Jul 5, 2015

Shooting with Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II Lens

Special shout-out to Jia Yeen for being such a sport, you were awesome! Thanks for spending time with us noob portrait photographers. 

I have done something rather unusual this weekend. Instead of shooting with my favourite prime lenses, or even the newer PRO lenses, I decided against all my usual preferences and picked up the one lens which I rarely used, the M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II from the office, mounted it on the beautiful OM-D E-M5 Mark II and I went out for a full on shutter therapy weekend. With just ONE lens. 

About General-Purpose Zoom Lenses
I will be very honest here, I normally would not recommend a 10x or more zoom lenses, especially the lenses spanning from wide angle to telephoto zoom range. I believe that in order to fit in such a huge zoom range into a lens, there must be some compromises. Since most cameras are equipped with at least the basic kit lens, it makes much more sense to get a dedicated telephoto zoom lens (such as 40-150mm F4-5.6) to complement the original kit lens, and save a few hundred dollars of hard earned cash. I always had this perception in my head that the basic kit lens and the telephoto zoom lens will both perform considerably better than the all zoom wide to telephoto lens. This statement is valid based on many feedback and experience from many friends who come from all sorts of camera brands. So is this the same case with Olympus? This is what I will find out and discuss in this blog entry. 
Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II lens looks great on OM-D styled camera


at full 150mm zoom telephoto end, the lens is extended far out from the original retracted position. 


Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II Highlights

The 14-150mm lens covers a 10.7x zoom range, which is quite versatile for most photography needs, from wide angle to telephoto range. There was already an existing old version of 14-150mm lens, which was optically similar. The new M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4.5.6 II lens has the following improvements:

Weather-Sealing 
Fully splash, dust and freeze proof. The old version did not have weather sealing. 

New Lens Design
The outer body of the lens looks completely different now, and the design is modified to match the overall newer OM-D and PEN cameras from Olympus. I must admit the old lens does look old now. 

ZERO coating
Olympus is applying this ZERO (Zuiko Extra-Low Reflective Optical) coating to their newer lenses, and the Mark II version of the 14-150mm lens benefits from this to minimize ghosting and flare issues. 


So what did I do with the Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm Mark II?

I went to street shooting with a group of friends on a cloudy, lazy Saturday morning, at Petaling Street. Earlier today, this morning (Sunday), I also did a quick model shoot with beautiful friend, Jia Yeen (who is also a Micro Four Thirds user! See her blog here). Previously, I have shot a live tennis game at BMW Malaysia Open, a Fourth Round (I think) game with Australian tennis star Jarmila Gajdošová. I have added some photos which I have taken (and shown before here) during my review session with the OM-D E-M5 Mark II not too long ago. 

After all, the only way to put a lens through torture, and know how it performs, is have adequate shooting sessions. 

1/1600sec, F5.6, ISO200, 58mm

1/500sec, F5.5, ISO200, 90mm

1/100sec, F5.6, ISO640, 90mm

100% crop from previous photo

1/30sec, F5.6, ISO250, 18mm

100% crop from previous photo

1/60sec, F5.5, ISO640, 90mm

1/25sec, F6.3, ISO200, 34mm

100% crop from the previous image

1/100sec, F6.3, ISO200, 90mm
not my watch

1/5sec, F5.5, ISO800, 70mm
My watch

1) Image Quality Is Very Good For An All Purpose Zoom Lens

After spending many hours shooting with the M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II and scrutinizing at the image output the lens produced, I am quite impressed with what this lens can do. 

Referring to my earlier assumption that general all purpose zoom lens is dissappinting to many people, I am far from being disappointed when I used this 14-150mm II lens. Perhaps I have set my expectations too low, but the image quality is definitely more than usable. The sharpness is good enough for the subjects that I shoot, in fact the amount of fine detail resolved is excellent, if you shoot at the lens' optimal focal length and stop down the aperture a little bit. 

