The Olympus M.Zuiko ED 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II Lens is one that is a lens that you can’t really complain about when it comes to image quality. At the price point, we can’t expect the image quality of Olympus’s Pro lenses or their premium offerings, but it’s still no slouch at all. Bokeh Shot at the 150mm end of the image at f5.6, which translates to 300mm at f11 Despite all this glass, the 14-150mm is surprisingly compact, with a barrel diameter of 63.5mm and a length of 80.4mm from the mount to the front of the non-rotating 52mm filter thread. In context, it’s smaller than Olympus’s budget M.Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f/4-5.6 telezoom and barely larger than 18-55mm kit zooms for APS-C DSLRs. At 285g it’s not especially heavy, either. We find the E-M5 III to be a fantastic companion for travel and general photography, producing excellent images under a wide range of scenarios.

Can I drop my experience nugget? I have used and owned the Olympus 14-150mm Mark II when I switched from Panasonic GX7 to Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II. I wanted the weather sealing because I have learned that UK is rainy enough to make their own ancient flood. For a lens offering a zoom range over 10x, this optic is incredibly compact and lightweight, weighing only 260g. The lens barrel is typical of Olympus' consumer and kit lenses although the lens mount is metal. As a result of its compact size and light weight this lens is a perfect companion for the Panasonic Lumix G3 body used for testing. But I traded in the lens to get the E-M1 Mark I 3 years ago and I got the Olympus ZD 14-54mm f 2.8-3.5 Mark I and that lens felt a huge improvement in rendition and image quality. Since then (and very recently) I moved to Olympus 12-100mm f 4 Pro and I am very happy with the lens, more then I hoped I would. The focus ring of the lens is an indented ribbed plastic just 1/2 inch wide. The ring uses a ''fly-by-wire'' system to achieve manual focus results, and the E-P1 provides some interesting manual focus functionality. When you turn the focus ring with the MF assist option on, the camera brings up a magnified center view to allow you to precisely focus. The ring will turn forever, as there are no hard or soft stops in the focus ring, and there's no way to know how many ''degrees'' of turning action are available. The fly-by-wire operation does allow for an interesting option: you can set the focus ring direction to either left or right, from the camera's menu.

I did not observe any chromatic aberration with this lens, even in shots featuring tree branches taken straight into the sun. Example of a photo taken into the sun – E-M1, 1/500, f/ 8, ISO 200 PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. Travel photographers are the ones that will make the most of this lens’s autofocusing abilities. Ease of Use It’s fair to say this lens is much better suited to some Micro Four Thirds cameras than others. Long lenses such as this tend to work better on cameras that have eye-level viewfinders, as this enables a more stable shooting stance. Its maximum aperture in the telephoto range is also decidedly slow (ranging from f/5.2 at 50mm to f/5.8 at 150mm), and this means that if you use it on a Panasonic body without in body image stabilisation (IBIS), you’ll need either lots of light or high ISO settings to achieve the high shutter speeds needed to avoid blur from handshake. The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II is generally light on features (putting aside its huge zoom range, of course). There is no distance scale, focus limiter, function button or tripod collar. Apart from the focus and zoom rings, the lens barrel is entirely devoid of controls. The most attractive feature of the lens is its extensive weather sealing.

If there was an issue with any format it likely stems from attempting to bench mark the cameras against each other. Some times the differences between cameras are so marginal that the differences really don't matter in real world shooting situations, or at least in +90% of shooting situations. However this is often what is called best and its rare that actual output is compared to try and assess whether the numbers are the whole story. The zoom ring of the lens is plastic with large raised ribs, about an inch wide. The ring takes about 80 degrees to move through its range of focal lengths and turning action is very smooth - firm but not too tight, requiring two fingers to move. There is significant extension with this lens - when zoomed in to 150mm, the lens grows in length by 2 1/2 inches. Given its small size, zoom creep isn't a factor. The 58mm filter thread does not rotate on focus, which is good news for users of polarisers and graduated neutral density filters.

