fbpx
News

The Olympus 300mm f4 IS Pro Will Satiate Your Dreams of Being a Spy

Chris Gampat
No Comments
01/05/2016
3 Mins read

M3040_water_proof_image_1

For CES 2016, Olympus is formally announcing their new 300mm f4 IS Pro lens. That’s right, this lens has image stabilization built into it! Since it’s a pro lens, it sports weather resistance too along with a retractable lens hood. Rendering the equivalent field of view of a 600mm lens at f8 due to the Four Thirds sized sensor, it makes sense why Olympus would put image stabilization into the lens–so that the IS from the lens and the camera can work together instead of fighting one another. Because of this, it works as a fully integrated 5 axis stabilization system. The lens alone is promising four stops of compensation.

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 300mm f4.0 IS PRO lens is available now for an estimated street price of $2,499.99 (U.S.) and $3,199.99 (Canada). More details from the press release and images are after the jump.

M3040_lenscut

With a length of 8.9 inches (227mm) and weight of a mere 2.8 pounds (1,270g), at one third of the size and weight of most DSLR 600mm equivalents, the M.ZUIKO Digital ED 300mm f4.0 IS PRO is designed to slip into an airplane carry-on bag or backpack and go anywhere to help users easily capture handheld images in once-challenging photo destinations. Despite its compact size, the lens is hermetically sealed in 17 places and features freezeproof performance down to 14⁰F (-10°C). Together with the same splashproof, dustproof and freezeproof performance as the OM-D E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II, this ensures you can capture high-quality images in the harshest environments.

300mm specs

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 300mm f4.0 IS PRO debuts Olympus’s highest-ever resolution by combining three Super ED lenses, one Extra-High Refractive index lens and three High Refractive index lenses to reduce the color bleeding and chromatic aberrations that tend to occur on typical super telephoto lenses. In addition to Olympus’s renowned ZERO Coating (ZUIKO Extra-low Reflective Optical Coating), a brand-new lens coating technology called ZERO Coating Nano suppresses reflected light to minimize ghosts and flares for extremely sharp details of images, including car headlights. A layer of nanosized particles and a layer of air from the center to the surface of the lens achieves a refractive index similar to air and significantly reduces surface reflection.

E-M1-BLK_top_M3040_hand

The M.ZUIKO Digital ED 300mm f4.0 IS PRO also gets up close to explore the beautiful, minute world of telemacro photography with maximum image magnification of 0.48x (35mm equivalent), with a minimum focusing distance of 46 inches (1.15m) from the end of the lens. When combined with the M.ZUIKO Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14, the user can capture all of nature’s beauty in high resolution at 840mm (35mm equivalent) and an increased image magnification of 0.67x (35mm equivalent) in a handheld compact body while maintaining the same minimum focus distance.

E-M1-BLK_leftside_M3040

The OM-D’s silent mode combines with the lens’ Movie & Still Compatible mechanism for silent AF and shooting, giving the user the ability to blend into the background of any situation, whether that be the refinement of a symphony performance or the dusty plains of a lion’s hunting grounds.

The lens also features a Manual Focus Clutch mechanism that makes switching to manual focus possible by pulling the focusing ring toward you. The side of the lens barrel features a Focus Limit switch (4m to infinity, all range, 1.4 to 4m), an IS switch (On/Off), and an L-Fn button, which can all be operated without ever taking your eye off the viewfinder. The built-in sliding lens hood can be locked into place when extended, and the tripod base plate with a quick shoe compatible rail is removable.

 

lens olympus Olympus 300mm f4 IS Pro
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
');
You might also like