Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300 mm F4.0 PRO Lens, Telephoto Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G Series), Black

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The only handling flaw I noticed in my time with this lens involves the focus ring. The ring rotates very smoothly, but the lens easily switches from autofocus to manual-only by sliding the focus ring into the manual position. As you can imagine, the ability to achieve such extraordinary reach made it much easier to capture shots of lions, elephants, cheetah and other animals that don't take kindly to people getting too close. The Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO stands out in performance among telephoto lenses for Micro Four Thirds. Of course, the steep price tag also stands out. Some cheaper alternatives with similar focal lengths include the Olympus 100-400 f/5-6.3, Olympus 100-300 f/4.0-5.6, and the Panasonic 100-400f/4-6.3. Each of these options has a narrower maximum aperture and slower autofocus than the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO, but they do have the advantage of zooming.

I found the 300mm f/4 to performed superbly in low light, a problem often encountered by wildlife photographers, because the f/4 maximum aperture is higher than you’ll usually find at 300mm for the M4/3 system. I found myself able to shoot well after sunset and still handhold my shots. At times, I was shooting at slow speeds between 1/60th and 1/100th and still catching crisp photos. The image stabilization system is definitely working hard. The lens was so sharp, I even found moire on birds feathers, an issue I’d never encountered before! DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 800, 1/500, f/4.0 Bokeh For the price difference between the two lenses, we would absolutely recommend the MC-20 –not only does it deliver super telephoto range for sports and wildlife shooting, it also doubles the magnification for super telephoto macro shooting. Of course the caveat, as with any teleconverter on any format, is a reduced maximum aperture of a given lens. A 2x converter results in a 2-stop reduction, meaning that the 40-150mm f/2.8 becomes an 80-300mm f/5.6, and so on. The 300mm focal length may not sound very long at first, until you consider the 2x crop factor and high pixel density of Micro Four Thirds – it’s a 600mm full-frame equivalent. However, keep in mind that crop factors also apply to aperture; so, using this lens is akin to using a 600mm f/8 on full-frame. I’m not complaining – that’s simply why this lens is so much smaller, lighter, and less expensive than a full-frame 600mm f/4. DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.300mm f/4 @ 300mm, ISO 500, 1/200, f/4.0 PerformanceThe sharpness of this lens is truly a thing of beauty. Compared to other telephoto options for Micro Four Thirds I’ve used, the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO blows them out of the water in terms of sharpness. The stabilisation on the lens combined with the camera body stabilisation continues to amaze me to the point where I rarely take a tripod out with me now. Additionally, when this lens is paired with the newer Olympus bodies like the OM-1, the lens and camera work superbly together with excellent image stabilization and autofocus. The stabilization is most effective when paired with Olympus bodies, where synchronized image stabilization will give you up to 6 stops stabilization. Wildlife photography simply became much easier with a modern lens/camera combo like this. Close Focusing Ability

An autofocus range switch is located on the side of the lens. It can be switched from 1.4-4m, 1.4m-infinity, and 4m to infinity. This helps limit any autofocus hunting behavior; I found it especially helpful when photographing subjects at close range. There is also an image stabilization switch on the side of the lens, as well as an LN-f function button. Useful review. I am thinking of pairing it to my recently acquired GH5. I am using a PL100-400 with some good results (better now with the GH5). I just prefer primes - as they will (obviously) always be sharper - and the f4 wide aperture is also a big, big bonus.The MC-20 is compatible with three of Olympus' professional telephoto lenses: the 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro, the 300mm f/4 IS Pro, and the upcoming M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x IS Pro. If 300mm is simply not enough reach, the Olympus MC-14 and Olympus MC-20 are both compatible with the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO. These teleconverters multiply the focal length by a factor of 1.4 and 2 respectively.

It's not just the focal length and aperture that are doubled; the MC-20 also doubles the maximum shooting magnification of the mounted lens, which opens the door for unparalleled super telephoto macro photography.This first shot of a swift in flight I'm particularly pleased with and for me confirms that the Olympus MFT set up can now compete with Canon and Nikon for shooting wildlife. This setup offers a 1200mm focal length with 5 stops of image stabilization Olympus MC-20 teleconverter: In the field

Our primary interest in this lens is from the perspective of shooting birds, so the lens first real test was a Treecreeper close to our local canal. Autofocus becomes slightly slower with the teleconverters, especially in challenging conditions. Again, in my tests, the Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO on its own focused on the distant wall in 0.52 seconds on average. With the MC-14, that jumped to 0.72 seconds, and with the MC-20, it took 0.87 seconds on average to focus on the same wall in the same light conditions. This difference was definitely apparent when using the teleconverters in real-world situations, too. I would recommend using them only when the light is plentiful. DC-G9 + M.300mm f/4 + MC-14 @ 420mm, ISO 400, 1/400, f/5.6 In the Field: Wildlife Photography For good measure, I did a simple autofocus test with the OM-1 to see how long it took to focus from the minimum focusing distance to a distant wall. I did the same with the Olympus 100-400 f/5-6.3 and the Olympus 100-300 f/4-5.6. These are my results. You’re right in the sense that a 300mm f/4 lens will always be 300mm f/4, regardless of the sensor behind it – but the concept of a crop factor is still useful in practical terms. Nicholas is right that it applies to both focal length and aperture. (It also applies to ISO, but with a [crop factorThe Olympus 300mm f/4.0 IS PRO is admittedly an expensive lens. Does it’s performance make up for the high price tag? Sharpness Theres obviously a lot more to think about with this combination. Im interested to see how its close focusing (down to 1.4 metres would you believe) works for dragonflies and other small subjects like lizards, and theres also still the question of how well the auto focus performs over time compared to equivalent DSLR combos. At the time these shots were taken, I was still waiting for the teleconverter to arrive, so the shots were with just the 300mm lens, mounted on an Olympus EM-5 MKII. Having used this lens for 2.5 years now, I can second what has been written so far. I would like to add the following positive aspects