Olympus 90-250mm f/2.8 Zuiko Lens for E Series DSLR Camera Reviews

• Adequate, with Trade-offs

  
  By A15Y2FQ5WNR63Y on 2008-10-27
  I already own Zuiko's excellent f2.8 300mm fixed lens, Olympus 300mm f/2.8 Super Telephoto ED Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras. It's a superb lens, and works very well with both Zuiko's 1.4X teleconverter, Olympus EC14 1.4x Teleconverter Lens (for at f/2.8 on E-System lenses), and its 2.0X teleconverter, Olympus Zuiko EC-20 2x Teleconverter for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras.
  
  But there are situations in which you need more flexibility; the bird or the animal is too close for a fixed 300mm, for example. So I purchased the 90-250mm. And after two weeks of field photography, I have to say it's a decidedly mixed bag.
  
  On its own, without a teleconverter, the lens is good. For a wide range, powerful telephoto, it gathers an impressive amount of light, and has the same f2.8 aperture across the entire zoom range. It's simply not as razor sharp as the fixed 300mm, but it's still quite sharp. The teleconverters are a different story, however. The 1.4X is adequate, unless you want exceptional detail. With the 2.0X teleconverter, though, results are generally unacceptable for my work. I suppose that the additional lensing required for a zoom cross some tipping point.
  
  And the lens is definitely slower-focusing than my 300mm on my E-3 body. Birds in flight are possible with the lens by itself, but combined with a teleconverter, the lens can't keep up, even in bright light.
  
  Which leaves the lens in a special, fairly niche: if you need just a 90-250mm, wide aperture lens, this is a fine product. If you are looking for a bit more flexibility, or if you are photographing rapidly moving targets, perhaps not. And teleconverters significantly impair sharpness, especially the 2.0X. It will have a place in my camera bag - a large space. But it's simply not as useful as I hoped.
  
  

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