I generally find that the lens does suffer from a little softness when shooting wide, as well as at the longer end. Zooming in to 18mm, the sharpness improved, and staying within 90mm, you get very good image sharpness. Nevertheless, I would not hesiatate to use 14mm wide end as well as zoom in all the way to 150mm at the tele-end, the image may come out a little soft but they were good enough and you should not have to worry much. Stopping down a little bit in aperture helps. 

I do not see any Chromatic Aberration and distortion was well controlled. I believe the camera processing engine Truepic 7 is doing a great job here to produce optimized and corrected final output from the camera. 

It is also worth noting that while I think the sharpness is good, it is nowhere near what the M.Zuiko prime lenses such as 45mm F1.8 and 75mm F1.8 can do. There is no point comparing as well. For a zoom lens, having such a wide coverage and range, I do think this 14-150mm II performs well. 


2) Decent Close Up Shooting

This 14-150mm II lens may not replace a macro lens, and may not have as good close up shooting as many of other Olympus lenses, but it is also sufficient for many situations. Referring to the watches photographs as shown above, you can actually achieve good magnification (0.22x). The trick here is to zoom in to the longest end, 150mm and shoot from a distance to achieve maximum magnification. Even for the watch photographs I only had to zoom in to 70mm and 90mm to get the respective shots. The close up shooting is important, revealing the tiny details, especially seen on the watch faces. 


3) Super Fast Autofocus

Like all other Olympus newer lenses, the AF is blazing fast. In fact, if you use the touch screen AF to shoot immediately where you touch on the LCD screen, the feedback is instantaneous with no traces of lag. The reason why I went to shoot the tennis match (as shown in the images below) was to put the AF to extreme test. The 14-150mm II lens performed remarkably well on the OM-D E-M5 Mark II (I would think the same performance can be achieved with any OM-D bodies as well as PEN cameras) and I can successfully locked my AF on the tennis player and captured many keeper shots. Hit rate was very high. I have tried both Continuous AF with tracking as well as with Single-AF. While the Continuous AF with tracking was not exactly working very well (it is no surprise this is one area where Olympus does need to drastically improve on) the Single AF was fast enough that I can immediately snap and get a sharp, in focus shot. 

I have also tested the lens in low light shooting conditions and the focusing worked just as well, with no sign of slowing down. 

Introducing JIA YEEN

1/13sec, F5, ISO1000, 31mm


1/15sec, F5, ISO640, 31mm

1/13sec, F5.5, ISO640, 56mm

1/8sec, F4.9, ISO640, 20mm

1/50sec, F5.4, ISO200, 42mm

1/40sec, F4, ISO400, 14mm

1/40sec, F4.7, ISO400, 25mm

1/50sec, F5.6, ISO800, 135mm

1/30sec, F4.5, ISO200, 70mm



4) Shooting Portrait with 14-150mm II

Let me start by saying I suck big time when it comes to portrait shooting. I rarely shoot (the more reason for me to do more) models and I think this could be one of the more difficult things in photography. And this was a super quick session, we had less than an hour of shooting time and there were 3 photographers around. Again, the aim of this shoot was 1) to force myself to shoot portraits, in the spirit of moving out of my comfort zone and 2) to test this 14-150mm II lens, obviously!

I actually did not plan for this to happen but since Jackie asked so I thought why not, this could be a good chance to see how the 14-150mm II, not exactly a lens that would first pop up in mind when shooting portraits, do in such environment. I welcome the versatility and convenience of this lens: I did not even have to change lens when I decided to change from shooting a wide angle environmental portrait to a tight close up headshot! Oh how I miss my days of shooting with zoom lenses. Also when working in a tight space (we were in a cafe, so movement was rather limited) zoom is a God-sent feature. Your feet is perhaps the best zoom tool according to many experienced photographers, but what can you do when your feet is not free to move around? It was liberating to just zoom in and out and compose based on whether I want to include or exclude the elements in the frame. 

