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What focal length for an odd wildlife shot?

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 PPP 25 Jun 2016
I recently upgraded from Olympus E-PL5 w/ Lumix 20mm* F/1.7 and Sigma 60mm* F/2.8 (had a kit lens which never used) to a Olympus E-M5 II w/ 12-40mm* F/2.8. I found that 60mm is quite short for some wildlife photos I sometimes want to take. It sometimes works out ( http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=277066 ), but most of the times it's too far away.

I initially thought of 300mm F/6.3 reflex lens (Tokina/Samyang), but that sounded crazy. Quite limited lens, just very compact for its focal length. Maybe just 100~150mm would do the job?

The budget is flexible, but I am staying away from beasts such as Olympus 40-150mm F/2.8.

* - crop factor is 2x.
In reply to PPP:

Far from experienced in wildlife shooting, so will leave focal length comments to others, but you are probably aware that Olympus do do a much cheaper lightweight 40-150 version of their pro lens you mention, though f4.0-5.6, and this may cover most general wildlife shots that you want to take? Also there is a lightweight 70 -300 lens f4.0-5.6 in their range if you are looking for shooting at a greater distance/zoom in closer.

Both lens get a good write up for general usage and maybe worth considering.

 malk 25 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:

if it's just the odd shot then why not an old prime eg i got a 135mm 3.5 cz jena for £30 - good optics and very compact- happy with results on sony apsc even with 2x teleconverter- but does the e-m5 have focus peaking?
OP PPP 25 Jun 2016
In reply to Climbing Pieman:
Thanks. Yeah, I have seen that, but I was thinking that it might not be enough of focal length/IQ. But then I realized that 300mm prime would probably make very little use overall. There's no way I could justify 40-150mm F/2.8 for an odd shot anyway. I used 20mm lens pretty much all year round and it was great wee lens, so 12-40mm F/2.8 will definitely cover the most I need.
Post edited at 18:53
OP PPP 25 Jun 2016
In reply to malk:

Hah, I haven't thought of a legacy lens! I thought I wouldn't be utilizing the "resolution" of the lens that is designed for a full frame. Had a quick look and it beats Panasonic 45-200mm! I also have M42 and Leica M39 adapters for MFT as I have few older cameras and lens. The E-M5 II has focus peaking which I have just tried with few 50mm MF lenses and I was quite happy with it.

Got eBay open already... Thanks for an advice!
 Oujmik 25 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:

For a 1.5x crop I'd suggest you really need something with a max focal length of 200-300mm, so for a 2x crop that would be about 150-230mm (assuming the focal lengths quoted aren't 'adjusted' for the crop??).

In practice a mid-range zoom is probably easier to use (and probably cheaper) than a prime. Don't worry too much about it being super fast as f/2.8 at 300mm gives such a tiny depth of field it can be challenging to get a decent shot.

Unfortunately I know next to nothing about the Olympus mirrorless range but if they do a 50-250 zoom or something along those lines it could be a good choice.
OP PPP 25 Jun 2016
In reply to Oujmik:

Thanks mate. Yup, I was quoting numbers without multiplying. Having had few FF cameras, as well as Canon DSLR, the struggle is real to convert all those focal lengths!

I reckon 40-150mm F/2.8 will be a lot sharper than lens that is 5 or more times cheaper (I found one on eBay for 99 quid while F/2.8 version is 1000+).

Will sleep on it before I decide what I want. I don't see myself using it a lot anyway. On the other hand, this shot was taken with 50mm lens on a FF (35mm film) rangefinder: https://flic.kr/p/Jsw8eU . I believe I could have walked even closer, though.
 Oujmik 25 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:



> I reckon 40-150mm F/2.8 will be a lot sharper than lens that is 5 or more times cheaper (I found one on eBay for 99 quid while F/2.8 version is 1000+).

You're probably right there, although saying that the sharpest lens I own is also the cheapest (Nikon DX 35mm f/1.8).

