the faces of the participants. It's not the huge lens you'll see the pros use, of course, but it's perfect for events where you can get relatively close to capture those action shots your kids will want to remember. I'm eager to make use of its capabilities at track meets, baseball games, and, next fall, football and basketball contests. This summer, I'll give it a good workout on walks around town, trying to capture birds and city wildlife.

While it doesn't have the lightning-fast focusing of the brand new SWD version of this lens, it is only two-thirds the cost, and it takes some magnificent shots. It's a powerful zoom (equivalent to 400mm on a 35mm camera), and when wide open it takes great portraits with subjects nicely isolated from the background. A moderate amount of vignetting may appear at higher zoom levels when shooting wide open, but it's easily corrected for by stopping down a bit or by fixing it in post-processing.

You can't get too close to the subject with this lens--a few feet of distance is necessary to maintain focus--but you can zoom all the way in over this short distance to achieve some beautiful macro-esque close-ups.

As mentioned, the auto-focus isn't the fastest, but it's quite good for a lens of this type and price. Construction seems to be top-notch. Really solid stuff here. I find the zoom action to be fairly smooth while in motion but just a tiny bit sticky when first putting it into motion. Perhaps I just need to break it in. Not a biggie at all.

All in all, an excellent lens. Highly recommended!

While it costs a bit it is well worth it. compared to Olympus' 40-150ZD this lens is a cadillac. In my opinion, this lens allows quite a bit more contrast to show through in your images and it is very sharp (not that the 40-150 is any slouch when stopped down). It also gives you great reach that one generally only gets from much larger lenses in other formats. Try comparing this f2.8-3.5 100-400mm (35mm equivalent) lens to75-300mm f2.8-3.5 offerings from Canon or Nikon (big$$$$ difference!).
In my opinion, this is every bit as good as any L-series glass of canon.

The contrast is

I just can't say enough good things about this lens. Wildlife and flower images captured with this lens and my E-500 are super sharp and vivid. The lens itself is solidly built and is a wonderful piece of engineering. It's only drawback is it's weight which takes a while to get used to. The weight causes me to have dificulty holding steady. In low light conditions this can be a problem with slow shutter speeds. To reslove this I use it with a monopod and am very happy with the results.

This lens is special.