Best Micro Four Thirds Lenses for Wildlife and Sports

For wildlife and sports photography, Micro Four Thirds cameras and lenses are ideal.

They’re small, compact, lightweight and due to the sensor crop factor, you are much closer to your main subject than you would be with any other camera system.

Whether you have a Panasonic, Olympus or some other brand’s system, the beauty of these lenses is that they fit on all different cameras. If you’re new to photography, this can easily be overwhelming since you have so many options to choose from.

For this guide, we focused on image quality, sharpness and value for money. Basically, everything you need in a sports/wildlife lens without it being overly expensive; plus something you can use for other scenarios as well.

We go through each lens specifically and talk about its strengths, and before that we quickly summarize what the most important factors are when it comes to action photography.

Best Micro Four Thirds Wildlife & Sports Lenses:

Panasonic Lumix G 35-100mm f/2.8 Power OIS
Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO
Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R
Panasonic Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6 Power OIS II
Panasonic Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Power OIS

Olympus M. Zuiko 45mm f/1.8
Olympus M. Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
Olympus M. Zuiko 300mm f/4 PRO IS

We discuss all of these lenses below, but first let’s go through what matters when buying a lens for action.

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What’s Important for Wildlife & Sports Photography?

Here are the 6 most important factors that make a good wildlife and sports lens. We focused on these points when selecting the lenses for this guide.

Auto Focus – The lens needs to have fast and reliable auto focus. While this also depends on the camera you use, all of the MFT lenses we chose have AF systems that can handle wildlife and action very well. Animals are constantly on the go, and even when they’re still you still need a lens that can quickly and accurately acquire focus.

Focal Length – The longer the lens, the better it is for wildlife/birds/sports. Most of the time, you can’t get too close to the action, which is where having the most reach helps the most. For close sports, 24-60mm is ideal, but  anything over 10mm is an absolute must for subjects that are far away. For extreme wildlife, you should definitely look at zooms reaching 300mm or even higher.

Aperture – For indoor sports, or shooting in the dark, you will want an f/2.8 lens. For outdoor action, f/4-5.6 is perfectly fine. Be prepared to raise the ISO in both cases though, because you need fast shutter speeds.

Weight & Size – Don’t forget that telephoto lenses are the heaviest of all. A tripod, or at least a monopod, is a must if you want to shoot for hours.

Optical Image Stabilization – OIS is nice to have, but useless in 99% of sports and wildlife situations. OIS only helps when your subject is still.

Weather-Resistant – Many lenses are weather-resistant which means it’s much much harder for dust, water, or any other particle to get in the actual lens. Now just because a lens isn’t sealed, it doesn’t mean a little bit of rain or dust will damage. It simply means you don’t have to worry that much when shooting in difficult weather conditions.

If you still have some questions about what you need to consider before you get a lens read our guide on How to Select a Wildlife Lens and check out our tips on photographing wildlife. 

Panasonic Lumix G 35-100mm f/2.8 Power OIS

The Panasonic Lumix G 35-100mm f/2.8 Power OIS lens is pro-level telephoto zoom for the MFT format. With a maximum aperture of f/2.8 constant throughout its zoom range, this is a lens that successfully combines, speed, versatility and image quality in one. It is a rugged high-performance lens that is ideal for portraits, sports, wildlife, nature, and even creative landscapes. The field of view is equivalent to 70-200mm in 35mm format.
Sharpness at image center is excellent throughout the zoom range, with an acceptable degree of fall-off towards the corners. Panasonic’s Nano Surface Coating also means that the lens exhibits minimal distortion, and chromatic aberrations are pretty much nonexistent.

Auto focus is about as fast as you could ever want – i.e. it’s pretty much instantaneous – and is also totally silent. What’s more, the internally-housed focus mechanism means that the front element doesn’t move as you focus. More unusually though, the lens doesn’t extend as you zoom either, with all movement taking place out of view inside the barrel.

Boasting a splash-, dust-, and freeze-proof metal body, the 35-100mm was designed to withstand the worst of the elements and is very well weather-sealed. Yet despite these rugged credentials, it is surprisingly small and lightweight.

Finally, although zooms are unlikely ever to compete with primes when it comes to maximum apertures, an f/2.8 telephoto is plenty fast enough to blow the background out to a smooth and pleasing blur at any zoom setting. Combined with the onboard optical image stabilization, it will also allow handheld shooting even in relatively low light.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO

The Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO is an obvious choice for portraiture, stage, sports and wildlife photography. With a constant aperture of f/2.8 at all zoom settings, this a fantastic solution for photographers who frequently need to shoot in low light but who don’t wish to compromise on either portability or image quality.

