OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R Black For Micro Four Thirds System Camera, 3.75x Zoom Lens, Portable Design

In my LONG experience...and in every lab test you will find, this lens performs better, weighs FAR less and costs a small fraction of any comparable zoom lens. As millions of photographers already know, since the 1970's Olympus Zuiko 'kit' lenses typically perform at levels expected from other brands 'upgrade', high-end and even some 'pro' lenses. This lens has been affectionately dubbed 'The Plastic Fantastic' because it punches FAR above it's class in weight, size and image quality. It's so small and light you'll have no reason to ever leave it home. Sure, it's not as rugged as much heavier metal-construction lenses, but unless you are leaving it attached to a large/heavy camera body and really banging it around, I can't imagine how you'll break it, and I'm not particularly gentle with my gear. If you are shooting MFT (especially if you have in-body-image stabilization) and don't yet have one of these, you need one.

This was my first telephoto lens, and I wasn't too sure about what to expect. The first thing that struck me was how small it is. At it's shortest length, it is only about the thickness of the lens cap longer than the kit 14-42 lens when it's extended. It is also the same size in diameter. I also have the panasonic leica 25mm lens and the leica lens is fatter, and with the hood attatched, it is longer as well. This lens is very lightweight, by feel the same as the kit lens, but does not feel cheap like the kit lens does. My kit lens has spots where it will creak if you squeeze it a certian way on the zoom ring, and the focus ring has a slight gritty feel to it. This zoom lens has none of those issues. The focus ring is nicely damped, and smooth. The zoom ring is the same. I was suprised at how much larger the lens gets when zoomed in; I would say it roughly doubles in length to extend about 5 & 3/4 inches from the camera body. In this state, with the lens fully extended, is the only time it looks a little cheap to me, I guess because of the smooth plastic body that is revealed.Now on to how the lens works. This is where I was truly impressed. I am using the lens on a cheap e-pl1 body, with image stabalization turned on. The lens is fast to focus, and is not noisy at all. I used it on a trip to the zoo, and was impressed with how many good pics I got with it. It is very sharp, even zoomed all the way in, and was'nt hard to use at all. All my pics were handheld, and more often than not were tac sharp. I even got a couple of shots of a helicopter passing buy that shocked me. I could see reflections of something on the back of the heli. I also liked how you could focus right through a cage, making it dissapear in most cases (probably can do that with any telephoto lens, but I'm new to them so was happy to learn that). Of course, lighting was good, and this lens won't compete with a faster one indoors, but used where it's designed to be used it is amazing. I did not notice any distortion or any other problems. If you zoom in on a close subject, you can blur the background very well for that 3D effect.Since I mentioned the Panasonic-Leica 25mm, I will give my thoughts on the two compared. In good light outdoors, the pictures can be very hard to tell apart. The Leica has the advantage for things that are close, because of the fov, but on my old body, the Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm focuses faster, and is much quieter than the 25mm panasonic, which makes lots of clicking noises. Of course, the telephoto lens is better for getting close to a distant subject. Outdoors, I prefer the olympus lens. Indoors, there is no contest, the 25mm is awesome in low light. Finally, there is the price difference. I probably paid too much for the olympus, but you can find it now for around two hundred, and at that price I think it is a steal. Now the panasonic is three times that price, but you do get a lens hood and carrying bag for it, and it's low light capabality. It does seem to be a much higher quality lens. If my shots were primairly outdoors, I would take the olympus over the panasonic for sure, but if you take pics indoors and don't want to use flash, then you should spend the extra for a fast lens made for it. I think they both are keepers, but the olympus is to me the better value.

So, what can you expect out of a 40-150mm zoom on a micro 4/3 system, which can be had for $120 or less on a regular basis?Frankly, more than you might expect.Let's get the bad over with. This thing is chintzy. It is all plastic. It feels like a toy in hand. No compromises were made in the price of this lens. Every expense was spared. The build of this lens is, at best, as bad as the worst kit lens I have used in the last decade. That isn't to say it feels bad. It doesn't. But you're not going to mistake it for a well built lens once you've actually used one. And you know what? That's fine.I don't think this lens is great for the normal price. But at the sale price? You can't not buy it, even if you have a nicer setup. Why is that? This thing is absolutely, positively, miniscule. It will fit in many pockets. It barely weighs more than a pancake lens. It isn't any longer when retracted than many little kit lenses, so it can fit in very shallow spaces.I use an Olympus PEN alongside my big Canon system, and particularly with prime lenses, it can compare very well to my 6D and 24-105L. If I only bring the Pen with me, I never feel bad about it like I did when I used to use a P&S as a secondary lightweight camera. The 40-150 isn't good enough to hold the mantle of "Well, this is damn near as good as my big kit!". It's not even as good as the first generation Canon 55-250mm IS... but it's close enough to that that the size and price make up for everything - it makes the Canon 55-250mm look like a monster in comparison.If you need some reach on an m4/3 camera, but also desire the smallest possible kit - this lens is a fantastic little compromise in a tiny, inexpensive package. It won't wow you if you're used to shooting bigger lenses, but if you want something that you can take anywhere, aren't too fussy about the results, and, if you can get close enough, will get some genuinely good looking shots. Some people freak out a little bit when you point a "small" telephoto lens - my 70-200 f4L is a relatively compact telephoto lens for a full frame system, and it will literally scare some people away from the camera because they think I am filling the whole picture with a pimple. While a quick look through the lens can quell that fear, this little lens will scare nobody.In short, this is a fun little lens. Image quality isn't great on an absolute scale, but it's good enough for casual use, and will surprise you from time to time. But it is so tiny and so inexpensive that there's literally nothing like it out there at all with this sort of range. Pick this lens up. Shove it somewhere when you're bringing your camera around, and you might just find a shot with it that you would have never had otherwise.After all, if the best camera is the one you have with you, shouldn't that apply to lenses too?