While the most recommended lenses for portrait shooting would be the amazing M.Zuiko 45mm F1,8 and 75mm F1,8, and heck surely the 40-150mm F2.8 PRO could do an awesome job, I did enjoy using this 14-150mm II. It does have the ability to render shallow depth of field, but you do need to shoot with longer focal lengths and stand back a little. And the lens is not SUPER sharp like the rest of the M.Zuiko lenses, which is sometimes a good thing, especially when it comes to new comer to portrait photography like me!


5) Bokeh Quality and Shallow Depth of Field Rendering

While at F4-5.6, it is not a lens recommended to shoot shallow depth of field results, I do think what can be accomplished with this 14-150mm II lens is decent. As mentioned earlier, you do need to shoot from a distance and then zooming in to the longer end. No, the depth of field will never be better than F1.8 lenses, but you can still create good subject isolation and separation from busy background, if used correctly. The bokeh, like any M.Zuiko lenses is smooth, and creamy. 

6) Shooting Sports (Telephoto Action Photography)

I acknowledge that one of the reasons we need a longer reach for the lens, is for coverages such as sports, stage photography as well as general telephoto needs such as shooting animals in the zoo. 

In good lighting condition (direct sunlight, with slightly overcast day) the 14-150mm II performed well, and I appreciate the far reach of 150mm (which is equivalent of 300mm in 35mm format) which did allow me to go very near. I rarely shoot at full zoom, and I pulled back to 100mm to 135mm which was the sweet spot at where I was sitting (about 4th or 5th row from the front). The zoom coverage was sufficient and I did not wish I had a longer lens. As stated earlier autofocus was super quick and I did not have issues locking focus, and I had very high hit rate in this shooting session. 

I would not recommend this lens for indoor, low light sports photography. The F4-5.6 is just too slow for moving subjects in low light conditions. Take note that even under direct sun I had to boost up the ISO to make sure I had shutter speed faster than 1/1000sec, shooting at wide open aperture. If you need to shoot a lot of indoor action or low light sports, I recommend M.Zuiko 75mm F1.8, or the 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens. 


Jarmila Gajdošová 
BMW Malaysian Open 2015

1/1600sec, F5.6, ISO640, 135mm

1/1600sec, F5.6, ISO640, 150mm

1/1600sec, F5.6, ISO640, 135mm

1/1600sec, F5.6, ISO640, 150mm

1/1000sec, F5.6, ISO640, 90mm

1/2500sec, F5.6, ISO640, 100mm

1/800sec, F5.6, ISO640, 100mm 
Yikes, she was staring at me directly! My shutter sound was super quiet I swear!


7) Handling of the Lens

I used the HLD-8G grip with the OM-D E-M5 Mark II all the time while using this 14-150mm II lens. Although the lens is small and light, when you extend to the longest zoom, the lens barrel does become rather long, and may feel imbalanced when hand-holding with smaller camera bodies. The balance works well with the E-M1, but with smaller OM-D bodies such as the E-M5 Mark II and E-M10, I highly recommend adding the hand grip (HLD-8G for E-M5 Mark II and ECG-1 for the E-M10). The additional grip added much needed beefier grip for better hand holding, as well as counter balance weight, when the lens is being extended in zoom to telephoto end. 

With the HLD-8G, handling was good, and I was comfortable shooting with the camera and lens almost all day. I felt no strain on my neck or wrists. 

8) Pushing the limits: Using Slower Shutter Speed

In order to optimize the image quality output it is crucial that we do not bump up the ISO numbers too high and unnecessarily. However the biggest issue with the 14-150mm II lens is the wide aperture not being that wide, merely at F4-5.6. Therefore, in many situations the ISO has to be increased to achieve sufficient shutter speed to mitigate blur due to hand shake. 

The great thing about using this 14-150mm II lens on an OM-D body is the great advantage of having 5-Axis Image Stabilization system. If you have not even tried using the 5-Axis Image Stabilization system you have missed out one of the greatest innovation in photography in recent years. 

