I bought one of the most affordable Lumix Megazoom lenses!

Today I want to talk about the Lumix 45-150mm f4-f5.6 with optical stabilization. This powerful little zoom shakes out to be a 90mm to 300mm in full frame terms. Something I absolutely love about the micro four thirds system is that you just multiple the focal length by 2 to get the full frame equivalent—no decimals, no funny business.

The first thing that drew me to this lens is the price. You can find this lens for under $200 brand new and under $100 used. If you go to MPB.com at the time of this post you’ll see an overwhelming number of options because this used to be sold as a kit lens for a lot of entry level Lumix cameras so there’s just a ton of them out there in the wild. The second thing that’s kinda wild about this lens is the size/weight. It’s well built but still very compact and light for a lens with a 300mm max zoom (full frame could never)! it weighs 200 grams which to put into perspective is just 30 grams heavier than the FUJIFILM xf 35mm f2 or about 4 times lighter than the Tamron 70-180mm g2.

So why did I buy this thing? I’ve been interested in zoom lens that reach past 200mm for a while but the full frame offerings were way more expensive and a whole lot heavier. Micro four thirds lenses and gear are often a really good testing ground for photographers. I can try something on this system without breaking the bank and if I like it enough I can decide if I want to invest in the full frame equivalent. We’re going to Japan next month and I'm trying to travel as light as possible (more on that in another post) so the M43rds system was a no brainer. If we’re lucky enough to have a good view from our hotel I want to be able to punch in and capture the cityscapes. This lens will allow me to do that without feeling like it’s a piece of gear that’s a burden to bring around. It’ll easily stow away in my 3L Peak Design sling bag and I won’t regret bringing it even if I don’t attach it to my Lumix GX85.

I've taken a few images and video clips with it so far and I'm impressed, but I'm hoping to really put it through it’s paces in Japan and offer a more in depth review after a couple months of use. One takeaway so far though is that the stabilization is pretty solid for video (even when zoomed in to 200mm or 300mm). Here’s a clip from a rainy day that I took right after I unboxed it + some sample images. If you have or have had this lens let me know what you think about it!