Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro Lens Review Extension: MC-14 Teleconverter, Continuous AF with Tracking and Quick Comparison with M.Zuiko 75mm F1.8 lens

Important Note:

1. I am an Olympus Malaysia employee. 

2. This is a user experience based review, based on my personal opinion which can be subjective.

3. All images were shot in RAW and converted directly to JPEG (High Quality) via Olympus Viewer 3.

4. General camera settings, Noise Filter = OFF, Contrast/Saturation/sharpness = 0, White Balance = Auto (with an option maintain warm color = OFF), Gradation = Normal

5. Minimal post-processing applied to the images, with slight brightness/contrast balance tweak. All images were almost as good as straight out of camera, with minimal cropping for better presentation.

This blog entry serves as a review extension to my original post M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro Lens review, so if you have not read that first part, kindly do so before proceeding to this extension. The reason why this extension exists is because I did not cover three items in my original blog post: 

Shooting with Olympus MC-14 1.4x teleconverter for M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro lens

Continuous AF with Tracking capability of the lens

and comparison with M.Zuiko 75mmm F1.8 the sharpest M.Zuiko prime lens

I intend to cover all the three items in this blog entry. 

Before we start, let's have a look at how fast the focusing speed of the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro lens is. I mentioned it was very fast and accurate in my previous review, and I also believe seeing is believing. I have recorded a video of the touch AF (shooting by touching on LCD screen of the OM-D) in action, and you will see how blazingly fast the AF of the lens is. That implementation of new Dual VCM (voice coil motor) mechanism works very well!

SHOOTING WITH OLYMPUS MC-14 1.4x TELECONVERTER ON M.ZUIKO 40-150mm F2.8 PRO 

Olympus has released a teleconverter MC-14, which multiplies the focal length of the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro lens by 1.4x, and losing the aperture brightness by one stop, from F2.8 widest to F4. Therefore, with the teleconverter MC-14 attached to the lens, you effectively obtain 56-210mm (in 35mm format, it is 112-420mm), at constant aperture of F4, which is still very respectable for a zoom lens. Obviously the purpose of having the tele-converter is to add that extra far reach, and that 40% longer foal length does make a difference when you do need to get a little closer.  Considering that the main gain is the focal length, it is only prudent to use this converter when the 150mm longest reach is insufficient, because if you intend to shoot mostly within 150mm, without the teleconverter you get brighter F2.8 aperture. 

The MC-14 teleconverter is so small and light that it does not add to any significant weight to the lens. It features a protruding element which inserts right into the rear of the 40-150mm F2.8 pro lens, which has a hollow opening. With this specific design, the teleconverter cannot be used with any other lenses, and is tailor made only for the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro lens. The MC-14 still maintains the weather-sealing properties of the lens and OM-D body combination.  

Generally, every single glass adding onto the original lens translates to light loss, which ultimately reduces light into the camera, resolving less details. So the real question here is, how much light loss will happen with the teleconverter? Knowing from any other teleconverters around, from any brand with any lenses, it does cut off some light, and affect the overall image quality. Studying the MTF charts provided by Olympus officially (go dig around, I am too lazy to reproduce it here) it can be observed that the sharpness does indeed drop when the teleconverter is used, vs using the lens without the teleconverter. We can argue on and on about numbers and chart but to me, what really matters is the result I see from real world shooting. That is the main purpose of this blog review, and what I have been spending a lot of time and effort doing, doing practical shooting, getting as many samples images as I can, and let's study the results based on those sample, real world images. 

So what have I been shooting? I went to a Dogathon (Dog lovers event), Bird Park as well as an Opera Musical show. In these tests, I have attached the MC-14 teleconverter on full time, and I emphasized on getting images at the longest reach of 210mm (which we are all interested in). I shoot mostly wide open, but there are times I needed to stop down the aperture mainly to achieve sufficient depth of field. All images were taken hand-held. 

MC-14 210mm, 1/400sec, F4, ISO200

MC-14 210mm, 1/320sec, F5.6, ISO320

100% crop from previous image

MC-14 210mm, 1/800sec, F4, ISO200

MC-14 210mm, 1/800sec, F4, ISO200

MC-14 180mm, 1/640sec, F4, ISO200

MC-14 210mm, 1/640sec, F4, ISO200

That MC-14 teleconverter was impressively sharp. Overall the images come out super sharp with excellent amount of fine detail still and perhaps there is some slight sharpness loss, which did not really matter in real life conditions.  At least, to my eyes, it was quite difficult to tell. Of course some would request for me to do a comparison of images taken with and without the MC-14 teleconverter to gauge how much sharpness loss there is, but seriously, that is NOT the point of this blog review extension. I am sure in the future someone would be doing such comparisons, and I do not intend to do the same. 

Here, I am providing you PLENTY of image samples with the MC-14. I would have expected more technical flaws such as chromatic aberration to show more prominently, but that was not the case. I was happy with all my images taken even at wide open F4. In comparison to all other lenses from Olympus, I'd still think with the teleconverter, the image output is noticeably better than what can be obtained from the older M.Zuiko 40-150mm F4-5.6 or 75-300mm F4.7-6.3 lenses. The overall color, tones and micro contrast rendered from the new M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 pro lens, even with the tele-converter MC-14 attached, are very good. 

