Zuiko Digital (Olympus) 40-150mm f3.5-4.5 -Standard

[admin_old]

Focal length: 40-150
Lens construction: 13 Elements
Angle of view: 30-8.2 Degrees
Closest focusing distance: 1.5m
Max aperture: F3.5-F4.5mm
Min aperture: f22
Filter size 58mm
Dimensions: 3D x 4.21L
Weight 15.75 oz.
Tele 1.4: Yes MF only
Ex Tube: Yes .62X magnification
Olympus Website (http://www.olympusamerica.com/e1/sys_lens_40.asp)
This is an older version of the lens, which was replaced with a newer version of the 40-150mm f4.-5.6. The new one is half the size, and most likely better, but slower. It is located here (http://fourthirdsphoto.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=11489).
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4178

[admin_old]

Review to come at some point.

[admin_old]

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/olympus_1122_2835/index.htm
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/oly-e/zd-040-150.html

Post edited by: tspore, at: 2005/10/09 15:58

[admin_old]

In our poll in which 21 people voted, they gave this lens an average of a 3.86 out of 5 points. Over all this is a very good lens for its class. It is much smaller than the 50-200mm. Also it is slower, however, again when considering the two lenses you need to ask is the 50-200mm worth $500.
http://fourthirdsphoto.com/images/stories//40150m.jpg

Post edited by: tspore, at: 2005/10/15 14:13

[admin_old]

Please use this format, or else you will be deleted!!!
Pros:
Cons:
price paid:
Other info:

[halfmac]

Pros: Well built sharp telephoto zoom with metal mount. Faster than most cheap tele zooms. Light weight and small in size.

Cons: Front turns when focusing and putting on the lens shade. No focus scale.

price paid: came in kit.

Other info:[/quote]

[robh3]

Pros: Cheap (only paid $100 new), fast (3.5-4.5 is faster than competition), sharp (really sharp for a cheap zoom in the $200-$300 region) and lightweight.
Cons: For this price ? Only the fact that the viewfinder is a lot daker than with the 14-54 ! This is not a bad thing as long as Olympus makes so much noise at higher iso\'s. When that changes, it\'ll be an issue.
price paid: $100
Other info: No

[pip22]

Pros: feels well made and good value.

Cons: Much more bulky than equivalent budget-priced zoom lenses from some other makers. For example, the roughly equivalent DX Nikkor 55-200mm covers the same range (allowing for different sensor size/crop factor) yet manages to be much more compact. I saw them both side by side in the shop where I bought mine and the difference in diameter of the lens barrels really struck me.

[ditto1958]

Pros: light, well balanced, sharp for price

Cons: slow, sometimes won't focus in low light

Price: came with kit (should be part of "pros")

Other Info: I have been very surprised to find that I use this lens 80 percent of the time. I thought the 14-45 would be my main lens. This one's a real sleeper.

[Ronin (Ed)]

Pros: Nice light weight, tracks moving objects very well in "C-AF" mode. Focuses very fast and very accuarate on stationary targets as well. I like the glass quality of this lens and all Zuiko Digital lens.:up:

Cons: None. I really like everything about this lens.

Price: Bought used (factory reconditioned) $125.00

Other Information: None

[Pille]

Pros: light, sharp and rugged, very nice lens for the price

Cons: focus can hunt in low light/not enough contrast situations

Price: came with the kit

Other info: this lens is on my camera about 95% of the time

[Giordano Biondani]

Pros: Light, compact, sharp
Cons: Front element (focus) rotates when placing and removing the hood
price paid: $239.95 at Adorama
Other info:

[rajeshr]

Pros: Inexpensive; Light; Good lens for the price.

Cons: Trouble focussing in low light situations; slow.

Price paid: $125

Other info: Good bargain lens, but I'm going to go for the 50-200 instead.

[barondla]

pros: really good optical quality for the price
decent max aperture
same filter size as companion 14-45
nice lens shade that reverses for storage

cons: no distance scale
focus by wire feel
lens focal length creeps when pointed up or down
doesn't focus very close
front of lens rotates when focus
no cut out in hood for pola use
Of the two kit lenses this is the one I leave on the camera most of the time. It really is good quality for the price.
thanks
barondla

[DLL_4ever]

Pros: Good distance, good quality (in both build and image). Good aperture range.

Cons: Fairly slow. Front element (focus) rotates when placing or removing hood.

price paid: $330 CA (around $290 US i believe).

