A day at the race track with the Olympus OM-D E-M1
My photographic calendar remains as busy as ever, with my most recent outing taking me to the Silverstone race circuit here in the UK to photograph the World Endurance Championship Qualifying and Practice races.
Was the Olympus Micro Four Thirds system up to the task? Read on to find out...
One area of uncertainty
Before I get into this post in detail I want to just set out what my expectations of the Olympus were. When making my switch to Olympus I thought that there were perhaps certain photographic niche's it just wouldn't be as capable of when pitted against a DSLR. That's not to say I didn't think it wouldn't be able to handle them, but more that it would be more of a challenge to wield the E-M1 and achieve the same results. The OM-D E-M1 is arguably the most capable of all of the mirrorless offerings (from all manufacturers), especially in terms of auto focus speed and accuracy, but having come from the world of Canon DSLR's a small part of me still worried that it wouldn't deliver the same quality when it came to motor sports and wildlife purely because of the pace of the subjects. This trip to Silverstone was both perfect practice for The Le Mans 24 Hour Race in June and also a great opportunity to put the Olympus through it's paces.
So, Did the Olympus Perform?
The short answer: Hell yes!
Any fears I had instantly vanished after panning with the first few cars. It locked on focus, stayed with the car and gave me a couple of keepers right off the bat.
It certainly is different than shooting with a DSLR though (and I'll talk about all of that and more in a minute). If you're not used to a mirrorless camera you will need to practice. Although it achieved everything I wanted it to, I did find a few quirks that took some getting used to though and I'm going to use this post to talk about it's strength's and weaknesses as a camera for motor sports and fast-paced action.
Sample photographs
To start this post let's take a look at some sample photographs, before going through the settings used to achieve them:
(Click any of these images to view them in light box mode):
Settings & Gear Used
My settings varied only slightly depending on where we were standing around the track and the available light. All of the images you'll see in this post were photographed using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 running firmware version 3.0. The lens was the Olympus M.Zuiko ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO
My settings were as follows:
- A nice slow shutter speed between 1/80th and 1/160th with as low an ISO as possible. Which, on this day wasn't too much of an issue because it was a bright day. So much so that an ND filter would have been useful.
- Seeing as I didn't have an ND for my 40-150 though, my aperture remained between f/11 - f/13 to reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor.
- ISO 100-200 depending on cloud cover
- I used single focus point, manually selected. The focus point would either be the very centre point, or, one to the left or right depending on the area of the track we stood.
- Camera set to spot metering
- The In-Body Image Stabilisation on mode 3, which is for horizontal panning.
- The camera was set to Continuous Autofocus (C-AF)
- High Speed shooting at 9 frames per second.
- I had the HLD-7 Battery grip fitted for the extra battery capacity and to balance the camera & lens neatly.
- I use 32Gb Lexar Professional SD Cards with a 600x / 90Mb write speed
- I shot handheld and did not use a monopod. I personally find them cumbersome and restrictive. When I was in Le Mans in 2013 I found I was losing more shots when using the monopod. I do however see the practicality; panning for a few hours handheld was exhausting on the arms!
The Olympus' weight difference was a godsend here. I didn't have that same ache as before when shooting with a DSLR, allowing me to hold the camera more steady and to shoot for longer. A bonus by-product of the cameras size and weight!
Why such a slow shutter speed?
The slow shutter speed records motion in the wheels and also allows you to blur the background as you pan. Shooting much faster than 1/250th and the car begins to appear almost stationary with static wheels and an almost-static appearance to the background. When you start shooting at 1/1000th it almost looks as though the cars are simply parked on the track. So, to purvey a sense of speed slow your shutter. The slower shutter speeds whilst panning does of course require some practice!
There was something of a trade off to be had in these settings though. Those shot at 1/160th and 1/125th were marginally sharper, but those shot at 1/80th had a far blurrier and more pleasing background; the panning effect was more prevalent. It's noticeable if you're a pixel-peeper, but it's a matter of preference as to which you prefer. I personally feel those cars captured at 1/80th have a more dramatic feel and a sense of speed. It's up to you to decide which you prefer. Here are a couple of 100% cropped screen grabs from Lightroom. The yellow and red Ferrari is 1/160th. The blue and orange Porsche is 1/80th.