With the 5-Axis IS, it is safe to lower down the shutter speed, and shooting hand-held with lower ISO settings, getting much better, cleaner image outputs. The 5-Axis IS works well throughout the whole focal zoom range. I have plenty of image samples to show you. To give a sense of how effective the 5-Axis IS truly is, I have been shooting a lot with the Panasonic GM1, which has no IS. Even shooting with wide angle 14mm, with shutter speed of 1/60sec, I still get a small chance of blur output due to hand-shake! I did not realize how powerful and realiable the 5-Axis Image Stabilization system is until I suddenly have to shoot WITHOUT it. 

Do bear in mind that subject movement will become an issue when you shoot at too slow of a shutter speed, and proper camera handling and holding techniques can greatly improve your hit-rate shooting with slower than usual shutter speeds. 

DO NOT HOLD YOUR CAMERA WITH ONE HAND!!! It is a crime really. 

1/2sec, F18, ISO200, 31mm

1/4sec, F5.5, ISO200, 80mm

1/5sec, F5.5, ISO640, 90mm

100% crop from previous image. Completely FREE of blur

1/8sec, F5.6, ISO1250, 150mm

1/6sec, F4.9, ISO400, 29mm

1/20sec, F5.5, ISO200, 52mm

1/8sec, F4.2, ISO200, 18mm

1/13sec, F5.6, ISO200, 25mm

1/13sec, F4, ISO400, 14mm

1/80sec, F5.5, ISO500, 70mm


9) Who Is The M.Zuiko 14-150mm II Lens For?

If you already have all the amazing M.Zuiko lenses such as 25mm F1.8, 45mm F1.8, and even the PRO lenses such as 12-40mm F2.8, 40-150mm F2.8 PRO, you might not like the slightly less than stellar image output the 14-150mm II delivers. After all, it is not a PRO lens, certainly not a prime lens, and we should not expect it to be. 

If you already have a basic kit lens (usually the 14-42mm, either the normal or pancake slim version), then I actually would recommend getting the 40-150mm F4-5.6 zoom tele lens, which is small and delivers great image quality for such a cheap lens. The big question here is, how does the 14-150mm II compare in terms of image quality against the 14-42mm variants as well as the 40-150mm F4-5.6 lenses? Strangely, I do think the image results are VERY SIMILAR. Which is strange, considering that the long zoom range would actually create some compromises. But it is also worth reemphasizing that at the widest and longest ends of the zoom range (14mm and 150mm) the 14-150mm II will not outperform the 14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses. Even so, the difference is rather small and negligible. 

It all comes down to convenience. Do you prefer to carry two lenses and have the trouble to change lens, or have 2 in 1 lens? Many times, convenience wins. Especially for travel, you want to minimize items to be carried around, and just having ONE item with you (lens is mounted on the camera) can make a huge difference. 

For newcomers to Olympus, and you have NO idea what lens to get, and you want a lens that can possibly do as much as possible, go for this M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II lens, you cannot go wrong. This is especially true if you have the lens bundled with newer OM-D bodies such as the E-M5 Mark II, which offers significant amount of saving than buying the lens separately. 

10) Street Photography with 14-150mm II

My final set of images were taken at Petaling Street. The lens is super fast, hence capturing fast moving moments is not an issue. Importantly, the lens has wide focal length range which covers all classic street photography staples such as 28mm, 35mm and 50mm. Yes, image quality is not as good as prime lenses which is the suggested lenses for street, but honestly do you really that high image quality when shooting on the street? The lens is small and light and fits the OM-D perfectly. 


1/100sec, F4, ISO1250, 14mm

1/320sec, F5, ISO800, 31mm

1/30sec, F5.5, ISO200, 47mm

1/100sec, F5.5, ISO640, 75mm

1/2000sec, F5.6, ISO200, 90mm

1/60sec, F5.5, ISO200, 70mm

1/1250sec, F8, ISO200, 16mm

1/25sec, F4.7, ISO1600, 25mm


I was pleasantly surprised by what the M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II lens can do. It has exceeded my expectations (though my initial expectations were low) and it is capable of delivering more than adequately sharp images, with versatility of having two zoom lenses, covering from wide angle 14mm to far telephoto end of 150mm. The lens is small, light, weather-sealed, extremely fast in AF and handles well with the OM-D system. Taking advantage of the 5-Axis Image Stabilization can mitigate the slower F4-5.6 aperture, and allowing hand-held shooting at very low shutter speed, hence lower ISO use is no problem. 

