Olympus Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital ED SWD Lens for Olympus Digital SLR Cameras - Refurbished by Olympus

2011-06-25T21:00:00

I am very happy with this lens. It is a discernible step up in quality from the kit lenses, which themselves are no slouches. I have used it to good effect for photos of birds, wallabies (deadly Australian marsupials), flowers, hovering dragonflies, and other denizens of the natural world. It is reliable when tracking moving subjects, resulting in a high proportion of sharp photos. In 35mm equivalent terms it is a 100-400 zoom. The aperture of 2.8-3.5 is a true measure of its light gathering capacity but as I understand it the depth of field is greater than a full-frame setup with the same numbers, so if background blur is a priority and cost no object you'd be looking at a larger format. That is an inherent aspect of the 4/3 format and therefore not a "con" as regards the lens itself. It does mean that sometimes a contrasty background can look a bit busy. In low light It has on occasions hunted for focus. Now listen up, Olympus: it focuses quickly and reliably in near darkness when I use a $5 led torch for a/f assistance. The strobing flash, on the other hand, is still going long after scaring off all the potential subjects, with the exception of those to whom it has caused seizures. I have seen this lens's weight listed as a con in some fora. To me that does not make sense. At a little over a kg it is not heavy in absolute terms. It is lighter, and cheaper, than a 100-400 full frame lens of similar quality. Its weight is not a con, it is a specification. Satisfaction with the results, on the other hand, is no mere specification, and that is what you can expect from this lens.

John

2011-06-18T21:00:00

This is a super sharp high quality lens. I keep this lens on my camera about 75% of the time. It is a wonderful portrait lens

JOSEPH D.

2011-06-02T21:00:00

Great, versatile lens from the stellar Olympus line up.

DANE F.

2011-05-14T21:00:00

Have had this lens for 3 months and am completely satisfied. I find I use it probably 80-90 percent of the time due to the 50-200 range, which covers the bulk of my shooting requirements. I also have a 70-300 lens but find that the quality of the 50-200 is such that I can crop a photo and it is still sharper than the 70-300. In addition, the auto-focus is much faster. This lens is not light weight but I actually find this to be an advantage when shooting off-hand. This lens, thus far, has proven to be everything I had anticipated.

WALLY S.

2011-05-01T21:00:00

This is an excellent lens for portraits. Sharp focus and excellent bokeh

JOSEPH D.

2011-04-16T21:00:00

great value as a refurbished lens, if there are any differences to a new one out of the box I can't see them. I use it with the E-5 and so far its perfect for everything I want - the speed of the autofocus is beyond belief, it even seems to anticipate what I want to capture.

littlenick

2011-03-26T21:00:00

Amazingly fast lens and good reach. Auto focus is reasonably fast. A little on the heavy side. Works very well with my E5. Sometime I use this lens with my EC14 teleconverter for even more reach.

Mike N.