(you can open these as a light box to inspect a larger image. Pay attention to the edges of the numbers on the side of each car for a comparison)
Firmware Version 3.0
At the start of this post I mentioned I was using Firmware version 3.0 for my Olympus OM-D E-M1. If you're not running this already you ought to update as soon as you can. It's known to be stable and I personally haven't seen any bugs at all, but version 3.0 is more than just a patch - it's an enhancement!
Once updated to 3.0 your E-M1 will go from shooting 6.5 frames per second to 9 frames per second in continuous auto focus. Impressively, at that frame rate the E-M1 will be making use of 37 on-chip phase-detect auto focus points. This gives fantastic tracking ability and makes it even more suited to motorsports and fast moving subjects.
By comparison, the Canon 7dii shoots at 10 frames per second and whilst it does sport 65 cross-type phase detect points, that number can vary depending on the lens you're using. Anotherr consideration again is the difference in price too:
Canon 7Dii: £1,500 body only
Olympus OM-D E-M1: £899 Body Only
Changing Weather Conditions
One thing that any sports photographer will tell you is that the camera has to be able to stand up to the elements, as well as get great quality photographs of course. For the purpose of this post the weather on the day couldn't have been better. When we arrived it was very cold and very wet with the rain pouring steadily. We didn't stop shooting though. My good friend Neil Graham was there with his Canon 7D Mark ii and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM and we both stayed out in the rain with our gear getting wet. It didn't affect the performance of the cameras at all. E-M1 and Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO as a camera for all conditions.
Later in the day the sun made an appearance and it actually started to get quite warm. Once again the E-M1 and 40-150mm Pro lens from Olympus proving that they are tools for the pro, as much as toys for the enthusiast. Don't think that the Olympus is just a fair-weather camera!
Battery Life
I hear people regularly talking about battery life on the Olympus (mirrorless cameras in general) being poor. Whilst I would agree that they don't have the stamina of a DSLR battery I'm finding them perfectly acceptable. I use only Official Olympus batteries (the BLN-1) in my cameras and only changed batteries once during the day. I had the Olympus HLD-7 Grip fitted and so my setup for the day had 2 batteries in at all times. I managed to shoot a little over 2500 shots on the first 2 batteries before they required changing. I then went on to shoot the same again on the second pair of batteries before we left for the day.
I personally was very surprised to achieve this many shots, especially as I was using such a high fps, but it did occur to me that I didn't ever review or delete any of my photographs as I worked, mainly because I don't feel the need to, but secondly because I can see the shot I just made in the EVF. All settings were changed using the dials and buttons and never the LCD.
I also always use my batteries to the last drop: I'll wait for my camera to turn itself off through lack of power before changing batteries. This also ensures they're fully drained before I place them back in their chargers (Again, official Olympus chargers too).
Keeper Rate
I'll be honest here and say that my keeper rate probably wasn't as high as it would have been on my old Canon 7D, which was my go-to camera for this sort of application. Of a burst of 5 or 6 shots at 1/80th perhaps 2 frames were sharp enough to be considered keepers. I'd say that back when I was shooting with the Canon DSLR the keeper from 5 or 6 was more likely to be around 4 per burst.
Although this wasn't too much of an issue, because of course you only need the one shot in focus of each car, it does go to show the very fine margin's between the systems. The Olympus OM-D E-M1 was still able to achieve the same end result, but it just dropped a few more frames.
Having said that, the last time I photographed motor sports of this kind was at Le Mans in 2013, so the technique required to pan with the cars wasn't practiced, whereas i had the best part of 3 days before the last race to get my technique down.
Conclusion
So, is this the camera you should buy if you're going to shoot motor sports? The answer is a matter of preference and priority. There are lots of cameras on the market that will do what you've seen in this post, and some of them better, but I'm yet to see a better and more capable mirrorless system than this. So if it's specifically mirrorless you're after, the Olympus as both a body and lens system, is surely the winner.
It works for me and it works damn well too. As i've shown this excellent system can track, pan, shoot at super fast 9 frames per second and handle much more than many people realise. The E-M1 and 40-150mm f/2.8 pro come together to form a DSLR-beater. The E-M1 is a middle weight camera with a super heavy weight punch, but as is so often now-a-days people judge a book by it's cover, or rather a camera by the size of it's sensor, which is a real shame.
Small-sensor syndrome often causes people to overlook the Olympus in favour of the Fuji system or even Sony, but in all honesty those cameras just don't hold a candle to the OM-D E-M1 and the range of Olympus lenses on offer.
