Future Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO Lens

[Brian Hirschfeld]

I know its a ways off (2015) but a Olympus MFT 300mm f/4.0 lens seems like a very interesting proposition. I recently rented a Olympus OM-D EM-1 to see what it was like, and certainly the autofocus was very impressive. When I tried out the Olympus 300mm f/2.8 four thirds lens (http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/2013/10/27/pdn-photoplus-expo-2013-report/) It was very impressive and surprisingly responsive, but that being said it certainly wasn't on par with any sort of 35mm DSLR super-telephoto on a modern body like my Nikon D4. The OM-D EM-1 focused incredibly fast and accurately in my testing of it. A 300mm f/4 MFT lens is of course equivalent to a 600mm f/4 on a 35mm sensor 600 f/4.0's are one of the best tele's around and it will certainly be interesting to see how this Olympus lens can perform.

I think it could certainly be a game changer in the democratization of high-end photography (which I am not so sure is a good thing or a bad thing currently) but it will also bring super-telephoto's into the hands of many new users which I think is very interesting. Considering Olympus's stellar optics lately along with their rapidly improving camera bodies (I don't think that they are "there" yet) this could be very interesting. Thought this topic was under-covered, any thoughts out there?

Best,
BH

[RichDesmond]

...I think it could certainly be a game changer in the democratization of high-end photography (which I am not so sure is a good thing or a bad thing currently) but it will also bring super-telephoto's into the hands of many new users which I think is very interesting. ..

Guess I really don't see that. I'm mostly a m4/3 shooter these days, but I'm not sure what significant advantage the Olympus system would have over, say, a Canon 300mm f4 with a 7D body hung off the end, either from a cost or size point of view.

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Well your forgetting that the Olympus 300mm f/4 is really a 600mm f4 where as a Canon 300mm f/4 becomes a 500mm, but with slower AF because its a 300mm f4 canon lens on a 7D.

[RichDesmond]

Well your forgetting that the Olympus 300mm f/4 is really a 600mm f4 where as a Canon 300mm f/4 becomes a 500mm, but with slower AF because its a 300mm f4 canon lens on a 7D.

Not forgetting that at all. Don't know why you're assuming the AF will be slower. Maybe on stationary objects, but for anything moving the Canon should be at least as good, if not better