I bought this as a replacement for the original lens that came with my E-300 which after years of use stopped auto-focusing. The other zoom lens that came with my camera was to big and slower to focus. It's great for far away objects but for every day use it wasn't what I needed. I was very happy when my replacement lens arrived, and am very happy to have my camera back. The picture quality is excellent, and I love the speed at which photos can be taken.
I sort of 'accidently' ended up with an olympus E-410 camera body, no lens. I had it for a year before I bought this lens for it. I asked on the microstock forums to see if anyone used this lens/camera combo for the microstock sites, and someone said he does. I used the lens to take some simple pictures, and submitted them and had the accepted into the agencies. It seems to be a sharp lens, must be if accepted into the agencies. With an olympus body it is a fairly small lightweight package fro walking around. I had about 100 pictures accepted from my microstock agencies from this little lens, so eventually it might even pay for itself
Silly people have abandoned perfectly good mirrorless cameras because the micro 4/3 format has become more fashionable. They do not realize that micro cameras have micro sensors and produce shaky results. I used one of the Olympus cameras in a photography class in college but could not justify the cost for my personal use. Someone offered the lens and camera for parts separately but with no battery, which is hard to find and expensive except on eBay. The battery came with a charger, auto charger cord, lens cleaner, and mini tripod so I was able to revive the camera I really wanted at a comparatively low cost. Now all I need is a vacation to use the admittedly bulky camera and lens.
Verified purchase: Yes
This lens, which came with my E-300 a while back, was notable at its release for being a superior kit lens than the competition offered. Olympus made its mark by including superior optics in its consumer level "kits", lenses that a serious photography could use without apology. The replacement for this lens, the 14-42mm, is a bit better optically, but the build quality is not as good. Like the E-300 that the lens came on, the 14-45mm f3.5/5.6 is built to last and has a metal mount. IF you get a good buy on it, it's a lens well worth owning.
As a starter lens, this is a good choice, though not as fast as the 14-54mm lens, it is half the cost and performs adequately through its focal range. Focus is fast and responsive and its wide angle field is quite good for a lens in the price point. I would recommend it as a general purpose lens but users should consider another powerful telephoto as this one's realized 90mm (35mm standard) is inadequate for anything beyond medium wide angle to portrait imaging. I use this lens on an Olympus E-1. Other lenses I use are the 40-150mm f3.5/4.5 and the awesome 50-200mm f2.8-3.5.
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