Lens News

The Olympus M.Zuiko ED 300mm f/4 IS Pro telephoto you see above wouldn’t be considered particularly big for a DSLR lens, but on a micro-four-thirds camera (with its 600mm 35mm equivalent) it’s an entirely different story. But what if you could get a 300-500mm f/2.8-4.0 zoom for your MFT system, with a whopping 600mm-1000mm equivalent in 35mm terms?

According to the folks at 4/3 Rumors, that’s exactly what Olympus may have in the works based upon a recently filed patent. Unfortunately, there are few additional details or a photo of the proposed 300-500mm zoom, but the diagram below illustrates the complexity of the lens.

According to the patent, the 300-500mm measures 12.9 inches—3 inches longer than the 300mm f/4 pictured above that currently sells for $2,500. The Olympus patent filing also includes a 200-300mm (400-600mm 35mm equivalent) that’s about 9 inches in length.

As we mentioned in yesterday’s story about Canon’s patent for a full-frame EF 40-800mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom, many patents never result in products available to the consumer. Stay tuned: We’ll keep you posted on all future developments.