Specifications

Olympus has never really given us a reason to complain about the sharpness of their lenses, though we found this lens to not be as super sharp as some of their other offerings. But for what this lens is (a superzoom with weather sealing) it isn’t too shabby. Olympus’s Pro lenses and premium primes beat this though. Color Rendition We understand this can sometimes be difficult with work commitments, but we will do our best to accommodateyour needs. At the time of writing it's not clear whether or not the 14-150mm ƒ/4-5.6 M.Zuiko ships with its LH-61C lens hood; we didn't get one with the sample we tested. The lens is a petal-shaped hood, which attaches via a bayonet mount. The differences between the original 14-150mm f/4-5.6mm and its successor are actually quite subtle, and most of them lie in the build and ergonomics of the lens. Not only does it feature a new solid body but unlike the previous version, it is also weather sealed. With the weather being so wet here in Wales, it was a comfort to know that both our E-M1 and the new zoom could stand up to the rain. At the 14mm end of the range, the diagonal angle of view is 75 degrees, which is similar to that of a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera.

One feature missing, though, is built-in optical stabilization, simply because Olympus uses in-body stabilization for its Pen cameras. This means that Panasonic G-series owners won't get any form of stabilization at all with this lens, which is an important consideration for a relatively slow long zoom. This is the key distinction relative to the most obvious alternative, Panasonic's own Lumix G Vario HD 14-140mm F4-5.8 OIS; however the additional complexity of the stabilized lens results in a rather higher price. Let's see how the Olympus performs. Headline features Examining the MTF readings from our Applied Imaging tests, we see that the lens gives sharp results in the centre of the frame at 14mm, although the corners are weak. Zoom in to 50mm and sharpness is still very acceptable, becoming more even across the frame. However, at 150mm, images are noticeably softer. Best results are generally obtained at f/5.6-8. ShadingAt 25mm the maximum aperture drops to f/4.7. The lens manages 1,902 lines on the center-weighted test, with edges that are a bit soft at 1,371 lines. At f/5.6 it's a better performer; 2,171 lines across the frame with edges that show 1,799 lines. The best performance is achieved at f/8 (2,409 lines average, 2,201 lines at the edges). From Olympus lens literature) Olympus continues to grow its interchangeable-lens lineup with the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6 II (28-300mm, 35mm equivalent) lens. With a 10.7x zoom ratio, this versatile Micro Four Thirds lens features incredible zoom capabilities in a compact, lightweight body. A dustproof, splashproof construction makes this lens durable enough to withstand the toughest shooting conditions when paired with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 or OM-D E-M5 Mark II. With the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6 II included, the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL dustproof, splashproof lens lineup now offers five exceptional lenses for all of your professional shooting needs.

It gets some dust behind its front-lens, but I haven't noticed so far any effect of it on the image quality Given that the 14-150mm covers such a wide focal range, it is normal that there is some vignetting at the fastest apertures and longest focal lengths. If you set the aperture to f/5.6 at 150mm, for example, vignetting can be quite noticeable in some situations. It gradually becomes less pronounced up until f/13, at which point it completely disappears. Vignetting at 150mm at f/9 – E-M1, 1/125, f/ 9, ISO 200 If I had to recommend a “first lens” to a beginner who had just invested in an Olympus camera, I would not hesitate to suggest the M.Zuiko 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II. There is no better lens to help you develop your photography skills and discover the genre that appeals to you above all others. I have been using this lens on my E-PL2 for a few moths already (I got it as a kit lens), and I would like to compare it with the double zoom kit I had on my previous Olympus E-510 (14-42 + 40-150).

Tamron 14-150mm f/3.5-5.8 Di III review: Verdict

Now, if you want great IQ and state of the art stabilization, then just go straight for the Oly 12-100 Pro and all you GAS will fade away. All the hype is real and it took me two years to realize it. Ideal for a larger body like a EM1 or EM1x. The 12-100 and PL 8-18 is my two lens do everything I want set. (I also own both the Oly 40-150, Pro and slow, zooms) I went hiking and camping all last week and that was all I used, four of the nights it got down to freezing or below, plus rainy conditions, no worries with these pro lens. Yes, they are a bit on the big and heavy side. However, there is no compromise with IQ 😃