Olympus happily announced that M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 300mm f4.0 IS PRO has received the Camera Grand Prix Japan 2016 Lens of the Year award. The weather-sealed M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm F4.0 IS Pro is the latest in the company’s range of high-end ‘Pro’ lenses for the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system and the fifth such lens to date.
Relatively compact for it’s 600mm equivalent focal length, the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) optic is able to go more places easier, and thanks to integrated optical stabilization, good for four stops of shutter speed, handheld imaging is capable of producing tack sharp photographs.
Like the other Pro lenses, the 300mm F4.0 IS Pro lens features the company’s snap-back manual focus clutch sys that reveals a distance scale when you pull on the focus ring; engaging manual focus and proving a linear focus response with the end-stops to the ring’s travel, that give a traditional manual focus experience.
Boasting the best-ever picture quality from Olympus, the 300mm is packed with specialized elements that helps produce sharp, aberration free images. This, supported by 3 Super ED lenses that eliminate peripheral chromatic aberration along with 3 High Refractive index lenses and one Extra-High Refractive index lens, grants maximum sharpness. Alongside this construction is the use of the Z Coating Nano, that dramatically reduces instances of ghosting and flares.
The 300mm weighs 1.27kg meaning that it is relatively easy to handle and carry. As Olympus points out, this is around one third of the weight of available 600mm lenses. However, that lightness doesn’t come at the expense of solid-feeling build, with extensive use of metal giving the F4.0 Pro a reassuring sense of robustness.
