This is some serious reach in a relatively small package. Considering the smaller Micro 4/3 sensor, it’s extremely compact for a lens with its field of view, which is equivalent to a 150-600mm lens on a full-frame camera.

While one of the largest lenses for Micro 4/3, the 75-300 II is actually quite compact and lightweight for a lens with its focal range. The lens has a metal mount and a metal ring around the end of the non-extending portion of the lens, just above the focus ring. Despite having a mostly plastic barrel, the 75-300mm II is a well constructed lens, with tight tolerances, a very smooth zoom action, no wobbles on the extending portion of the lens and a nice (though not very damped) feel on the focus ring. While version II is still predominantly constructed of plastic, the aesthetics lend a much more sophisticated and higher end look to the lens body. I mention this primarily because its predecessor was probably the ugliest lens in the Micro 4/3 system and looked incredibly cheap. The new Olympus 75-300mm II is a nice looking lens. Around the Lens: Build Quality The Olympus 75-300mm II on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 I take a real world approach to my reviews and evaluate how a lens or camera handles and works in regular use.

If you haven’t read my reviews before, I do not generally perform resolution tests or make charts to track quality measures. Let’s see if this lens is worth the now lower price of entry. The biggest change is the new exterior, which is a much more pleasing all-black shell with a fine double ridged zoom ring grip that goes quite well with the newer Olympus cameras and lenses and looks particularly good on the OM-D E-M5. Optically, the new M.Zuiko 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II shares the same design as the original lens, though there is some debate as to whether there have been improvements in coatings or refinement in the design. After a time, Olympus has seen fit to replace the original version with a new version, while reducing the price significantly to $549. That lens was priced at a rather insane $900, significantly more than the competing Panasonic 100-300mm lens, but without optical stabilization.

Olympus first announced the original 75-300mm lens for Micro 4/3 in September of 2010. Today I take an in-depth look at the refresh of a lens that has been part of the Micro 4/3 system for a rather long time. 5Image Quality: Color, Contrast, Chromatic Aberration, and Flare.2Around the Lens: Handling, Operation and Autofocus.

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