Conventional wisdom tends to state that superzoom lenses of this type are all about convenience and give inferior results to pairing standard and telephoto zooms. But the reality is a bit more complicated than that. In fact, the 14-150mm is pretty sharp towards the wide end of its range (although it’s noticeably soft in the corners at 14mm), giving comparable or better results compared with the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit zooms supplied with many Micro Four Thirds cameras. However, as you zoom beyond 50mm it gets progressively weaker, and at the long end it’s noticeably soft, rendering little in the way of really fine detail. But with careful shooting and processing it’s still good enough for a nice 12x8in print. I've also read people say that in a case like this, where they are both great lenses, to default to the lens manufacturer that matches the camera manufacturer. But if you’re someone that needs an all in one option, then this lens will probably become your best friend. I agree with everything Albert has mentioned. I gave the 12-200 a try because of the 12mm end, for me there is a big difference between 12 and 14mm. The 12-200 is ok but I found that walking a city, I rarely needed the 200mm end but I always want/need the 12mm end. The 14-150 is pretty good but there is that 14mm starting point again. The 12-100 starts at the appropriate point for me and 100mm is more than enough in a typical walk through a city. Shot wide open at wide angle (ƒ/4 at 14mm), the lens shows good results for sharpness, with a good sweet spot in the middle of the frame (~1.5 blur units) falling off to slight corner softness (~2 blur units). Stopping down provides only a marginal gain in sharpness at this focal length at ƒ/5.6, and by ƒ/8 diffraction limiting sets in. By ƒ/11 the corners are creeping up to 3 blur units and the central sweet spot of sharpness is only a small point; by ƒ/16, sharpness is average (~2 blur units in the center, 4 in the corners), and by ƒ/22 the corners are reaching 6 blur units.

We understand this can sometimes be difficult with work commitments, but we will do our best to accommodateyour needs. The only exception would be specific kinds of photography that, for example, require a fast aperture, close focussing/macro capabilities or extreme sharpness. The lens isn’t nearly as compact as some of Olympus’ other offerings but it doesn’t matter as it covers nearly every focal length you’ll ever need. E-M1, 1/1250, f/ 5.4, ISO 200 E-M1, 1/320, f/ 5.6, ISO 1600 E-M1, 1/800, f/ 5.6, ISO 200 Manual focusing is possible in a focus-by-wire fashion. This should not put you off using it as it feels pretty natural in use. The focus ring is slim but adequate for the job. Flare

Conclusions

There's some corner shading when using the Olympus 14-150mm ƒ/4-5.6 M.Zuiko, but it's not excessive; mostly when using the lens at ƒ/8 or below. There isn't any shading to be found between 25 and 45mm, otherwise the most you'll see is a case where the corners are two-thirds of a stop darker than the center, at 14mm and ƒ/4.

Some of you might be wondering whether it would make more sense to choose the Mark II or go with the original version of the 14-150mm. The truth is that the two lenses are very similar. The Mark II has weather sealing, a sturdier body and less flare but the optics and zoom range are exactly the same. Keep in mind that the first version will indubitably be cheaper.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. 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. Unfortunately, we found color fringing in our tests with this lens. Still though, there is no reason for you to cry about it, just incorporate another step. But for a lens at this price and offering so much, you have to expect it. These figures just correspond to the focal lengths marked on the lens; in actual usage, the widest aperture adjusts quite precisely in conjunction with the focal length setting. As you zoom in and out at the widest aperture, you can see the aperture changing in one-tenth increments. One advantage of mirrorless systems is the ability to integrate software distortion correction into the lens design. This means that images contain none of the disturbing barrel distortion at wideangle that plagues superzoom lenses for DSLRs. Unusually for Micro Four Thirds, however, there is visible pincushion distortion at focal lengths longer than about 25mm (that is, 50mm equivalent), which is most pronounced around the 50mm setting. This is disappointing for JPEG users, although it’s easily corrected when processing raw.

The bad news is that the lens hood is an optional extra, but the good news is that many Olympus SLR owners will already have it. The 14-150mm shares the LH-61C hood with the ZD 14-42mm Four Thirds kit lens. 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. 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. 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 😃PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. The lens provides average macro performance, which isn't surprising as it's not marked specifically as a macro lens. Its minimum close focusing distance is around nineteen inches, and it provides 0.24x magnification. A perennial problem with superzoom lenses is zoom creep, or a tendency for the lens to extend under its own weight when carried normally. Our review sample seems almost immune to this; the trade-off is that somewhat stiff zoom action. Compared to Micro Four Thirds kit zooms 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 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.

The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4-5.6 II lens accepts 58mm screw-in filters. The thread does not rotate on focus, making the use of polarisers that much easier. The Olympus 14-150mm f4-5.6 II lens is a really good option for most photographers. It isn’t going to give you the absolute best images, but the images that it delivers are still quite good. If you need a superzoom with weather sealing and a pretty good zoom range, you can’t beat this one. Slap it into your camera and go shooting. You won’t be disappointed; and if you are, you can just fix it in post. The filter thread is 58mm, and does not rotate on autofocusing, which is helpful for photographers who like to use polarizers or neutral density gradients.

Lens body elements

There's precious little at this stage in terms of alternatives; just the Panasonic 14-140mm. Normally we'd look at options from Sigma, but while there are some lenses available for the four-thirds mount, none of them cover the same zoom range as the 14-150mm.