I have shot portraits, food, street, sports and even some close up shots with this lens. It is a general all rounder, all purpose, versatile lens. 

Olympus M.ZUiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II lens is available from B&H (click here). 
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39 comments:

  1. Is there any relevant difference to the older 14-150, except for waterproofness?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As i have written, 3 differnces: weather sealing, new ZERO coating for flare and ghosting control and better design to match OM-D styling.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the reply Robin, I came to ask the same thing but more towards overall quality. Apart from the above 3 points, is there any significance in terms of AF speed, and IQ compared to the first version?

      I own the original 14-150mm and I LOVE IT! And I also love the photos in your entry, however I do want to know if you had the first lens like I do, would there be any compeling reason to upgrade to thie version? Or if AF and IQ is my biggest concern, I'm pretty well off with my current lens?

      Delete
    3. The only difference in terms of image quality would be the ZERO coating. Shooting under strong backlit situation the ZERO coated newer 14-150mm II will fare better. AF is about the same.

      Delete
    4. Thanks for the honest reply Robin! Keep them posts coming!

      Delete
  2. Good effort demonstrating the lens, all round and excellent shots of the tennis - even with the best equipment I can get, I am sheer hopeless in sports action shots - this lens did not slow you down for tennis which means it will be fair enough for the mum and dad family shooter who doesn't shoot photos for creativity and just wants a one time purchased gear, use three or four times a year for proud photos of the kids in sports.

    In terms of target audience, we don't talk about this group of people often - those who want to enjoy their overseas standard tourist experiences, are again, not desperately shooting creative shots and just want one lens, no switching to delay them from the family or tour group, and maximum zoom versatility - wide for group shot scenics, tele for some architectural detail and the odd close up macro shot of the cafe latte, food, festival tickets or momento. Whilst creative amateurs might want to take the time to switch lens, get bokelicious with f/2.8, f/2 @ 150mm, get wide pin sharp or fish eye scenics, really when I am not on a photo mission, I don't have the time to switch lens, think, look at different angles, pause and get zen like Ming Thein orthogonality and stillness - I just have to shoot. And there are lots of people who are not "into" creative photography, they just want image quality higher than phone, but not lug a full frame with a 70-200 f/2.8 L and 24-70 etc... with them.
    For them, this lens is very competent.

    For creative photos, this lens seems way ahead of that 18-180 Four Thirds DSLR lens (remember that?) - it is waterproof, it has fast AF, it is not big at all - and for those times when you only want one single lens, not limited to a 25mm prime, again this lens would work as you have shown.

    Oh, and, um, pretty girl. Wink. Wink.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ananda,
      You have no idea how baked I was under hot sun (should have brought an umbrella of some sort) shooting that tennis. Also it was a tough decision ditching the 40-150mm F2.8 PRO and went with the 14-150mm II. At the end of the day I was pleasantly surprised by the images I managed to get, not too shabby at all!
      You were right, not all photographers aim for creative, award winning, nat geo quality output, there are many users who simply want the camera to capture their everyday moments, and record memories during travel. Indeed the 14-150mm lens is more than adequate.
      Interesting you have mentioned the 18-180mm. The thing that put me off was the 18mm wide end, I wish it was 14mm instead! I have not used that lens extensively but from what I have heard it was not a stellar performer.

      Delete
    2. Malaysia shooting tennis in the sun? hehe. Like going to site inspection for JKR in the ulu, maybe, hot-lah.

      I tried the 18-180 in the evening at a second hand shop to get a feel of it. Those days the E System DSLRs were not great above ISO 800. so my impressions in evening light, even without inspecting the images were not favourable - handshake, ineffective 3 AF points etc...

