For sale Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

[Ian]

I am reluctantly making one of each available for sale. Please PM me if you are interested.

Ian

[Ian]

Re: Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

The 300 and 90-250 are now probably more relevant than ever with the forthcoming E-M1 ii - this is a rare opportunity!

Ian

[Bikie John]

Re: Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

I am trying so hard not to enquire about the 300

John

[iso]

Re: Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

Ian,
I Have a 5 Mk II. Do you think that OM glass would work on that body with a Converter as well as you suggest for a Mk1 II? I also have some Pentax glass . Which would be better - pick up some Olympus stuff and get an appropriate Converter, or get a quality PENT/M43 Converter?
PT

[Ian]

Re: Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

I am not selling OM lenses of course - they are Zuiko Digital pro-quality DSLR lenses. They work well on an OM-D E-M1 and will work even better on the E-M1 Mark 2.

The problem with using these lenses on an E-M5 or any other Micro Four Thirds body apart from the E-M1, at present, is that phase detect AF is not supported and these lenses are optimised for PDAF. AF speed on MFT bodies besides the E-M1 is slow and not very precise. Also C-AF is not supported. An E-M1 fixes all those problems. Very demanding E-M1 users seek even better performance and that is now being delivered (subject to testing by independent reviewers) by Olympus in the E-M1 Mark II.

Of course OM and other legacy lenses used with adapters will work well, but in manual focus mainly. Older lenses are, in general, not as sharp as lenses like the ones I am offering because they were not designed for digital sensors. Olympus legacy lenses compare very well with Pentax and other lenses, though some are better than others, which is normal for most brands.

Ian

[iso]

Re: Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

Thanks Ian - I understand

[jamespetts]

Re: Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

I hired one of these from Ian earlier this year (good hire service, incidentally), the 300mm f/2.8. Splendid lens optically and quick to focus, too, but dear goodness it is heavy.

I was thinking of possibly hiring the 90-250 at some point when I have some time to go to another nature reserve and take more pictures of birds, to see how that compares for, for example, taking pictures of things like kestrels, which I found hard to find in the sky with the fixed 300mm f/2.8.

I hope that the sale of these does not make it harder to hire them in the future; they are quite the rare resource, and hiring lenses like this that are very specialist, very large and very expensive can be a good way of getting to use them.

There's been one of the 300mm f/2.8 lenses on sale in the London Camera Exchange since at least March this year; I wonder whether people are slowly discarding them in favour of the 300mm f/4? It'd be very good if it were possible to hire this lens; having tried one in the London Camera Exchange earlier this week, it is very easy to use.

[Ian]

Re: Zuiko Digital 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8

The 90-250 is not hired very frequently and I have two so there should be no problem in future. The 300 is more popular.

As for the new Pro lenses, I spoke to Olympus at Photokina and they would like to provide a 300 f/4 for us to offer for hire but supply is the problem and dealers and customer orders are the priority.

Ian