Olympus will release its 150-400 mm f / 4.5 lens at the end of January for 6999 euros. This bright telephoto zoom has a built-in teleconverter with a magnification of 1.25x. The E-M1X camera also gets an autofocus mode meant for birds.
The M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400 mm F4.5 TC1.25x IS Pro has, according to Olympus, image stabilization up to eight stops, although the manufacturer bases that value on the combination with the E-M1X system camera and a focal length of 300 mm. The lens is made up of 28 lens elements divided into 18 groups and has a minimum focusing distance of 1.3 meters over the entire zoom range.
The built-in teleconverter allows a range of 300-1000mm in 35mm equivalent. The company says that the external M.Zuiko Digital 2x Teleconverter MC-20 can also be used, so that a focal length of 2000 mm in full-frame equivalent is possible. However, a user will then have to deal with a number of stops of light loss.
According to the manufacturer, the housing of the telephoto zoom is made of magnesium alloy, with the lens hood consisting of carbon fiber. All this leads to a weight of 1.88 kg, without the lens hood, rear cap and lens hood being included. The length of the 150-400mm is 314.3mm and the lens is resistant to dust, water and frost.
Olympus also comes with new firmware for its high-end system camera, the OM-D E-M1X. Version 2.0 can be downloaded from December 3 and includes bird recognition with the autofocus. With that function, the camera tries to focus on a bird’s eyes, after which the camera has to keep following the bird. When the eyes are no longer detectable, the autofocus switches to the bird’s head or body. Furthermore, the new firmware adds the capability of video output in the raw file format, although the use of the Atomos Ninja V field monitor is required.