Bang For Buck Gear Reminiscing: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R

<For this bang for buck post I will repost a 2020 post w/ updates.>

Obvious statement ahead. Camera gear can be really expensive.

I started my interchangeable lens gear churn odyssey with micro four thirds and I still appreciate it. This lens was one of many reasons why.

And I am not even talking about the other two Olympus 40-150mm lenses, the f/2.8 and f/4.

I have written about this lens before. There are a few things that I will get out of the way.

• This lens is cheap. I mean dirt cheap. It can be bought for $129 brand new as I write this post. Can be had for even less used.
• I have created some of my all time favorite images with this lens, even winning office photo contests.
• It is a ridiculously light and small lens. So much so that I do not mind the plastic build and mount. How many other 80-300mm full frame equivalent lenses can easily fits in a cargo pant side pocket are there?
• As a result of the bullets above it is one of the first lenses I purchased the few times I jumped into the MFT fold (Three times for the record.).

I will get on with the usual run-down lifted from the This Old Lens posts with AF added.

• Flare
  • Have not witnessed any offensive flare with this lens.
• Sharpness
  • A sharp lens. This is not a surprise since I have never come across a bad Olympus lens.
• Colors
  • I really like the colors that this lens produces. Vibrant and accurate.
• Bokeh
  • I was surprised by this, because of the MFT sensor and modest aperture, but as with any tele zoom bokeh is possible if you put some space between the subject and the background.
• AF
  • Fast, silent, and accurate even with older bodies.

A great tele zoom all around lens. It served me well on a school zoo field trip years ago.

Here are shots from visits to my home state, NY.

Some shots from a family beach trip.

And now just a few random shots.

This last one is a personal favorite. My son was nine at the time and sitting behind me while we were picking up my daughter. He points the birds out to me and asks if he can take a picture. I put on the 40-150mm and pass it back to him and he returns this.

A solid lens.

Happy capturing.

-ELW