      For the tourist types, I think "more than adequate" can be even translated to "better than three primes in your bag that you have to switch" - the less you switch in a hurry, the less you get dust and moisture into the innards and waste time looking for front and back lens caps.that go missing in the bag and pockets. :) I love my primes but spend heaps of time as well as mental energy trying to manage my lens caps,

      Delete
  3. Will you sometime soon do some street shutter therapy using the 75-300mm II zoom for EM-1, EM-5 II and EM-10?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think 75-300mm is a good lens for street photography, at least not for my style of shooting. But I do have intention of testing the lens, maybe shooting animals in the zoo or butterflies or something!

      Delete
    2. Misspoke. Scenic/landscape, sports (mostly), zoo, birds at my nearby nesting area . . . more like that. All on or near streets : > )

      Delete
  4. Hi Robin,

    Thanks for this article and others. I read them with great interest.

    How would you judge this lens compared to the 12-50 in terms of image quality in the same range? I shoot the 12,25 and 45 today, but for traveling, I need a more practical solution.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words, Rolf. Actually I do think the 14-150mm II performs better than the 12-50mm in terms of sharpness overall. However, when it comes to macro shooting the 12-50mm wins hands down, and the 12mm wide angle advantage over the 14mm is not to be overlooked.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for testing this piece of lens, Robin! I had 14-42mm II R - sharp and overall good lens but the built quality... a creaking pile of plastic. Than I tried 40-150mm R - unfortunately, this lens was good only at 40mm. Now I will little try out 14-150mm II and maybe buying it.

    I am still new to Olympus (since Jan 2015), so I need recommendations. Actually, I have for my E-M10: 9-18mm mainly for architecture and landscapes, for portraits 45mm f/1.8. But what to use for high quality, sharp stitched images (panoramas) of building or/and also fast for star trails? Samyang 12mm, Panasonic 15mm, 20mm? Does anyone has experiences? Please advise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have to disagree with you on the 40-150mm R lens, I do find it to deliver considerably sharp image (for a standard tele lens). Yes it is soft at 150mm end but around up to 100mm the image quality is rather good.

      Delete
    2. I have to disagree with you on the 40-150mm R lens, I do find it to deliver considerably sharp image (for a standard tele lens). Yes it is soft at 150mm end but around up to 100mm the image quality is rather good.

      Delete
  6. OK, maybe you are right, but what about lightness? The minimum aperture f/5.6 at the long end is after conversion on 35mm format about f/11 to f/12. Than the blue sky always looks grey. But this is known problem of smaller (MFT) formats.
    What wide angle fixed lenses alternatives to Olympus 17mm f/1.8 do you recommend?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blue sky looking grey is a problem I have not heard before. Color balance has nothing to do with the lens. I am sure you can find many blue sky photographs taken by the lens.

      Delete
    2. It used to be an issue on my Nikon D90, but that was to do with over-exposure of the sky with D90's metering tending to choose high. Perhaps this was its scene recognition metering system picking out and exposing for faces in the image. EM5 would tend to expose lower and preserve the highlights. I've been using the "warn of over-exposure" feature to twiddle the compensation until happy, so just some of the things that are really white show up with the orange "over-exposed" highlight in the viewfinder. I get quite nice blue skies (British weather allowing).

      Delete
  7. I liked people on the road in your photos very much. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. One thing this test proves is that Robin Wong is an outstanding photographer. Just hand him a camera with any lens, and admire the results...