Showing that the E-M1 is more than just a small camera will lead some to say "Jack of all trades, master of non", but if you want to know the truth all you have to do is pick up one of the cameras from the OM-D range to believe what they're capable of.
For me, I'll use this for motor sports, wildlife, weddings, portraits and pretty much anything I need to shoot. The Olympus OM-D E-M1 has well and truly snatched the crown from my Canon DSLR's, which are long gone now. The more I use this camera and the Olympus lenses, the better it gets.
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A few more samples
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Gear for Street Photographers
On April 18th I'll be hosting another great photowalk in London! If you're a subscriber to the blog then you may have already seen that this walk will be something slightly different to the usual walk.
Previously, walks have started in the morning with us stopping for lunch, however, this walk will start at 1pm and see us take in quite an extensive route. We'll make a 4pm stop in Covent Garden, whereby those wanting to join the walk at a later time can meet us then.
The idea behind the later start is so that we can stay out later and photograph London at night! The sights and scenes change when the sun goes down and of course the way you shoot will also have to change: higher ISO's, lower shutter speeds and pockets of illuminations. There's more though: long exposures and cityscapes.
After the sun sets we'll stop for a bite to eat before heading back out into the city to photograph some long exposures of The River Thames
Tripods
With this walk starting at 1pm, so the idea of carrying around a large and heavy tripod for the entire day may sound very unattractive indeed, so I wanted to propose that those of you joining us have a good look at the Gorillapod's from Joby.
I've got the Gorrillapod with a ball head for my Olympus and it's excellent: fits neatly into my bag and has a ball head too. It's incredibly light and superbly useful! I've tried a few other solutions, but to be honest the Gorillapod is the best of them all.
They come in different sizes and there options with and without ball heads. If you're interested in picking one up you can get them reasonably priced through Joby's shop on Amazon, right here:
Gorillapod for CSC's (Fuji, Sony A7's, Olympus etc)
http://bit.ly/joby-gorillapod-csc-ballhead
£23.66
Gorillapod for DSLR's
http://bit.ly/joby-gorillapod-slr-ballhead
£39.99
Join Us
If you're interested in coming along for the walk simply register your interest over on the events page. Or, if you're a member of Ready Steady Pro, or The Guild of Photographers you can confirm your attendance using the events page for those Facebook communities too.
See you on April 18th!!
Mastery
Following on from my post titled 'Why Olympus?' I have received an incredible number of responses. Mostly from existing Olympus Micro Four Thirds photographers who now look to that post as their go-to reference for when people ask them "What's so good about Olympus then?". I've had comments on the post, people getting in touch via email and facebook and lots of new subscribers to this blog too. So, if you're reading this today, either on the website or because this post has landed in your inbox - thank you!
The subject of today's post was something I actually started writing as a part of 'Why Olympus' but it became very long and almost subtracted from the point I was making in that post. So I have decided to break this out into a post in its own right. Today, I want to talk about gear again, not specifically Olympus, but this time in terms of mastery, creativity how using the gear that we enjoy the most can, in itself, enhance our photography.
There will be the odd mention of camera brands in this post, but I believe regardless of whichever manufacturer, brand, format or home made DIY camera you decide to use on a regular basis, this post will resonate with you.
Towards Mastery, Again
David DuChemin wrote a blog post talking about a very similar subject, referring to the fact that many people today are chasing the latest & greatest camera, even if the camera they currently have is just 2 years old (or even 6 months old!). Camera companies have caught onto the fact that a majority of people seem to genuinely believe that it's the gear that makes the difference. Or, should I say rather it's the best gear that will produce the best photographs. As a result it's not uncommon for people to upgrade far too regularly. Sure, there are times when a new camera release may warrant an upgrade of your current gear, but as we all know, in our heart of hearts, 95% of what is released into the camera market today is simply an iteration of what is already out there. With some exceptions, of course.
David goes onto to talk about something I had been trying to put my finger on for some time, and, being the fantastic writer that he is, David managed to sum up something very big, with just two words: 'Diminishing Returns'.
To quote David's excellent post, he says:
Isn’t it possible we've passed the point of diminishing returns and our hunger for gear is outpacing our hunger for beauty, compelling stories, great light, and amazing moments?
David's point here, and mine too, is that the more we spend on cameras, the smaller and smaller the improvements (whatever they may be in our minds) are. So to get that extra 2% can cost you thousands and thousands of your hard-earned pounds or dollars but only give you 2 extra stops or 1 extra fps. Margins become tighter and the number of zero's in the price goes up too.
