Customer Reviews

Olympus 90-250mm f/2.8 Zuiko Lens for E Series DSLR Camera

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

 

 

I already own Zuiko's excellent f2.8 300mm fixed lens, Olympus 300mm f/2.8 Super Telephoto ED Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras. It's a superb lens, and works very well with both Zuiko's 1.4X teleconverter, Olympus EC14 1.4x Teleconverter Lens (for at f/2.8 on E-System lenses), and its 2.0X teleconverter, Olympus Zuiko EC-20 2x Teleconverter for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras.

But there are situations in which you need more flexibility; the bird or the animal is too close for a fixed 300mm, for example. So I purchased the 90-250mm. And after two weeks of field photography, I have to say it's a decidedly mixed bag.

On its own, without a teleconverter, the lens is good. For a wide range, powerful telephoto, it gathers an impressive amount of light, and has the same f2.8 aperture across the entire zoom range. It's simply not as razor sharp as the fixed 300mm, but it's still quite sharp. The teleconverters are a different story, however. The 1.4X is adequate, unless you want exceptional detail. With the 2.0X teleconverter, though, results are generally unacceptable for my work. I suppose that the additional lensing required for a zoom cross some tipping point.

And the lens is definitely slower-focusing than my 300mm on my E-3 body. Birds in flight are possible with the lens by itself, but combined with a teleconverter, the lens can't keep up, even in bright light.

Which leaves the lens in a special, fairly niche: if you need just a 90-250mm, wide aperture lens, this is a fine product. If you are looking for a bit more flexibility, or if you are photographing rapidly moving targets, perhaps not. And teleconverters significantly impair sharpness, especially the 2.0X. It will have a place in my camera bag - a large space. But it's simply not as useful as I hoped.

I shoot in door events in NYC with no flash and I'm often more than 100 feet away from my subject. about 1/4 of the time I'm using the 2X converter.

The 2.8 aperture and the long reach give me capabilities that most other photographers don't have.

As far as I know a telephoto for a Cannon or Nikon would cost 4 times as much.

It takes time to learn how to use this lens and to get the auto-focus to focus accurately in low light. There are challenges especially with the 2X adapter.

This glass is why I invested in the 4/3 system and I'm glad I did.

I rented this lens for a weekend and found that the focusing on this lens was extremely disappointing in low light.
Compared to the 35-10mm f2.0 I felt like I was using a f4 lens and even using the focusing limiter switch found it to hunt a lot.
I am sure for outdoor use it is an excellent lens, especially for sports photography, but the pricepoint and indoor problems I experienced are reasons enough to not purchase this lens.