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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

70-300 lens

Olympus 70-300 lens
Manufacturer
Olympus

Item details

$400 Canadian
Camera - Olympus E-510
Have been using this lens for about 1 year now, it has been a good lens and I am quite satisfied with it.
This type of lens is best suited for use on a tripod, but I have taken some very good pictures with a monopod and even hand held.
At first I found the focusing to be extremely slow, but when I updated the camera firmware for the 150 mm lens I found that performance improved greatly.
When hand held and using auto focus and fully zoomed it can be difficult to focus on a small object or if there is clutter around the subject, like small branches or if the subject is moving.
Manual focus I find is a little slow and does not work well for me, what appears to be a sharp picture in the viewfinder is not what is produced. I think this has something to do with my eyes rather than the camera or lens as auto focus produces sharp pictures, particularly when used on a tripod .
I use this lens more than any other.
Like most zoom lenses this lens is more prone to shake or vibration.
I think for the price it is an excellent lens and it certainly is comparable to the Canon lenses in the same class.

Latest reviews

Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
Cons
I have used this for 2 years an actually find it difficult to capture a very sharp image! I didn't think about updating firmware, I will try that an see how that goes!
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
  • Cost, size
Cons
  • Slow to auto-focus
I have used this lens for 1.5 years now with an E-520 body (with built-in Image Stabilizer) and must say I am really satisfied with the performance. It is a "standard quality" lens but the results are good and the lens is capable of delivering sharp images. It is also moderately priced and well suited for taking bird shots so if you have a 4/3 camera and looking for a telezoom I would definitevely recommend.


Im my opinion it performs better than the 40-150 mm standard telezoom that often is included in the Olympus kits. (If you are prepared to accept a slow auto-focus, as several have pointed out. I haven't updated the firmware, though).

Other:
I take (virtually) all my shots hand-held.
Thanks to the 4/3 format the size is really compact for a telephoto lens (80 x 127 mm)
Weight is 600g
The lens has a 58 mm thread which is also a potential cost saver on the filter side
Close range is 1.2 m so the leans also works OK for shooting smaller creatures


Hope this feedback is useful
Tord
Recommended
Yes
Price
0$
Pros
  • price, build, ease of use, glass
Cons
  • None for the price spent. You want better, spend more.
Absolutely a great lens for the 2/3 system. I use it with a mono-pod all the time. You cannot beat the quality and if you want better range, buy a more expensive lens. I have some excellent shots using this lens, which I have not had time to post to this sight yet, but will try to shortly.

Item information

Category
SLR & MFT (micro four thirds) Lenses
Added by
Craig S
Views
37,835
Reviews
5
Last update
Rating
3.80 star(s) 5 ratings

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