So, the alternative to spending thousands on gear and equipment to improve your photography, is mastery.
Until it becomes innate
instead, I would encourage any photographer to get out there and shoot. Make 100,000 terrible frames and figure out what works, but just as importantly, what doesn't work. This process of learning and practise combined becomes what we know as 'experience' and when you have the experience to react to a situation in terms of light in a scene, a grumpy model or a child who refuses to smile or even an awkward group shot with terrible light at a wedding, you'll know how to handle it.
More importantly though as a photographer you'll come to realise that with time you can look past the gear you're using and achieve great work with what many would consider to be lesser gear. You'll start to create work with meaning (and not just meaning to yourself).
Its not quite the channel it used to be, but DigitalRev did a wonderful series called 'Cheap Camera Pro Tog Challenge' whereby, as the name suggests, they got together a selection cameras ranging from pretty mediocre to quite simply terrible (Buzz Lightyear camera anyone?). Then, they handed these cameras to various photographers and told them to hit the streets and make the best photographs possible. Zack Arias, David Hobby, Lara Jade and so many more did exactly this and what they managed to capture with cameras most of wouldn't touch if we were paid, was quite simply outstanding. (you should really check out Zack's video!)
I'm not suggesting you turn up to shoot a wedding with a Barbie camera, of course, but I would encourage any photographer to get a camera, learn it inside out and shoot with it. Whatever camera that may be.
Responsible Business Practice
If you're a photographer in business, this can also be good practise too (sticking with the same tools for an extended period). Now, some photographers here may step in and suggest an asset life-cycle to maximise the asset value and minimise the amount of cash you have to re-inject in large chunks, but in all honesty, the less often you have to spend out on large gear purchases; the better. It's you that makes your company money, not your computer and not your camera. In business your camera becomes your tool and as such you have to really use the camera to maximise your return on your investment.
Will buying a new camera make you more money? Unlikely.
It's all about the client and interaction...not fiddling with dials
it was reported some time ago that Keira Knightley commented on her experience with photographers; Kiera suggested that film photographers (or rather, photographers who had shot film or came from a film background) were better photographers to work with. I think part of what Ms Knightley is alluding to here is the fact that during the film days there was no LCD on the back of the camera. The technology got in the way much less. You read the light and metered the scene and shot. Today we're doing all that, but then we spend time checking the screen again and again. I think the intimacy and relationship with the subject can often be lost because of these tools.
Please don't get me wrong - they're fantastic tools in that they speed up the learning process and instant feedback is a beautiful thing. They can also lend themselves very neatly to a collaborative working style or situation, but there is a time and a place. For now lets shoot; we'll check the LCD later. If you know your head well enough and your lighting is practised - spend the time instead working on the things that will help get a great shot: the model!
Get to know your gear and lighting well enough that it becomes second nature. This will then free you up to concentrate on the other things that will contribute towards outstanding images: the client or model, the details etc.
back to Mastery
Its one thing to master the craft, which as we know will take a lifetime, but it's another to master your gear as well. We change our cameras and tools on such a regular basis that many photographers never truly get to the point of being innate with their camera. This causes that uncertainty and the need to check, check and check again! Dials move, function buttons move, cameras metre differently and react differently when you shoot into the light (flare etc). Lenses zoom differently and even just feel different and behave differently.
The more you can familiarise yourself with your equipment the more you'll come to visualise the end result and then achieve it using the equipment you have.
To finish, here's another gem of a video featuring Zack Arias once again. Mastering your gear by using it extensively not only benefits you creatively and your business financially, but it just makes sense. About half way through Zack shares a quote from Edward Western and then goes on to talk about the one, single lens he used for around a year after re-entering the world of photography again after losing it all...check it out:
Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Review
More and more professional photographers are making the switch to mirrorless cameras than ever before. With cameras such as the Olympus OM-D E-M1 being sturdy and built to take on the rigors of professional assignments, yet considerably smaller and lighter than DSLR's, photographers are reaping the benefits of such systems. However, it's one thing for the camera body itself to be up to the task - but what about the lenses?
One must-have lens in any wedding, event or wildlife photographers' arsenal is a 70-200mm f/2.8, whether it be Canon's 70-200 L Class offering or Nikon's 70-200 f/2.8 Nikkor: These lenses provide us with a convenient focal range and great low-light ability. They're typically built to very high standards, making use of metal bodies and quality optics. They can take a real beating in everyday use and continue to produce excellent images. These are the tools of the pro photographer.
