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Abbreviations

Specification

Sources of data

• Olympus Zuiko Interchangeable Lens Group booklet.
• Olympus OM System manual for Zuiko Interchangeable Lenses Group booklet (November 1981).
• Olympus OM Sales Manual: OM-2, OM-1, OM-10, T20.
• Olympus OM-1 OM-2 booklet.
• Olympus OM-1N instruction manual (June 1980).
• Olympus OM-2N instruction manual (July 1979).
• Olympus OM-4 booklet (November 1983).
• Olympus OM-10 booklet (March 1979).
• Olympus OM-10 instruction manual (August 1994).
• Olympus OM10 Quartz instruction manual.
• Olympus OM system booklet (December 1985).
• Olympus OM-4T booklet (August 1986).

Manufacturer description

From moderate telephoto right into the super telephoto range, with a bright F5 aperture and a weight still way under a kilogram. Focus is uniformly sharp throughout the zooming range, and aberrations are kept well under control even at the very close 2m minimum focus.

From the Modern Photography magazine (1981)

Here we have a lens offering a whisker less than a 3:1 zoom ratio, and giving you 50mm more than the more common 80-200mm zooms at the tele end of the spectrum. The price you pay (other than monetary) for this privilege is about 1/2 to 2/3 of a stop in lens speed and an inch or two in overall length. Olympus has kept the weight down to just under 2 lbs., a quite reasonable figure.

In typical Olympus fashion, the zoom and focus rings are rubberized and nicely differentiated by feel. The 7/8-in. wide knurled zooming ring works quite smoothly and is marked at 85, 100, 120, 150, 200, and 250mm settings. The 1 3/8 in. wide diamond pattern textured focusing ring gets you down to closest distance in a just-under-180° turn, and its action is smooth and precise. A built-in sliding lens shade at the front of the barrel extends 7/8 in., effectively minimizing glare, but it would be even better if it could lock at the extended position. At the other end of the 85-250 is a very solidly constructed rotatable tripod platform. It has no click-stop settings, but it can be locked firmly at any position desired with a comfortable, well designed locking knob.

This lens does not provide frame-filling head shots at its shortest focal length and closest focusing distance - chest-to-head portraits are as close as you'll get unless you select a longer focal length. However, this lens balances surprisingly well on camera, permitting hand-held shooting at slower shutter speeds (1/125 sec. and even 1/60 if you're steady) than you might expect. At the 250mm setting you'll do better mounting the lens on a tripod if you require critically sharp pictures at such speeds, but hand-held shots at 1/250 sec. and up are, nevertheless, possible.

In the scale legibility department, the 85-250 suffers the same minor problem as the 35-70 - it's not easy to see the green-on-black focal length digits in dim light. However, all other scales are quite legible. In effect, what Olympus has done with this lens is to keep the specifications quite conservative and concentrate on achieving high levels of optical performance.

From the editor

This powerful zoom covers the range from moderate to super telephoto. Images remain in focus throughout the zoom range maintaining performance as high as with fixed-focus lenses.

Other telephoto zoom lenses in the Olympus OM system

Lenses with similar focal length range