Olympus 75-300mm Lens Mini Review

I don't really do equipment reviews, and this is going to be a brief overview of how I got on with the lens, and a few of my favourite photos taken with it. 

A friend was kind enough to let me borrow a Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 75-300mm 1:4.8-6.7 II lens for a visit to Marwell Zoo.

I was handed the lens as we walked from the Marwell Zoo car park, so I'd had no time to practise with it prior.  It was a sunny day, so perfect bright lighting to work with.

Weighing just 425g, it was so much more comfortable to carry (almost 1kg lighter) around for the day than the Canon 100-400mm lens I'd normally use for a day out like this.

Mounted on the Olympus OM-D body it has a working focal length of 150-600mm, while the Canon is 160-640mm when mounted on my Canon 7D.  So close enough as to not really make any difference.  The Olympus is half a stop slower but with the great IBIS system on the OM-D it's not something you'll really notice most of the time.

How did the lens cope?  It struggled to find focus on a couple of subjects that I would have expected it to lock onto easily, but for the most part on static subjects it worked very well indeed.  Any failings were probably down to my still learning to use the OM-D having only had it for a few weeks now.


Is the Olympus better than the Canon?  My guess is probably not.  I say guess because I'm not one to pixel peep my images, but I'm really rather pleased with how the lens performed.  Paired up with the OM-D it's a combination I'll be using again for sure just as soon as I've saved up and bought myself the lens.   The weight difference compared to my normal Canon set up is huge, and I hardly noticed I was even carrying the camera at times.   Certainly not something I'd be able to say when lugging the Canon around.

The lens I borrowed didn't have a lens hood, shame on Olympus for not including one in the box.  I like lens hoods, they protect the front element, and stop me from accidentally putting my sticky fingers on it. 

Now for a few photos from the day...   I have to be honest and say it wasn't my best day at Marwell.  Many of the animals just didn't cooperate today, some (Snow Leopard & Tiger) we didn't see at all.