Incredibly compact and light, presciently suited for m43 system!

Can be hard to attain perfect focus, helps to magnify m43 viewfinder 3x to confirm focus, f/8 slow.

Can be used handheld down to 1/100th shutter speed with E-M1 sensor stabilization. Likely focus is no more difficult than a conventional manual focus 500 mm lens, the focal length simply exaggerates any minor errors. But you can't beat the compactness, ever. Practicality trumps IQ in real life conditions.

Small, light and portable. Build in Lenshood. Suprisingly sharp when able to focus. Due to second hand market cheap. Real hobby lens with high quality

Tripod is must since low speed lens (f8.0). Though no suprise in combination with OMD-EM1 it is a 1000mm lens. However EM1 has build is Image Stabelizer. The combination is great. Manual focus with very small adjustable range = difficult to get sharp picture but is also the fun of it.

Great lens for the amature picture man who cannot affort thousands of euro's for big tele lens.

Superb image quality!

Same as any reflex lens: no aperture, donut bokeh.

As cats go, this is a wonderful lens. Don't confuse it with a ~$150 NoName or even Vivitar -- it's far superior to those, primarily in contrast and resolution. Most mirrors are relatively flat and somewhat soft, but this one is punchy and sharp.

But this one is also heavier and bigger than the NoName cats -- but still vastly lighter and smaller than a non-reflex design!

Of course you need a tripod, although I've gotten some sharp hand-held shot at very high shutter speeds. Remember the 1/fl rule -- you should not attempt to use this under 1/500th hand-held!

Similar Products Used:

Vivitar 500mm/f8 reflex

Very small, well made.

Needs supporting most of the time. Like all reflex type lenses, light is controlled by the use of ND or Pol filters, which is a bit limiting.

Typically Zuiko in style, this is a good lens when you need that extra reach in a compact design. Like all reflex type lenses, the zuiko exhibits strong telephoto effects and great out of focus "doughnut shaped" highlights. It also has a built in sliding lenshood. Image quality I found to be very good, but not outstanding. I also found it necessary to support the lens on a tripod most of the time, to ensure sharp results. I sold my 500mm and purchased a Zuiko 300mm instead, which better suits my requirements.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

None.

Unbelievably small for a 500mm lens. I have used the Canon, Nikon & Tamron 500mm mirror lens and Olympus beats them all hands down in the resolution department.

Wish it were faster, but then it would be much bigger.

If you're looking for a small, light, ultra tack sharp long lens this is it. Too bad they don't make adapters to use this on any SLR.

Customer Service

Never had to deal with them so don't know.

Similar Products Used:

Canon, Nikon, Tamron

Compact, well built, excellent contrast for a mirror lens.

I don't really like fixed aperture mirror lenses. They require extreme care in focusing to get sharp images, and the out of focus highlights do look odd.
No provision for small drop-in or behind the lens filters, like the Tokina. You would need to buy an expensive 72mm front mount filter for this lens.

If you need a compact 500mm lens, there is probably none better than the Zuiko. It is definitely better than the equivalent Tokina, and better than the Tokina 150-500mm zoom at 500mm with the zoom stopped down to f8.

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 500mm f8 mirror lens
Tokina ATX 150-500mm f5.6 Zoom