Olympus goes super fast for weather resistant telephoto lens

Olympus lens
The new 40-150mm lens from Olympus is weather, dust and freeze proof

Olympus has introduced a new super fast (wide aperture) telephoto lens for use with Micro Four Thirds cameras.

The lens, like the E-M1 which it is designed to be paired with is dust, splash and freeze proof. It covers a focal length range of 40-150mm, which is equivalent to 80-300mm when mounted on a Four Thirds camera. Throughout the focal length, the maximum aperture is f/2.8.

It is also the first ever lens to incorporate a focusing system to power two high-grade lens elements using dual linear motors - in short this should make it extremely quick to focus, as well as being very quiet.

A minimum focus distance of just 70cm can be enjoyed at all focal lengths, while it also has a dedicated function button, manual focus clutch and a sliding, protective lens hood.

Even further

Olympus has also introduced a 1.4x teleconverter which boosts the zoom range up to 420mm - it is also dust, splash and freeze proof. A filter is also announced - the first of its kind for Olympus Zuiko lenses. It comes with ZERO coating which is designed to reduce ghosting and flaring, as well ash anti-reflective, alumite-coated black matte barrel. A filter will also be available for the existing 12-40 f/2.8 lens.

Also today at Photokina, Olympus has announced a firmware upgrade for the popular E-M1 camera. Version 2.0 features USB tethering capability, designed to help professional studio photographers, and in-camera Digital Shift to correct the problem of converging lines when shooting architecture.

The new Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 lens price will be £1299.99 (about US$2,113/AU$2,345) while the teleconverter price will be £299.99 (about US$486/AU$539). Both will be available from early November.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.