Olympus 40-150mm Review

Good Points
Sharp, with minimal geometric distortion at extreme edges and with decent color. Not easily handheld in low light, but better focusing than the 14-45 kit lens. 45mm makes a good portrait shot, and the lens has almost no chromatic aberration.
Its 58mm filters also fit 14-45, etc.

Bad Points
No internal anti-shake mechanism. Adding or removing a filter must be done with a hand on the front section, lest lens's gearing suffer damage. And it ain't compact even w/o the hood on.
Olympus ought to catch on that this lens is a tad too long when attached to fit most Oly cases.

General Comments
Once I had to use the 150mm setting indoors, hand held, at an unexpectedly candle-lit supper (I know: Prior Planning Prevents P-Poor Performance) -- and, to my amazement, most photos were v. good for 5x7 in. prints and full screen PowerPoint Slide Show. The Olympus 40-150mm is a fine outdoorsy lens -- still hard to keep steady. Teamed with Oly's 14-42 or the more expensive base lenses, it makes a rich set of focal lengths. Couple it with the Zuiko Macro 35 or 50, and you get a versatile portrait-taker. Using it, alas, makes the 14-45's lack of sharpness so apparent you may pack the latter in a drawer except for family shots. For anything less wide, the 35 macro and the 45-150 are terrific -- and terrific buys for very large prints. Just turn off the body's over-zealous noise-reduction -- and the Oly Master's, too.