is very quick to autofocus - the lens takes well under a second to slew through the entire range of focus. The inclusion of stepping motor makes the focusing action smooth and silent for use in both photo and video recording. that, in our testing, provided three and a half stops of hand-holding stability at 35mm, and an impressive four and a half stops stops at 100mm. The real world approach, is what makes the most sense in the field, not charts and myopic specs, and it’s a refreshing, practical angle. Hi, when I want to travel light, I use the lens combination mentioned in this review – Olympus 9-18mm, Panasonic pancake zoom 12-32mm and 35-100mm f/4-5.

You can get cheap new versions from dealers that split up kit packs that sell a body with 2 zooms as 3 items – so this can undercut the cost of the 45-150 a lot. Falloff of illumination towards the corners is fairly typical for a lens of this type, and shouldn't pose too many issues. The operation ensures aperture changes are smooth when recording so there are no unnecessary jumps in exposure and silent operation for optimum audio quality. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture.

Even so, clarity is still very good towards the edges, although sharpness is outstanding in the centre of the frame at this focal length. I think that what has always stopped me with the 35-100 vs the 40-150 is that you seem to get a lot more bang-for-the-size with the 40-150. There is no doubt some level of image post-processing applied within the camera, and in this case the results are excellent.

net, at this aperture, focal length and distance, the "acceptable sharpness" extends more than 10" both in front of and behind the focal point. Not only does it perform smooth aperture changes so there are no sudden jumps in exposure, it also boasts a silent design for enhanced capture of the scene’s audio. No need to carry a tripod as the mechanism helps to reduce large camera shake and vibrations when going handheld in low-light conditions. The inner lens barrel, which extends when put into shooting position, and extends further when zooming towards 100mm, is made of plastic.For those of you looking for a lightweight kit, you might want to consider this little gem very seriously.