[DPR] CP+ 2019: Olympus shows super-tele zoom and 2.0 TC under glass
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm 1:4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO
Olympus announced its intent to make a 150-400mm F4.5 zoom back in January, and has brought along a demonstration sample to show off at CP+ in Yokohama. The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm 1:4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO has a name that matches its considerable size.
Features (of some sort) galore
The side of the lens shows five switches, which we'd expect to give direct access to AF/MF, IS, focus limiting and two other things – possibly including the control to engage and disengage the 1.25x teleconveter that's built in. Bringing the TC into the optical path turns the lens into a 187.5-500mm F5.6. That's 375-1000mm F11 equivalent, if those numbers aren't already big enough for you.
Sensibly sized
Considering the range it covers it's a relatively compact lens. While it's easy to point out that it's an F9 or F11 equivalent, it's equally worth highlighting that there aren't many 300-800mm/375-1000mm lenses for other format. If you need that impressive reach in a lens that you can actually pick up, this will be one of the only options.
There's a predictably large lens hood/bucket to go with it.
Who's it for?
Olympus says the lens will be available in 2020 and is intended for sport, wildlife and bird photographers.
M.Zuiko Digital 2x Teleconverter MC-20
Also on show was a non-built-in teleconverter: the MC-20, which will be available in Summer 2019. This doubles the focal length of a lens it's attached to, but at the cost of 2 stops of light. The MC-20 can be used with 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO as well as the existing M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm F4.0 IS PRO and M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO.
Combined with the forthcoming zoom and its internal teleconverter, we believe you'd get a 375-1000mm F11 lens (equivalent to a 750-2000mm F22 lens on full frame, in terms of depth-of-field and per-image light capture). Though the combination seems rather specialist.
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