Performance. Focal Length. 40 – 150mm. Comparable 35mm Focal Length: 80 – 300 mm. Aperture. Maximum: f/2.8. Minimum: f/22. Camera Mount Type. Micro Four Thirds. Format Compatibility. Micro Four Thirds. Angle of View. 30° – 8.2° Minimum Focus Distance. 27.6″ (70 cm) Magnification. 0.42x. Elements/Groups. 16/10. Diaphragm Blades. 9, Rounded. Features. Image Stabilization. No. Autofocus. Yes. Tripod Collar. Yes. Physical. Filter Thread. Front:72 mm. Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 3.13 x 6.30″ (79.4 x 160.0 mm) Weight. 31.04 oz (880 g)

The Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 PRO lens is the company’s latest offering for professionals and semi-professionals looking to get better results in a wide zoom range. With the equivalent field of view of 80-300mm due to the 2x crop factor, this is a lens that portrait photographers, wedding photographers, event photographers, photojournalists and sports shooters alike will want to reach for.

One of the biggest selling points is its weather sealing and all metal construction. To add an extra cherry to the icing, there is internal zooming and a cleverly designed retractable lens hood. But will weather sealing and a constant f2.8 aperture be enough to draw consumers to the lens at such a high price point of $1,499?

Pros and Cons

Pros

Excellent build quality

You get an 80-300mm f2.8 lens in the size of a standard 24-70mm f2.8 from other manufacturers

Very sharp wide open

Retractable lens hood is very convenient, but if you want to use the lens without the hood, you essentially need to remove it.

Cons

Focusing ring can be accidentally switched back for manual focusing

Gear Used

We reviewed the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 PRO lens with the OMD EM5, PocketWizard Plus III transceivers, Adorama Flashpoint Streaklight 180 WS, and Westcott six foot parabolic umbrellas.

Tech Specs

Tech specs taken from the B&H Photo listing.

Ergonomics

The Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 PRO is a lens with a lot going on. To start, the exterior is entirely metal and the lens feels every bit as so. What Olympus did differently with this lens though has to do with the lens hood. This is the company’s first retractable lens hood that only requires a twist of the ring around it.

When this hood is brought back in on itself, the lens becomes a much more compact package. However, you’ll only really be able to reach a bit of the zooming ring and not much else.

As far as controls go, the lens has two major ones: focusing ring and a zooming ring. The lens zooms internally which means that it won’t get any larger than it is and the focusing ring slide back to go into manual focusing mode.

Otherwise, the lens has a function button on it that interacts with the way that you set up the camera’s function buttons.

Build Quality

If the product shoot for this lens isn’t enough to assure you that the lens is very durable and extremely weather sealed, then we’re not sure what is. Beyond leaving it in the rain and shooting with the lens in inclement weather, the lens was also put in camera bags with thin padding that were bumped by all sorts of nonsense in the NYC subway during busy commutes. The 40-150mm f2.8 PRO took all the bumps and hits like, well, a pro!

Two of our small issues with the lens is that the lens cap can pop off fairly easily and that the lens hood when retracted doesn’t allow you to do much with the lens. When retracted, the hood covers the focusing ring and most of the zooming ring. Not enough of the ring is uncovered to let you easily zoom in or out–and I don’t have very large fingers. For someone with even chubbier appendages, it may prove difficult.

Ease of Use

The 40-150mm f2.8 PRO is a fairly complicated lens. Besides the zooming function, there is a focusing ring that when pulled back will manually focus. While that’s cool, it may be too difficult for those simply lusting after this lens and not knowing its true potential in various situations.

Additionally, the lens has a function button on the side that is fun to use if you indeed need it. With ...