The Eagle Has Landed – okay – that was a pun…

It’s here! My dream bird/wildlife photography lens is here. It’s real. I have a full retail version in my hands and I am stoked.

It’s been very exciting. When I first heard about this lens I was aching because I couldn’t tell anyone about it. Then, when Olympus asked me to test it. I STILL couldn’t tell anyone about it. Then when it finally was okay, I wrote a quick review with sample photos that covered my initial experience with the lens. https://picturemethods.com/2020/11/16/m-zuiko-digital-ed-150-400mm-f4-5-tc1-25x-is-pro/

I wrote that post based on experiences I had with the lens before the final firmware was even installed in the lens. And the OM-D E-M1X didn’t have bird AUTOFOCUS yet. So I am pretty jazzed up about getting out and testing the retail version of the lens with the new firmware in both lens and the X.

As I told everyone, the Olympus/JIP acquisition didn’t impact Olympus’ plans to manufacture and sell this lens. According to executives with the new company, not only does Olympus plan to release new lenses according to the current road map, but they plan to announce ADDITIONAL lenses. I hope these facts, combined with the fact that I am holding and have in my possession, a shipping, retail copy of the new 150-400 Super Zoom (as I call it) will put to rest any doubts anyone has regarding the Olympus commitment to photography and photographers.

This lens is going to change everything. And response to it has been overwhelming. I know many of you have pre-ordered the lens and I am sorry to say that a combination of factors, including extraordinary demand, means that not everyone will get the lens right away. But it’s coming. I am sure Olympus wants to sell as many of these bad boys as they can so please be patient. It’s gonna be worth the wait.

With the pandemic still raging, and my access to my usual birding hotspots curtailed, I am going to have to get creative to test the retail version of the lens but I plan on trying to get out in the next two to three weeks to do just that and I’ll be posting images over on my Facebook and Twitter accounts (@scottbourne) and on my Instagram account (@bourne.scott) and my Flickr account (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottbourne/).