After testing the OM System 50-200mm F2.8 PRO last year, I was itching for a fast telephoto zoom lens, but was unwilling to fork out USD3500-3700 for that lens. Therefore, when I saw the Olympus Four Thirds DSLR lens 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 in the marketplace going for about USD250, I just could not resist this bargain. I have used the old Olympus 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 extensively on my Four Thirds DSLRs E-5 and E-520 back in the day, but have not tested it on Micro Four Thirds cameras. I thought it would be so fun to bring this combo out to shoot some tennis action. I caught the TennisMalaysia National Circuit Leg 1 back in January 2026, and I am sharing some thoughts about this lens on OM-1 as well as plenty of new images. I have also made a video to talk about this here (click).
I was surprised actually to find out that the old Olympus 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 was actually slightly smaller and lighter than the new OM System 50-200mm F2.8 PRO. You can find the exact measurements and weight online. I guess in my memory the lens was larger and heavier when I have attached it to a bulkier DSLR, the Olympus E-5. It is also not a mystery really the newer OM System 50-200mm F2.8 PRO is such an ambitious lens, it has built in image stabilization, internal zoom, constant F2.8 aperture and the ability to add on teleconverters, which the old Olympus 50-200mm lacks. Therefore, you can't really make the new lens any smaller without some compromises.
Handling on the OM-1 was surprisingly comfortable. I have mentioned that the new OM System 50-200mm PRO felt slightly heavy and it did get a little uncomfortable shooting long hours, but the older Olympus 50-200mm was better in this situation, easier to manage, and does not stress the joints (fingers, wrists, elbows, etc.) too much. It does balance quite well with the OM-1 without the use of additional camera vertical grip.
The optical performance of the Olympus 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 was nothing short of stellar. The lens can resolve very sharp images with plenty of fine details even when shooting wide open, and the contrast captured in the images were also very good. In fact, I'd say the sharpness and contrast rivals even some of the PRO grade Micro Four Thirds modern lenses, and this was quite an amazing feat considering how old this lens is, the output certainly did not feel outdated, they were perfectly outstanding even by today's standards.
The autofocus performance on the other hand is a letdown. Honestly, I was hoping for the AF to be better, considering the OM-1 has newer phase detection AF tech built into the sensor and camera but truth to be told, it was rather disappointing. I get less than 50% hit rate (maybe about 40-45% at best) and that means more than half of my images were either completely out of focus, or slightly out of focus, it does not matter, even if it was just a little bit off, the images look soft and I'd say, off to the reject pile you go. I acknowledge that the Olympus 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 is an old lens, a lens made for DSLR, not Micro Four Thirds mirrorless system, and OM Digital Solutions made no promises on optimizing the use of their cameras with older lenses. But I can only hope, right? If the AF performance was better, this could have been a killer budget alternative to the much more expensive OM System 50-200mm PRO.
Some important notes worth mentioning:
- You do need an adapter to mount this lens on Micro Four Thirds camera bodies. I used a third party one. Get an original Olympus/Panasonic, or if you are not doing anything too serious, find a cheap third party one.
- The burst rate/sequential shooting (fps) is drastically reduced when using the Olympus 50-200mm F2.8-3.5. Instead of being able to get blazing fast speeds like 20fps to 50fps with C-AF, the burst rate drops to about less than 10fps (it feels more like 6-8fps). It is still usable, but having slower burst rate in combination with less reliable AF means you will suffer significantly lower hit rate.
- The lens is weather-sealed, being a High Grade lens from the Olympus Four Thirds lens line-up, but the lens is so old, even if it has weather-sealing, it should be treated as a non-weather-sealed lens. I am sure the sealing rubber is not fully functional after so many years.
There is no comparison, the new OM System 50-200mm F2.8 PRO is superior in every aspect in comparison to the old Olympus 50-200 F2.8-3.5:
- Optically, the new OM System 50-200mm PRO is superior giving sharper results with better bokeh rendering
- It has built in image stabilization enabling the use of powerful 5-Axis Sync IS which can make a huge difference in many shooting situations
- The lens has constant F2.8 aperture throughout the whole zoom range
- The lens has internal zoom, meaning it does not extend further when zooming in or out, which increases the robustness and weather-sealing reliability of the lens
- The lens is able to take in teleconverters effectively extending further reach, if needed
However, being overly ambitious with a lens comes at a price, a very high one, with the new OM System 50-200mm F2.8 PRO selling at USD3700 at launch. I don't think the price has come down much at the time of writing. In stark contrast with the old Olympus 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 which I found in the used market at about USD250, that was just a fraction of the price the new OM System lens was asking for! Yes, the older lens is inferior, no doubt, but at such low price, it really is not a bad lens. You get the same reach 50-200mm, you get very good optical performance, and if you are not shooting anything crazy fast moving like a tennis game, the AF should work just fine. It can still perform well and give you amazing results! Not everyone (myself included) has a spare USD3700 to throw around.
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