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  9. Hi Robin,

    I have been shooting Olympus since the OM film days. When I transitioned to digital, I looked carefully at the major brands and selected Oly again on its own merits, mostly on IBIS and water resistance. I have progressed over the years: E-1, E-3, E-5, E-P2, E-PM1,, E-M5, and now E-M1. I have most of the 4/3 HG and SHG lenses and MMF-3 adapters. My primary interest is in shooting whales and dolphins from both boats. I have no desire to change lenses at sea, both for avoiding salt air getting into the body, and for lack of time to do so. I have also used most of the similar class Panasonic lenses, especially like the 100-300 and 14-140. I have the Panny 14-140 Mk I, which is not waterproof, and I managed to dunk it into salt water while on an E-M1 body, as a whale nearly capsized the small boat we were in. I was able to salvage it with the zip bag and rice trick. A year later, it still appears to work, but I can no longer trust it for my field work. I bought the improved Mk II when I returned from that trip, knowing that it was also not waterproof. It is a little smaller and lighter than the Mk I, and has improved the IQ. For whales and dolphins that come up near the boat, that is a near perfect lens. I also love the Oly 75-300 Mk II and the Panny 100-300 for more distant shots. My wife and I each keep one of the short zooms and one of the long zooms on E-M1 bodies on double shoulder straps for that kind of shooting. While the bodies are waterproof, and I have proven that several times, the lenses generally lack that feature. Yes, I have the waterproof 12-40 Pro and 12-50, but the zoom range is not enough for this work. Based on this review and others, I now have the 14-150 Mk II on order. We are going to be shooting whales in Hawaii next month, and off Antarctica the following month, March 2016, so so I will have well-tested the 14-150 by then. I may get another one for her. We hope to get early copies of the Oly 300/4 and Panny 100-400 (both waterproof!) in time. Thanks for your review of the 14-150 Mk II. Please keep your excellent reviews.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Robin,

    I have been shooting Olympus since the OM film days. When I transitioned to digital, I looked carefully at the major brands and selected Oly again on its own merits, mostly on IBIS and water resistance. I have progressed over the years: E-1, E-3, E-5, E-P2, E-PM1,, E-M5, and now E-M1. I have most of the 4/3 HG and SHG lenses and MMF-3 adapters. My primary interest is in shooting whales and dolphins from both boats. I have no desire to change lenses at sea, both for avoiding salt air getting into the body, and for lack of time to do so. I have also used most of the similar class Panasonic lenses, especially like the 100-300 and 14-140. I have the Panny 14-140 Mk I, which is not waterproof, and I managed to dunk it into salt water while on an E-M1 body, as a whale nearly capsized the small boat we were in. I was able to salvage it with the zip bag and rice trick. A year later, it still appears to work, but I can no longer trust it for my field work. I bought the improved Mk II when I returned from that trip, knowing that it was also not waterproof. It is a little smaller and lighter than the Mk I, and has improved the IQ. For whales and dolphins that come up near the boat, that is a near perfect lens. I also love the Oly 75-300 Mk II and the Panny 100-300 for more distant shots. My wife and I each keep one of the short zooms and one of the long zooms on E-M1 bodies on double shoulder straps for that kind of shooting. While the bodies are waterproof, and I have proven that several times, the lenses generally lack that feature. Yes, I have the waterproof 12-40 Pro and 12-50, but the zoom range is not enough for this work. Based on this review and others, I now have the 14-150 Mk II on order. We are going to be shooting whales in Hawaii next month, and off Antarctica the following month, March 2016, so so I will have well-tested the 14-150 by then. I may get another one for her. We hope to get early copies of the Oly 300/4 and Panny 100-400 (both waterproof!) in time. Thanks for your review of the 14-150 Mk II. Please keep your excellent reviews.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I note with my setup that landscape is very soft, even tripod mounted. Even manual focus using the peaking does not help. Thoughts? (or anyone :) )

    ReplyDelete
  12. Excellent and honest review. Obviously you went to a lot of trouble to give a proper evaluation of the lens, which I respect. I purchased one last week, but have not been able to put it through its paces yet.

    Again, bravo on such a well crafted review.