Other info: Very good quality lens, especially for it's price.

[syntaxerr0r]

Pros: sharpness, nice bokeh, good aperture, light.

cons: slow.

price paid: $99 on eBay

Used on E330, find it to be much better than the other "kit" lens 14-45.

[cisaaca]

Despite having the 50-200mm, the 40-150mm still has its space in my camera bag because of its small footprint which makes it a very valuable tool for street photography. Most people are not intimidated by this tiny lens. Plus, when shooting from the waist level with the E-330, no one really take notice of me. So this is a good photojournalist's tool.

The images from this kit lens is highly useable, and the colours are good, despite not being fast enough and the AF tends to hunt a lot in low light situation, therefore making it quite useless in situations where speed is required.

[cifcap]

Pros: Small for a medium telephoto lens and sharp.

Cons: f/4.5 on the long end

price paid: Came as part of an E-300 kit

Other info: This is a great general purpose lens. The f/4.5 is not too much of an issue for studio work, but I do wish it had a constant f/3.5 apeture. I never owned another lens in its class, but I've heard it beats its peers hands down in performance and size.

JW

[4/3_Pickles]

Pros: Smaller and lighter than other brands similar range lenses. Very good optically for the price.

Cons: The hood rotates when putting the lens hood on or taking it off. It can be "held" in place putting on it the right way, but cumbersome to take off it was reversed for storing.

Price Paid: $171

Other: I think this is a great little lens for a lot of people. A nice lens to have for those saving for the 50-200 too. I don't understand why some do not like the higher aperture value. It was there when they bought it, thus they should know it can't be used easily in certain (dark) situations.

[EVOFans]

Pro's:Cheap but great,very best value for money,Sharpness,CA.... is great for a budget lens,build quality is decent for a budget lens,Lightweight,love the Zuiko Digital box.I will highly reccomend this lens.Best lens in the class(Kit lens class) but not comparable to ZD 50-200mm.

Con's:Mild Speed,Small Apreture(Big for Kit Lens through),Front Element Rotating during Focusing,No Carry pouch(Of course) and no focusing distance scale,hard to focus in low light,Medium Bokeh

Price Paid:RM770 with 3% cc charge + Hoya Filter

[chops]

Pros: Well built, well balanced lens with a real metal lens mount!. Focusing is quick, accurate and quiet. Sharp, crisp images with very natural tones. Compact, light size is perfect for day-long photo shoots.

Cons: None to speak of.

Price Paid: Came as part of E-500 kit.

Other: I see that some complain that the 40-150's "slow" f/3.5-4.5 aperture. When compared to Canon and Nikon's own 75-300 and 70-300 lens, they are f/4.0-5.6 and f/4.5-5.6 respectively. So in that respect, the Zuiko lens is not slow. Not to mention that Canon's cheapest version has a plastic mount and Nikon's cheapest version is very slow to focus.

Yes, Nikon has the 55-200 AF-S lens that's smaller and lighter, but that thing is a toy compared to any of the other lenses and is also f/4.0-5.6. Canon also has a new 55-200 which is just as cheap and flimsy as the Nikon, and just as slow. And I know for a fact that the image quality of both lenses are well below that of even the cheapest of cheap offerings from Zuiko.

I also read that some complain about the front of the lens rotating when putting on and taking off the lens hood, as well as turning while focusing. Neither of these are issues with me. I'm not trying to use the lens while I'm adding or removing the lens hood, so who cares. And if I'm using a polarizer filter, I'm adjusting the filter with every shot anyway, so that doesn't matter to me either.

All in all, the Zuiko 40-150 lens is a great little item that bests anything the compitition has to offer, unless you spend more than $500+ on it.

[srf4real]

I've had this lens for about three weeks and hardly take it off my L1 body. Even though the Leica 14-50mm kit lens is supposed to be renowned... I do a lot of zooming and this lens was all I could afford while saving for some real pricey glass.

pros: sharp images, pretty bokeh, auto focus seems quicker than the Leica f/2.8 on my panny L1. Nice zoom range and still useable for portraits. Cheap, best value in any lens that exists built specifically for digital cameras. Fast enough to be useful in decent light with hyper shutter speeds.

cons: The rotating front lens doesn't bother me. It does hunt for focus in low light, minimum focus distance is 1.5 meters which rules out any macros.

price paid: $100