Well, as you know, I jumped on the Staples $109 offer yesterday for the M.Zuiko 40-150.  I had almost purchased this lens a while back instead of the 45-200, but thought I'd rather have IS.  The 45-200 has been a rather schizophrenic lens for me, performing generally quite well close up, and extremely good in some instances, but very inconsistently on distant subjects...sometimes sharp, sometimes horribly soft, even with good shutter speed and OIS on. 

Well, the 40-105 got here today and I had a chance to shoot around with it for a while.  First impressions?  It's sharper overall than the 45-200.  It's also very consistent between close up and distant shots, and maintains its image quality quite well throughout the zoom range.  It's even quite sharp at 150mm wide open, which is great.  Of course, OIS missing is a problem on my GH2, but overall, I think I got better results today than I usually get with my 45-200. 

The lens is MUCH smaller and half the weight, and while there's no wobble, and the tolerances seem quite tight with the 40-150, the plastic material feels cheaper.  Overall, though, I prefer the smaller size of the lens.  AF is very fast on the GH2 and dead silent.  AF feels to be the same speed as the 45-200, which is very good.  On the E-P1 it's acceptable, but nowhere near the speed on the GH2...a good three times slower at least.  (there's a reason I haven't used my E-P1 since I got my GH2)

Here's the lens on my GH2, and next to the 45-200 for a size comparison. (the box is also nearly half the size of the 45-200 box).





Some quick shots from this afternoon...only shot with it for about a half hour, so there's nothing too exciting.  All on the GH2.

@ 40mm, f/8:


@ 150mm, f/5.6:


@ 150mm, f/5.6 (vignetting added in post, and cross processed):


And, I did a quick, rather informal test against the 45-200.  These are all 100% crops, and all wide open.  I have to say that just looking at these crops makes both lenses look a little softer than they are in real world applications, but from my samples today and my experience with the 45-200, they seem valid as a comparison...they were just done hand held in a chair with bounce flash...here's the full scene (this is the Oly at 150 shot).  I focused on the O in Olympus in each shot.



And the crops:


I have to say, it looks like my 45-200 might find a new home...


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