Now, Olympus have introduced their professional-grade, weather sealed, constant f/2.8 aperture telephoto offering, giving professional mirrorless photographers the lens they've been waiting for.
Enter, the Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm ED f/2.8 PRO!
Specs & Details
- 40-150mm focal range provides an 80-300mm, 35mm equivalent field of view
- The 40-150 ED f/2.8 PRO is available for around £1,150 on it's own
- Also available with a 1.4 teleconverter for around £1,300 all together
- 9 Blade Aperture for circular bokeh
- 16 elements, 10 Groups
- Splash, Freeze and dust proof the same as the M.Zuiko 12-40 f/2.8 PRO
- Metal construction
- All-metal tripod mount collar included. Removable.
- Intelligently designed extending lens Hood. This is removable, just like a regular hood that you may find on the Canon 70-200, but the mechanism simply allows you to store it on the lens, without having to remove it and reverse mount it for storage. Very clever
- Internal focusing mechanisms (no extending parts, unlike the 12-40 f/2.8 PRO)
Size
The lens weighs in at 880 grams and is 160mm long, making it both shorter and much lighter than Canon's 70-200 (weighing 1490 grams) and even more so than Nikon's (weighing 1540 grams). Considering the Olympus has a field of view up to 300mm, this makes this a pretty impressive feat indeed. If you're reading this and you shoot with a DSLR, it would be a nearer comparison in weight and size to Canon 24-70 f/2.8 (weighing 805 grams, and is 113mm long)
The Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm ED f/2.8 PRO towering over the rest of the Olympus lenses
As Micro Four Thirds lenses go, the 40-150 is certainly the largest. In fact, it does somewhat go against the idea of what Micro Four Thirds is all about in that it isn't as small as many of the other lenses, but in a way, on this occasion, it isn't such a bad thing: the size and weight of the 40-150 when mounted to any of the OM-D's, especially when fitted with a grip, feels very neatly balanced. Coupled with the E-M1 it also makes for a serious looking setup too. So, if you're conscious about how you and your gear look on a wedding day, this will probably go some way to compensating for you feeling inadequate. (not that this should matter though). In short it looks the business!
First Impressions
When you pick the lens up you'll immediately be pleasantly surprised by how dense the lens feels. The quality of the build and the materials is instantly apparent. The focus and zoom rings aren't too loose or too tight, they're just about right. These also have a metallic, textured feel to them so you can both find them without having to take your eye away from the EVF and also to allow you to get a good grip when you've been working with the lens for long periods and may be a bit sweaty. Although having said that - I do feel that rubber zoom and focus rings would have been a better option (I'll expand on this in my criticisms below)
If you remove the tripod mount collar you instantly shed a fair amount of weight from the lens. So for those of us that will use this for weddings and portraits we can instantly make the lens lighter. I've personally no need to mount this lens to a tripod during a wedding, so mine usually ends up in the back of the car. The collar itself keeps up with the excellent build quality and feels like a very solid, chunky piece of metal. Which is reassuring when that is the part that will keep your precious gear sitting atop a tripod!
Remove the lens hood completely and the lens becomes even more compact.
Image Quality
When it comes to lenses a good one will often outlast the cameras you own. I'd say this is the case with the 40-150. It's incredibly sharp both at 40mm and at 150mm, which isn't common in a lens with this range of zoom. Here are some real-world photographs I've made with the 40-150 over the past few months. These photographs were all made in a variety of surroundings too: an engagement shoot, a model shoot in a studio environment and of course street photography:
As you can see from these photographs a good shallow Depth of Field is present thanks to the useful focal length and f/2.8 aperture. The photographs are all superbly sharp as well. The 40-150 in combination with the E-M5 and E-M1 really makes this lens come to life.
Who is this lens for?
The 40-150 is a must have for any MFT photographer shooting professional assignments or for any serious enthusiast shooting sports or wildlife. To be honest the lens is so versatile that it's going to be useful to a variety of photography niches.
The lens is designed to be able to continue to work in adverse conditions, so you're investing in a lens that can really do a professional job. It will certainly be around for many years and in my opinion, it's set to be a lens that many look back on as one of the great telephoto lenses of this generation: sealed, sturdy and up for the task, yet lighter and smaller than a DSLR equivalent. This lens is perfect for those who shoot portraits, weddings, wildlife or sports.