I see that your camera has built in stabilisation which can be very handy for long-range work too. It obviously doesn't help if the subject moves but gives you a much better chance of a sharp image of a still subject. I sold an f/2.8 tele lens to buy an f/5.6 one with optical stabilisation and I'm happy with the trade off.
 Dark-Cloud 25 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:

I got the Olympus 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 for my OMD-EM10, seems a bit plasticky but its been a cracking lens so far for the money, i got it from Amzon.com when they were on offer for $99, i got the Olympus 25mm F1.8 at the same time which is very nice indeed, worked out cheaper than buying here even taking into account tax and postage !

Few shots at the 150mm end here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/141222405@N04/albums

OP PPP 25 Jun 2016
In reply to Oujmik:

Yeah, primes are great for their price. 20mm/60mm combo was great, but becomes quite annoying on steeper ground or while moving faster. I use Peak Design Capture Pro camera clip and it's great even while climbing chimneys.

I am aware of the IS which is meant to be 5-axis. E-M5 II has some quite nice features packed, including high-res (40MP ish) shot by shifting the sensor slightly. Love it so far, especially when both body and lens are weather sealed.
 malk 26 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:

> Had a quick look and it beats Panasonic 45-200mm!
how did you get that comparison?

> Got eBay open already
and you've got me looking for used E-M5 I bodies as an alternative to an upgrade to sony a6000. weather sealed body with IS is very tempting at £200. there's also a peaking function hack you can do..

OP PPP 26 Jun 2016
In reply to malk:

> how did you get that comparison?
https://tomscameras.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/shooting-tele-macros-with-the-...
Results at F/5.6 are probably the most obvious.

> and you've got me looking for used E-M5 I bodies as an alternative to an upgrade to sony a6000. weather sealed body with IS is very tempting at £200. there's also a peaking function hack you can do..
While I hate Olympus menu and few other quirks (like Lumix 20mm F/1.7 banding on some bodies and so on), it's great. The choice of lens in 10-100mm range is great, varying from cheap Sigmas primes to Oly PRO series. It even feels like there's too many primes in 15-25mm range.
I have used variety of cameras from a rangefinder made in 1962 to Canon 1D with L lenses. There's something about Olympus/M43 that just makes me happy to use them.

AFAIK E-M5 II is not a huge upgrade image quality wise, so E-M5 should be a great option.
 HeMa 27 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:
I have more or less similar set-up, with the added Panasonic 35-100mm lens. And I do find that perhaps longer than effective 200mm is needed. A prime 135 or 150mm might be the ticket... but perhaps the cheaper Oly 40-150mm would be good enough... and less than 150 quids I seem to recall.


Edited to add, a resource for proper lens reviews:
http://www.photozone.de/all-tests
Post edited at 06:15
 MikeTS 27 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:
I got a Teleplus Pro 1.4 to extend my kit 55-200 kit lens for this situation. With a 50% crop factor, this takes me out to 420. Have Nikon, but maybe there is similar for you. Image quality seems clean to me..
Post edited at 07:20
 Toerag 28 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:

The Oly 40-150 F4-5.6 is pretty good value, but you'll be disappointed with the results coming from the panny 20 and 12-40 - the sharpness and contrast are noticeably lower. I find the slow aperture most problematic, even with IS you're reduced to using shutter speeds that can't deal with fast-moving nature.
OP PPP 28 Jun 2016
In reply to Toerag:

That's what I am afraid of! Will probably get a CZ Jena 135mm to see how it performs and whether I need a longer or shorter lens.

Thanks for input guys.
 JDal 28 Jun 2016
In reply to PPP:

I use the 75-300, but as noted above, the slow speed is limiting. Unless the light is very good, you need to be going up to high ISO's to get sharp shots and that starts to cost detail. Better with a fast manual lens I suspect, although BIF would be a bit of a challenge with manual focus.
In reply to PPP:

I've recently bought the Olympus 14-150 II . Really pleased with the lens. Love the flexibility of having a reasonably wide option (28mm equiv), and being able to zoom, all in one lens. Image quality is good in my opinion.
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