So What Exactly Do I Get For My 600mm?

I'm testing out the Olympus mZuiko 75-300mm 4.8-6.7 ED lens, one of their new MSC lenses - which stands for Movie and Stills Compatible.

The new designation just means that special attention has been paid to making the auto focusing mechanism as quiet as possible so when the camera is in movie mode you don't hear the focusing at work on the video's soundtrack.

This really is a remarkable lens. It's smaller than a Canon EF 135mm 2.8, fitting comfortably in the palm of your hand, yet represents a full 600mm's worth of reach when taking the 4/3's 2X crop factor into account.

For old film guys like myself this represents a longer telephoto take on the world than was ever realistically available to photographers in pre-digital times, in an unbelievalbly compact form factor.



All the chatter on the internet I've seen about this lens tends to dwell on it's relatively slow max aperture, and although the ED and Super ED elements make it very useable throughout most of the range when shot wide open, there's no getting around the fact that f4.8-6.7 is going to restrict you somewhat as to which lighting situations suit the lens best.

Assuming you want to keep the ISO down, using it hand-held, you'd be talking pretty bright conditions - direct sunlight, high haze, midday overcast lighting, even with the Internal Stabilizer engaged. Putting it on a stable tripod with the use of mirror lock-up (Anti-shake in Olympus-speak) can extend that into the golden hours that bookend each day, but only if there is minimal to no subject movement.

However, for today I want to present some quick snapshots that illustrate just exactly what 600mm's of reach looks like in the real world.

First I did a photo of a scene at the 17mm setting of the 9-18mm mZuiko aproximating a normal view (35mm equiv.) the way your eye would take in the scene if you were standing there.

Then I racked the 75-300mm all the way out to show what kind of selective slice of life can be aquired at 600mm.

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In the normal (35mm) view I've drawn an orange box around the aproximate area seen in the telephoto photo to emphasize the narrow angle of view of the 600mm focal length (equiv.)

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Here you can barely notice the house on the hillside with the naked eye, in the telephoto photo you'd be able to recognise people in the yard.

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This set shows how you can use this lens to look past obstacles in the fore-ground and selectively crop distant parts of the scene out in the viewfinder.

You have to admit, there is some powerful magnification going on with this optic and many creative possibilities open up when using it. Remember, this is not something you lug around over your shoulder on a monopod, but a lens that sits lightly in hand, something you'll be able to take to places where perhaps previously you've left the tele-zoom lens at home.

I'm looking forward to the Toronto Spring season finally achieving lift-off and trying this lens out when there are abundant subjects about.

Photos taken with the Olympus EPL-2 and mZuiko 75-300mm ED lens.

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