If you are in the Panasonic side of the MFT camp, then this lens may not be of as much interest to you owing to the fact it doesn't have stabilisation built into the lens (of course, when you shoot with Olympus the stabilisation is in-body and all lenses are stabilised). However, a Panasonic shooter will still find their stabilisation in their lenses, instead of the body. Effectively, this isn't stabilised when used on Panasonic cameras.
Criticisms
It wouldn't be fair to review this lens without at least pointing out something negative about it. Much like my review of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 when I first bought that last year, I really do have to be picky to find faults with this lens. I can't fault the build quality. I can't criticise the optical performance and the size is a positive. I guess If I had one thing to say, it would would be about the aforementioned zoom and focus rings (I would emphasise I am being hypocritical here):
Canon and Nikon's DSLR and Lens systems are very mature and have been around for a while, so naturally, as they have iterated they've made small, but useful enhancements and adjustments to their equipment that just adds to an overall feel. Things that we don't even realise as useful, because, well they've been that way forever. It's only when you move to a different system, such as the E-M1 and Olympus M.Zuiko lenses that you realise certain things about the other systems. Such as rubber zoom and focus rings on their lenses.
Olympus have opted to use plastic or metal on a majority of their lenses for these components. Whilst on smaller primes and even the 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro this isn't an issue, the larger circumference of the 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro perhaps warrants a different material for the rings on the barrel of the lens.
Again, this is me trying to find a fault. Sometimes, in a bid to be different and do things their own way, Olympus opt for a design or a method that perhaps is just that - different, but not better. Having said that though the PRO line of Olympus M.Zuiko lense have a theme to them; all black, metallic finish, professional feel. If they updated or adjusted the way one lens from that range looked, you'd have to update the others too. As a lens lineup, they look stellar.
I would also point out some chromatic aberration when you shoot into strong light as well. I've only had CA on a couple of photographs I've made using this lens and fortunately it's not apparent in some of the more common CA-causing scenarios (such as portraits with a strong and contrasting rimlight, or a cool, blue window light), but if you shoot a branch with the sky as the background, or if you photograph a building, looking upward, you may spot some aberration along the edges. Now, I know what you're thinking: "CA is easily removed in Lightroom" - and you're right. But this does have to be mentioned. So, this does become less of an issue, but I still wanted to point it out.
Now, I have probably gone on too long about the rings on the lens and through fear of risk of me sounding like you can't operate this lenses zoom and focus rings (you can, with ease), I would simply say that rubber would have perhaps been a better option. That's all.
So, those two very picky things aside, we have an absolute marvel of a lens here.
Conclusion
Quite simply, if you were ever hesitant to switch to Olympus, or Micro Four Thirds because of a lack of a constant aperture professional grade telephoto, you've now got it and there shouldn't be much to hold you back at all.
This is the lens that could push any photographer at war with themselves whether to switch to mirrorless, to switch. If you're having a dilemma and worry about lens selection when moving to Olympus - you shouldn't be concerned. This lens adequately replaces the 70-200 offerings on the table from Nikon and Canon. Whilst doing so it offers a greater focal range in a smaller package with apparent better edge-to-edge sharpness.
As a previous DSLR shooter with a heavy investment in Canon, I was reluctant to sell my Canon gear purely because I didn't believe there was an equal and equivalent lens to my Canon 70-200mm L f/2.8 IS USM ii. It was a lens that cost a good amount of money and worked excellently when paired up with the Canon 1.4 EX ii as well. Sure, the lens stopped down to f/4 when used with the adaptor, but it was built like a space rocket and was amazingly responsive. The resulting image quality from that lens was also unmatched by any other lens I had in my bag at the time.
My own migration to Olympus hinged on this very lens being as good as it is. Without a quality Olympus 70-200 challenger I wasn't prepared to move. My Canon 70-200L f/2.8 was the jewel of my kit bag. It was the one thing I'd save from my house if it were on fire (photographically speaking that is). After testing this lens at the Olympus Image Space last year I had seen enough to convince me it was capable. When I bought it and used it for an engagement shoot and some portraits, the Canon 70-200 was sold immediately.
The Olympus 40-150 is a feat of optical engineering and an incredibly well-considered design. The lens hood, the size, the very near minimum focussing distance of 70cm which is maintained throughout the entire zoom range make this a must-have tool for any Olympus photographer. The fact is goes to 300mm is a very welcome bonus indeed!
It's not as expensive as Canon or Nikon's 70-200's, but it's every bit as good a lens and one I would recommend without hesitation.