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  14. Hey Robin, love your reviews. I just bought the system you trialled in this review: OM-D E-M5 MII (Aus$950) and M.Zuiko 14-150mm 1:4-5.6 II (Aus$600). So I'm really pleased that you rated it so well. I've also read your reviews of the OMD EM5 MII. I appreciate that this lens is not a PRO lens, but it clearly performs adequately if you know what you're doing. I'll certainly look to getting other lenses in the future, but this is enough to get me going for now. I also have a Canon AV-1 that I haven't used in years. It has a 50mm kit lens (the cheapest of the 4 that were available) and I also have a Tamron Adaptall II 80-210mm telephoto zoom (Model #03A). I realise I can get an adpapter for Aus$20-30 to allow me to use these lenses on the OMD EM5 MII, so I'll get around to that at some point. I really appreciate your honesty and knowledge. Thanks for taking the time to share

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  15. Hi Robin, thanks for the review of the lens! Helped me to make the decision to purchase the lens.

    Thanks again!

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  16. Hi Robin, I bought a E-M1, a 12-40mm f2.8 pro , a 40-150mm f2.8 pro a 45mm f1.8 all a year ago to replace a Canon 5D mk2 outfit and am well pleased with it, as I have arthritus in my hands now the Olympus suits me better. I have just bought the 14-150mm f4-f5.6 and I now find that it is permently attached to one of the bodies. Its such a good walk about lens I would recomend it to any one.
    Robin Warren

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  17. After reading some reviews on this lens vs the Panny 40-140 II, the majority recommended the Panny. But after seeing your awesome photos, I've changed my mind. The weather sealing sealed the deal for me as I hate having dust inside the lens. I will be using this as my travel lens and getting a 25mm 1.8 prime for those low light and bokeh shots. Thanks so much for doing this great review!

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  18. Thanks, Robin, for your excellent reviews which I always read and look at with great pleasure. What's particularly noticeable is the artistic quality of your photos which go way beyond the call of review duty! Keep up the good work!

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  19. Thanks for all the reviews Robin! I'm planning to buy an E-M1 as I can get it really cheap compared to M5 mkII and it seems like an awesome camera! I've been reading basically all your blog and some dpreview stuff but still not sure about which lens to get, would you recommend the 14-150mm or a 12-50mm + 40-150mm combo? I'm also planning to buy the 15mm bodycap that seems pretty cool! Thanks again!!

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  20. Hi :) really nice photos do you have!! :)
    I wanna choose this lens , but what do you think about another cam ? I have a Panasonic G7 , and I wanna using whit this lens!
    I think your cam, is more than better like mine, that`s why i`m asking you ! I want to shoot plane photos with this lens, what do you think,
    it`s enough for me ,or not? Could you recommend any other lenses for me please!
    Thank you very much !!
    Balazs Szalay

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  21. Hi Robin, I'm just curious, have these shots been edited or are they JPEGs straight out of the camera with one of the Olympus profiles e.g. iEnhance, Natural, etc?

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  22. Hi Robin, thank you for this review. I have this lens with Em5ii and I love the convenience of not changing lens.
    You mention the prime lens are much sharper. Will I be able to see the difference? If I want sharper images, which are the primes I should get? Preferably, you could give me the order of lens to get first since I have to save up.
    I am still exploring my genre and am leaning towards Urban Landscape (since I don't have much choice living in Singapore and don't travel - and I'm doing pano with my kit lens), Light Trails and colourful night scenes. I will more likely concentrate on 'Fantasy Art' Photography with lots of post editing, drawing and rendering (in which case, the 14-150 is good enough).
    Thanking you in advance.
    Cliff

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  23. I have done a deal with a friend of mine so that he gets my 14-42 pancake and 40-150mm 4.0 plus 1500dkk and then i get the 14-150mm(New in box). Since getting my 20mm panasonic i hardly ever use the 14-42mm an realy like the reach of 40-150mm for a walking around lense but having to change lenses, when it is not wide enough, can be a chore at times. So i'm looking forward to putting it to the test on our next vacation.

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  24. Hi robbin, i have been to one your class at olympus kelana jaya. Ok, comparing this lens to 12-100 pro, is it worth paying few thousand more for the pro? I m looking for my first telephoto lens. i know the pro always a better lens. But, let say i have 2000 now, it it worth to wait and save money to get 4500 pro?

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