Depending on what you mean by darker and what kind of subject you're targeting, you may find some wins due to a wider aperture, but maybe also some losses due to narrower DOF. Doing a common 8x10" prints and it renders lenses like 300mm f/4 moot by sharpness compared to 75-300mm @ 300mm as you are wasting resolution benefit in small print. Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In the M.ZUIKO Digital 40-150mm f/4-5.6 ED, Olympus employed an iris diaphragm with 7 rounded blades, which has resulted in a pretty decent bokeh for a zoom lens, at least in our opinion. However, recognising that bokeh evaluation is subjective, we have provided a few examples for your perusal.

Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 R | Digital Camera World

The constant f2.8 aperture is maintained throughout the focal range, a very useful feature and not just for shooting in low light. The physical aperture diaphragm construction is composed of 9 blades which produce a circular shaped aperture that should result in pretty circular blob highlights for out of focus elements. At the other end of the range the minimum aperture is f22. The 40-150mm has a new dual linear motor that makes it extremely silent. When I used it during a contemporary dance show that often had moments without music, I could only hear a little noise if I leaned my ear toward the lens. So, yes, it is silent. E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 2000The camera comes with a detachable lens hood and a stylish pouch, plus front and rear lens caps. What I Like About the OM System M.Zuiko 40-150 mm 1:4 Lens and What Can Be Improved F2.8 or f4 will certainly help with regard to AF in poor light, but it won't be the answer to every problem. I haven't owned an E-M10 in a good while, but I don't remember AF being its strongest point, certainly in comparison to the E-M1 line. Overall, the Olympus 40-150mm F4 Pro is better by every measure except price and weight. And if you’re outdoors, you might feel more confident using the IP53-rated F4 Pro. That said, you could write off the cheaper lens 4-times over for the price of one Olympus 40-150 F4 Pro. OM-S 40-150mm F4 Pro vs Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 If this is the first article you’re reading about this lens, I can tell you in advance that the 40-150mm is a great lens, perhaps one of the best MFT lenses I’ve had the pleasure to test. I used it for dance shows, day and low-light events, animals, portraits and other situations to discover how well it can serve the Micro Four Thirds system. E-M1, 1/640, f/ 2.8, ISO 200 – 97mm E-M1, 1/640, f/ 5.6, ISO 200 – 56mm E-M1, 1/200, f/ 2.8, ISO 3200 – 45mm The 75-300mm is no louche at 300mm, and it doesn't really matter in the scenarios it is most often used as the thermal waves in air will render most often all long telephoto lenses to same ball park.

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If you want even more fair comparisons, look at the cigarette stump on the ground just right from the mans head. Even when it is just partially out of focus with 40-150mm, you can see how 75-300mm will clearly render far more details in the grass blades and the stump itself! The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

Overview

Inside the 40-150mm f2.8 Pro there are 16 elements in 10 groups including ED, Super ED, EDA and HD elements. Essentially these technologies are designed to reduce internal light dispersion (ED stands for Extra-low dispersion, EDA is Extra-low Dispersion Aspheric and HD is High refractive index & Dispersion) and improve image quality and contrast. I’ve included this second image really just to show the shallowness of the depth of field with a reasonably close subject and the pleasant bokeh produced by the 40-150mm’s circular aperture diaphragm. This time the AF has nailed it with good sharp detail in the face.

Olympus Zuiko 40-150mm f3.5-4.5 review | TechRadar

As a telephoto zoom lens with a fast aperture of f2.8 for professional use, we have achieved a stable center of gravity and a total length that remains unchanged during zooming. It also offers strong splash & dust proof performance that permits photography even in the rain when used in combination with astonishing compact and lightweight E-M1, the flagship model of the OM-D series. With these outstanding mobility, this lens gives you the possibilities of photographing the way you like in any locations using the minimum amount of equipment. This lens achieves a compact, lightweight and high performance by taking advantage in this product of the hallmarks of the Micro Four Thirds System standard to achieve a maximum aperture of f2.8 at all zoom focal lengths and cover a telephoto range of 80mm to 300mm (35mm equivalent). To achieve compact, lightweight lens with optical performance exceeding that of the heretofore highly regarded Four Thirds System standard Super High Grade (SHG) lens, the lens employs such glass materials as the Super ED lenses, the ED or HD lens*2 as well as of EDA*3 and other aspherical lenses. The latest design technologies were also incorporated in developing the lens, such as making proactive use of ZERO (Zuiko Extra-low Reflection Optical) Coating to thoroughly eliminate ghosts and flare. As a result, with a maximum aperture at all zoom focal lengths the lens provides the high Olympus image quality that satisfies professional standards. Finally at 150mm, sharpness levels drop a little across the frame at maximum aperture, but remain very good in the centre whilst approaching good levels towards the edges. There is little difference in edges sharpness with the lens stopped down, although sharpness in the centre does reach excellent levels at f/8 at this focal length. This was however a brief one-day test. Since then I’ve had a chance to shoot with the 40-150mm for a solid month (this is Gordon speaking!). During this time, Olympus released firmware version 2.2 for the OMD EM1 which, amongst other things, promised greater focusing accuracy with the 40-150mm lens. As on the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 Pro, the focus ring can be used in one of two modes. A manual focus clutch mechanism is engaged by snapping the focus ring rearward, which also reveals a focus scale marked on the lens barrel. In this mode the lens is focused mechanically with physical stops at either end of the range. In the forward position the scale is obscured, you can still manually focus, as long as the camera is in MF mode, but turning the ring focuses by wire using the AF motors.Regarding stabilisation, the 5-axis stabilisation of the E-M1 handled the bigger and heavier lens very well, and I managed to get acceptable results down to 1/3 of a second. Olympus Micro Four Thirds compatible cameras automatically correct distortion in camera, so the following won't be noticeable if shooting JPEG images, or if the software supplied with the camera is used to convert the RAW images. For a lens with a zoom range over three times, distortion is very well controlled at both ends of the zoom range. Imatest detected 2.8% barrel at 40mm and 0.5% pincushion distortion at 150mm, which are both very mild levels. The distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, so correcting this in image editing software afterwards should be a straightforward affair. The firmware for M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 L differs from the one for M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f2.8 PRO Lens

The latest version for M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 L is version 1.0. Firmware update is not required. Zooming to 70mm maintains the excellent centre sharpness at wide open aperture and the clarity towards the edges is improved over that at 40mm, reaching very good levels at maximum aperture. Again, peak quality across the frame is achieved at f/5.6, where sharpness is excellent across the frame.

Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro focusing

The Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital 40-150mm f/4-5.6 ED has a plastic mount that raises some questions as to its longevity, but contributes to the extremely light weight of the lens. In the world of online photography forums, one of the negatives you will read about m4/3 systems is the inability to achieve a shallow depth of field. In portraits and especially at weddings, beautiful bokeh is looked fondly upon and part of some very salable looks for clients. It should not be the sole objective, but I digress. So it is up to many many variable when a technically sharper lens (like 300mm f/4) can reveal its benefit over less sharp (75-300mm) and if such times when it would are rare (<10%) then question is, is it worth it? Does the subject really benefit from that tiny sharpness benefit then? Rarely. This is huge differential that makes most sharpness tests moot because they are done either in the laboratory, indoors or ultra low distances, instead in purposed distances. Alone close-focusing can be softer than far focusing as the lenses focal length and sharpness is optimized for infinity (macro for 1:1).