Equivalent to an 80 to 300mm lens in the 35mm format, the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO allows you to get right into the heart of the action. And super fast auto focus means you’re unlikely to miss a shot when you do. Present, too, is the ever popular AF-MF clutch ring, allowing you to quickly switch between focus modes while shooting.

The lens is also very well suited to producing portraits, with beautiful circular bokeh backgrounds, and at a wide range of focal distance settings. Olympus’s ZERO lens coating keeps flare and ghosting well contained, and purple fringing is minimal. Image sharpness at the corners is excellent, while at the center it’s outstanding.

The sturdily built lens barrel features a user-assignable custom function button, and a twist-and-slide extendable lens hood. What’s more, as it’s splashproof, freezeproof, and dust proof, this is a lens you can rely on. This is a lens you buy and use forever, for anything; a true workhorse. Equivalent to an 80 to 300mm lens, it’s your all-in-one telephoto lens for wildlife, sports and action, although for smaller birds you will have to get closer, or get a bigger zoom.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R

Want a telephoto lens under $150? With fast autofocus and excellent resolution for the low price, the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R zoom lens makes for a much more affordable alternative to the brand’s 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens. Offering coverage equivalent to 80-300mm (35mm format), this is a great lens for isolating a subject against a background, or for capturing action from a distance. It will be of interest to sports and nature enthusiasts, as well as portrait and performing arts photographers. Similarly, silent autofocus means it’s an equally good choice for video.

There’s no flare, purple fringing, or other chromatic aberrations, and in this respect the budget 40-150mm actually stands up very well when compared to even quite expensive Zuiko lenses. Image sharpness towards the center of the frame is also excellent. However, corners are notably softer than with top of the range Olympus glass. Likewise, if smooth rendering of defocussed areas is a priority, you’ll need to consider other options: bokeh is harsh, with noticeable double-edging.

While the f/4-5.6 R may be at the budget end of Olympus’s telephoto range, optically it holds up well and is conveniently light and compact. Nonetheless, build quality is clearly not on a par with that of its PRO series cousins. Likewise, for those who do a lot of low-light shooting, the constant aperture 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO will be a much more practical choice than the relatively gloomy maximum aperture of f/4-5.6 that this lens can muster.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Panasonic Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6 Power OIS II

The Panasonic Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6 Power OIS II lens is a great mid-priced zoom for MFT format cameras. Providing an impressive full-frame focal length equivalent of 200-600mm, this is a versatile lens that will likely cover all your telephoto needs. Permitting you to get distant subjects large in the frame, and defocus backgrounds to a pleasing blur, it’s ideal for nature, wildlife, sports, travel and portrait photography.

Made of lightweight but durable plastic, and fully splash- and dust-proof, this is a sturdy modern weather-proof lens that will withstand the rigors of regular outdoor wear and tear. Although highly compact for a lens offering such a degree of optical magnification, be aware that the front element does extend considerably when in use. AF is excellent, even in dim light.

The lens is overall very sharp, however it will be at its best optically when used on shorter zoom settings. It is not prone to purple fringing or flare and produces extremely attractive out of focus rendering.

The 100-300mm is much cheaper than Panasonic’s Leica-branded 100-400mm alternative. But, unlike the Leica offering, this lens does not come with a tripod collar and lacks the extra telephoto coverage of the more expensive lens. However, given that the Leica has a smaller aperture than the 100-300mm when used on longer zoom settings, and not even necessarily much better optically, the regular Lumix offering will likely satisfy most users.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Panasonic Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Power OIS

Panasonic’s Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Power OIS lens is a beast of precision optical engineering. Offering an astounding full-frame equivalent zoom range of a 200-800mm, and impressive image sharpness, this lens will be a must for many serious photographers of nature, wildlife and sports. No other MFT lens has this much zoom available as of writing this article.

Considering its enormous focal reach, the lens is surprisingly compact. Furthermore, the front element doesn’t extend or rotate when focusing. Only when zooming does the element move forward. The barrel features a switch for toggling between focus-limit settings, and others for selecting either AF or manual focusing, and for OIS. Conveniently, an Integrated rotary tripod mount allows you to rotate the entire lens and camera while it is sitting firmly on the tripod.

Both 100-400mm’s barrel and lens mount are constructed from sturdy metal, and the lens is fully splash- and dust-proof when used with weather-sealed Lumix bodies.

Center image sharpness is excellent between the 100-200 zoom settings, with a slight fall off beyond this point. Very little is detectable in the way of chromatic aberrations or distortion, and flare is well-contained.

