Olympus M. Zuiko ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO

This is a fantastic lens for wildlife when used on my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera.This lens is the equivalent of an f/4.0 600mm lens on a full frame DSLR like my Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Combined with a the Olympus MC-14 1.4X teleconverter you have the equivalence of an 840mm lens. In addition I have a lot more image stabilization with the Olympus camera/lens combination. Couple this camera/lens combination with the Olympus EE-1 Dot Sight viewer mounted to the hot shoe of the camera, and you can easily track birds or other fast moving wildlife. Because I now have this lens, I am going to sell my almost new Canon 100 - 400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. I compared images taken with both rigs and found major advantages with the Olympus camera/lens/viewer with no discernible loss of image quality.

Pros: light weight, easy to handhold, great image stabilization, fantastic images

Cons: None!

I was amazed when the first production run of this lens sold out before the lens was released. The second production run also quickly sold out. Even now, a year after the official release, this lens is still in short supply. It took me some time to save up enough money to buy this lens. It was worth waiting for. I'm using this lens for birds, and discovered to get the most of out of this lens, I needed to completely change my settings. For what it's worth, here is what I'm currently using MySet 1, for birds on the ground  S-AF + MF  Shutter priority - start @ 1/1250.  Auto ISO from 200 to 1250  Single, small focus point.  Low speed burst. I'm using Low-speed burst anti-shock.  IBIS on Auto MySet 2 for BIF:  C-AF  9 box focus  Low speed burst.  SRL Lounge recommends 1/800" to 1/2000" for flying birds. I know that with anything slower, wings blur.  Other settings as per MySet 1

Pros: Minimum focus distance is 4.6'. At that range, this lens doubles as a macro. The tripod mount works well with the HLD-7 battery grip to balance the camera and lens when it is not mounted on a tripod.

Cons: It's expensive. At some point, Olympus may lower the price, but a year after its release, demand is still strong, so I wouldn't count on a price reduction anytime soon. Add the MC-14 tele-converter and HLD-7 battery grip, and you are carrying 5 1/2 pounds of gear. This is much lighter than the DSLR or Full-frame equivalent, but it is still a lot of weight.

The Zuiko 300mm f/4! mounted on the EM-1 it gives incredible stabilization, stunning pin sharp images even wide open. I must mention Crutchfield that They are an excellent company to buy from. We found them very courteous, professional and informative and would rate their company at the tops.

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The sharpest lens I've ever used! I was amazed at the detail at 100% magnification. I photographed the head of a buffalo with flies on it at about 30 ft away, and when I enlarged the image, you can see the structure on the flies wings. It's relatively small (compared to a full-frame 600mm lens) and easy to carry. The maximum magnification is almost 0.50X, so you can get incredible close-up shots.

Pros: Ultra sharp, compact, close-up capability, quick and precise focusing.

Cons: none

Crutchfield customer service was outstanding and I was able to try the lens on the weekend I received it. It is a well build lens, heavy but compared to the equivalent full frame lenses small lens well balanced on the Olympus EM-1. The auto focus 3 range distances speed up the focusing and I was able to catch some pictures of hummingbirds. color and sharpness are excellent. This will be my preferred lens for wildlife photography. All pictures were taken without a tripod possible because of the great OIS.

Pros: Handheld great pictures,

Cons: None found yet

Optical lens performance is superlative. Very even sharpness wide open (f/4), and no visible vignetting. Used with optional 1.4x teleconverter, performance is still very good (albeit at f/5.6, which is getting a bit dark for shooting wildlife at dusk). Handling is great as well, the highlight would be effective stabilizer that allows for critical sharpness down to 1/15" on my OM-D E-M1. For comparison: With the Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II, I never managed a sharp picture at faster than 1/100" (with IBIS on the E-M1), so this is a very meaningful improvement. Neither here nor there: Focus could be faster (compared to Nikon D4 with 400mm lens). Focus limiter helps (and this lens does have one), but not the best you can buy for randomly moving subjects (I find birds to be sometimes easier compared to e.g. rabbits). To at least help with target acquisition I purchased the Olympus laser sight EE-1 to go with the 300mm and initial results are promising. I simply don't have enough experience shooting at 600mm equivalent field of view to be able to acquire the target rapidly otherwise. Size and weight: I wish it were smaller. It fits tightly in some of my DSLR bags like those used for e.g. a 200mm f/2.8 full frame lens, but moving to m43 I had hoped to be able to pack smaller. Weight is not an issue at all, but would recommend to use the HL-7 battery grip if shooting with E-M1 (or equivalent for other cameras). I don't think that the size of the body matters at all (used w

Pros: Optical performance Handling Build quality

Cons: seriously no cons - if you want 300mm on m43, this is the definitive reference