MC-14 210mm, 1/60sec, F4.5, ISO320

MC-14 210mm, 1/50sec, F5.6, ISO400

100% crop from previous image

MC-14 210mm, 1/40sec, F5.6, ISO200

MC-14 210mm, 1/60sec, F5.6, ISO400

100% crop from previous image

MC-14 210mm 1/40sec, F4, ISO250

MC-14 210mm, 1/100sec, F4, ISO320

COMPARISON WITH M.ZUIKO 75mm F1.8 LENS

In my previous blog about the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens, I made a very crucial claim that the lens is almost, if not as sharp as the currently sharpnest Micro Four Thirds lens out there, the M.Zuiko 75mm F1.8. I did not have the 75mm with me last week during my shoot so could not verify this claim. The only reason I mentioned such comparison was based on my own memory and experience shooting with the 75mm F1.8 lens, the sharpness, the micro contrast and the rendering if images are as good with the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens. 

In the following comparison shots, I did not use the MC-14 teleconverter. I originally wanted to shoot buildings and urban landscape/scenery shots, alas weather in Kuala Lumpur did not permit as the skyline was covered with thick, mushy haze. I do not think the weather is doing to clear out anytime soon so it was a pity because that would have been a better test to compare the two lenses. Nevertheless I made do with what I can, and I must make sure the subjects that I shoot are not too far away. Visibility is very poor, so my subject choice is limited, so I hope you understand. 

The comparison tests were carried out hand-held (was too lazy to carry around tripods). I shot everything in aperture priority but I watched all parameters and ensured they were the same (focal length fixed at 75mm, aperture, ISO and shutter speed maintained, and framing/composition as close as possible between two lenses). I adjust the white balance manually from the Olympus Viewer 3 to ensure color consistency. I have taken over 10 comparison samples, and decided to show only three (some did have errors, some was less helpful in showing the difference between two lenses). 

So here are the results: 

M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO  on the left vs 75mm F1.8 on the right

COMPARISON 1

75mm, 1/400sec, F4, ISO500

M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO  on the left vs 75mm F1.8 on the right

COMPARISON 2

75mm, 1/1000sec, F4, ISO200

M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO  on the left vs 75mm F1.8 on the right

COMPARISON 3

75mm, 1/250sec, F4, ISO200

M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO  on the left vs 75mm F1.8 on the right

My conclusion? I was not wrong in the first place. 

Both lenses were VERY close. In fact, they were so close, I have to refer to the image name/numbers a few times just to make sure I did not do the comparison boxes wrongly. Generally, I still think that the 75mm F1.8 is a tad sharper. But we are talking about zoom lens vs prime lens here, and for the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 pro lens to come so close to the quality expected from the 75mm F1.8 lens, this was surely a great feat. 

CONTINUOUS AF WITH TRACKING

Now this is the part that I shall not make any conclusions, and leave it open for other reviewers to do further tests. We all know that OM-D E-M1 is not performing as good as some other cameras currently available out there when it comes to Continuous AF shooting with tracking. Therefore, I did not expect miracles to happen with this new M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro lens. Furthermore, I rarely shoot in C-AF mode, I am a Single-AF shooter, thus factoring my inexperience in handling such shooting demands, I am not the best person to make any judgements. It does take some special skill to nail those C-AF with tracking shots. 

One very good example of a capable photographer who has done very well with the similar combination of OM-D + 40-150mm Pro is Pekka Potka, who captured some amazing bird in flight shots (go see his sample images if you have not done so)

This is me begging you beautiful readers, PLEASE do not expect me to magically transform into a wildlife photographer overnight. Such photography requires skill and techniques which I have yet to acquire, and practise. I beg your understanding. 

Nonetheless, in my humble tests, I performed on running dogs. They were running in straight lines, so movement was quite predictable, and should not be too much of a challenge to any cameras out there. I set the camera to the following settings: C=AF with Tracking, Burst sequential shooting of 6.5 FPS (Low), Aperture Priority with Center Weighted metering, IS off. 

SERIES 1 

(CLICK ON IMAGES TO VIEW LARGER SIZE)

SERIES 2

(CLICK ON IMAGES TO VIEW LARGER SIZE)

To me, the focus tracking worked well, for that tiny running dog. I cannot say the same for running lions chasing a deer, or a flying eagle. I have not had such opportunities, or skills to perform such tests. 

I shall leave you with more samples of images  taken with the MC-14 teleconverter, this time at a Musical Opera show which I attended last night. It was held at DBKL (city council building) in an auditorium with horribly dim lighting. The show was about Merong Mahawagsa, a historical story dating back centuries ago. I figured some of you may wonder how the lens performed in a stage/concert shooting conditions, with dim light and the need to zoom far. The lens fared well, and locked in focus very accurately. 

MC-14 210mm, 1/250sec, F4, ISO3200

MC-14 210mm, 1/160sec, F4, ISO3200

MC-14 210mm, 1/320sec, F4, ISO3200

MC-14 210mm, 1/160sec, F4, ISO1600

MC-14 210mm, 1/200sec, F4, ISO3200

MC-14 210mm, 1/80sec, F4, ISO3200

MC-14 210mm 1/80sec, F4, 1SO5000

MC-14 210mm, 1/80sec, F4, ISO3200

MC-14 210mm, 1/320sec, F4, ISO4000

As usual, I am providing you with pixel peeping pleasures, and you may download 10 image samples at full resolution (JPEG converted straight from RAW in Olympus Viewer 3), from the MC-14 1.4x teleconverter samples. 

OLYMPUS MC-14 1.4x TELECONVERTER IMAGE SAMPLES

DOWNLOAD (click)

Oh and Madonna says hi!

I know I may not have fulfilled ALL requests but hey, this is not the end. I may have my hands on the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 pro lens in the future again, and surely I will shoot with it and blog about it here. 

If you have found this review useful, kindly consider purchasing Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens from B&H (click here). 

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