As you might expect from a lens that comes with Leica branding and offers such a wide focal range, the 100-400mm f/4-6.3 is not cheap. Beyond this, the primary compromise of such an impressive zoom range is its slow maximum aperture, particularly when used at tele settings. Those looking for a slightly faster but correspondingly shorter option might instead consider the much cheaper Lumix 100-300mm f/4-5.6.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Olympus M. Zuiko 45mm f/1.8

If you are looking for a fast, compact and lightweight close sports lens for the Micro Four Thirds format, the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8 makes for a convincing choice. Equivalent to a 90mm lens in the 35mm format, this is widely considered to be an ideal focal length for portraiture, allowing you to isolate a subject from their surroundings. What’s more, the bright f/1.8 aperture permits shooting in low light and lets you achieve the shallow depth of field and blurred background that is so desirable in portrait photography.

The 7 blade circular diaphragm makes for smooth, rounded bokeh, and Olympus’s ZERO lens coating helps keep ghosting and flare to a minimum, even when pointing directly into the light. Indeed, the lens generally performs very well in high contrast situations, retaining excellent sharpness and detail.

Although a nearest focusing distance of 50cm may not sound especially close, on a 45mm lens this is more than sufficient for shooting tightly-framed portraits. Fast, snappy and silent auto focus makes the 45mm a similarly good choice for head-and-shoulder video interviews, or other movie scenarios where a close-crop is desirable. The lens is ideal for simple sports where you can be very close to the action.

The 45mm f/1.8 comes in a rugged black or chrome metal barrel. However, despite being one of Olympus’s “premium” lenses, it is sadly missing the fast-select manual focus ring of other lenses in the same series. More surprisingly still – for a lens billed as “premium” – is that the 45mm lacks weather-sealing.

It’s ideal for concerts, weddings, portraits or any other situation where you are close to the “field/event”, but can’t be too close to your subject.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Olympus M. Zuiko 75mm f/1.8

Marketed by Olympus as a “high-grade portrait lens”, the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 75mm f/1.8 is a sharp, well-made piece of glass offering a longer-length alternative to more traditional choices for portraiture. However, owing to it’s excellent auto focus and fast maximum aperture, this is also a lens that could be put to good use shooting nature, wildlife, concert, theater and sports photography.

Equivalent to a 150mm lens in the 35mm format, the 75mm f/1.8 exhibits excellent sharpness across the entire image area and throughout all aperture settings. Olympus’s ZERO lens coating helps to keep flare, ghosting and aberrations at bay – even when shooting in high contrast or backlit conditions – and the lens renders out of focus areas of the image beautifully. Indeed, pleasing circular bokeh and feathered edges further boost the 75mm’s portrait lens credentials. Nearest focusing distance is 84cm, which at this degree of magnification makes for some intensely close-up portraits.

Auto focus with the 150mm is fast and silent, owing to Olympus’s gearless MSC (Movie and Still Compatible) focus mechanism. The lens features solid metal construction in either silver or black, with a nicely grippable manual focus ring. On the downside, this is a fairly costly lens, and unlike the more standard 60mm portrait lens, 75mm is not a focal length that will appeal to all users. Additionally, despite the price, the lens is not weather sealed.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Olympus M. Zuiko 300mm f/4 PRO IS

The Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f/4 IS PRO is the first Olympus interchangeable lens for the Micro Four Thirds format to include on-board (as opposed to in-camera) image stabilization. A focal length of 300mm is equivalent 600mm on a full frame camera, so that’s some serious magnification. Combine all this with high-speed precision AF, and excellent image quality, and it’s obvious that this lens will be a great choice for handheld action shooting – such as in sports or wildlife photography.

Traditionally, telephotos have always been prone to aberrations and “color bleeding.” With the 300m f/4 IS PRO, Olympus has worked hard to keep these issues to a minimum. This has been achieved by using extra-low dispersion and extra-high refractive lens elements. Additionally, use of Z Coating Nano technology also makes for a much sharper image.

Closest focusing distance is 115 cm from the end of the lens, meaning that this can also double up for shooting detailed close-ups or headshots with a totally blurred background. Although 300mm is a lot of telephoto capability, the lens is surprisingly slimline and lightweight, weighing only 1270 g. It’s also hermetically-sealed against dust, splashes and freezing temperatures, so you can take the lens to the extreme, safe in the knowledge that it’s up to the challenge. Weather sealing is expected at this price range!

And if 300mm of magnification doesn’t bring you close enough to the action, this lens becomes a super-telephoto with the addition of a converter, offering the equivalent of a 840mm lens in 35mm format.

You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.

Our Most Recommended Wildlife & Sports Lenses

Panasonic Lumix G 35-100mm f/2.8 Power OIS
Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO
Olympus M. Zuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R
Panasonic Lumix G 100-300mm f/4-5.6 Power OIS II
Panasonic Leica DG 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Power OIS

Olympus M. Zuiko 45mm f/1.8
Olympus M. Zuiko 75mm f/1.8
Olympus M. Zuiko 300mm f/4 PRO IS