Nothing to worry about. It's just the OIS.

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--Mike Aubrey
OM-D E-M5, G2, Oly 9-18mm, Panny 14mm, 20mm, PL25mm, CV35mm f/2.5, Oly 45mm, CV58mm f/1.4, Oly 75mm, Oly 50-200mm SWD
A Photography Enthusiast
500px

I had the Oly 40-150mm, and it was a good lens. I think the 45-175mm is a little better, though, especially at the long end. It's not much, but the images seem to 'pop' a little more (microcontrast?).

One of the most important factors in my decision was the smaller size when zoomed. The 45-175mm is quite tiny, and stays that way all throughout the zoom range. The reversible hood is smaller too.

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E-PM2 & OM-D in sunny Florida

Uh oh, took a few test images today and they aren't sharp at all.

From what I understand, there is no way to turn off the OIS on an E-PM2, because the Lens IS priority ON really just means default to the OIS rather than the IBIS of the body.

Will post some samples when I get a few minutes. Damn, this lens is really nice otherwise...I like the PZ and the size.

It may be going back to Amazon...

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Olympus PEN E-PM2, Panasonic Lumix G5, ZD 14-54 II, PZ 45-175 X, P14/2.5, Sigma 30/2.8, Zuiko 24/2.8, FL-36R, DMW-MA1

Have you considered the 75-300? It's amazingly small and light for what it is, slightly outperforms the 100-300 (I haven't seen comparisons to the mid-range zooms), and you would need to do far less cropping. Especially if you only need it for a daytime lens, I suspect you'd be fine. A bit more moolah though...

I am highly impressed by the 45-175 on my EM5. I used a Canon 80-200/2.8L on my 40D prior to purchasing my EM5 and while the 45-175 isn't as good as that fabled Canon zoom, it's definitely adequate for my needs. I highly recommend it.

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Olympus E-M5 with 14-42 kit
Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42 kit
Olympus 45/1.8
Panasonic 20/1.7
Panasonic 45-175
OM 50/1.8
OM 28/2.8
OM 80-200/4.5

My Flickr photostream
My Photo Blog

I have one, it's a very good value for money lens, compact, lightweight and very good IQ. There is the double image issue although my copy isn't too bad and is fine when used with the G5 electronic shutter.
It's doesn't have the detail or resolution of say the 12-35 or 35-100 but as long as your not pixel peeping then its fine.

Paul

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G5, GH-3, 7-14, 12-35, 35-100, 25.
RX100

You can turn OIS off - that's the whole point of Lens IS priority. When that's on, OIS is on. When that's off, OIS is off. At that point, you have the choice of turning IBIS on or not.

It's a fairly easy test. You should hear a faint humming if OIS is enabled, among other things.

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E-M5 | E-PM2 | mZD 12-50 | ZD 12-60 | P 14-42 X | mZD 40-150 R | PL 25 | mZD 45

Just shot some handheld shots @ 175mm w/G3 @ 1/100,1/160,1/200,1/250, 1/350 sec. The object was the mountains from my backyard approx 5000 ft. up and 1-2 miles away. I could see no difference in sharpness among them. They look relatively sharp normal and @ 100% are certainly less sharp. They don't appeared blurred or double imaged, however. Outside, shooting objects @ 50 ft., much sharper!(some difference from 1/160 to 1/1000) Inside, I shot some photos of my wife's painting on the wall @ 175mm, iso 800 and 1/16 sec from 15 ft., ambient light, handheld, and I could make out the brush strokes @ 100%. Not as sharp as the 45 oly or 25pl for sure, but brush strokes nonetheless! My take is this lens does fine for $229. If you want tack sharp @ 300mm equiv.w/variable zoom you'd have to add $1000+ to the price. 70-200L f4 maybe. I used to have a Tamron 18-270mm on a 40D and I think they were about the same IQ wise. I am going to try the 100-300 next week to see how it compares. On amazon, you can get $100 off w/purchase of G5 or GH2 and can play with them until end of Jan. and still get full refund (-shipping).

If you are shooting objects that are 1-2 miles away, you are going to get atmospheric haze that will certainly reduce sharpness and contrast, so I would expect those pics to be much less sharp than those with a subject distance of 50 feet.

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Olympus E-M5 with 14-42 kit
Olympus E-PL1 with 14-42 kit
Olympus 45/1.8
Panasonic 20/1.7
Panasonic 45-175
OM 50/1.8
OM 28/2.8
OM 80-200/4.5

My Flickr photostream
My Photo Blog

Lots of feedback on the Panny 45-175 vs the 45-200 and the Oly 40-150. But how about the new Panny 45-150?

Personally, I can vouch for the Panny 100-300, which I use almost exclusively for wildlife photography.

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Panasonic G5 and Panasonic GX1, Lumix 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6, Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6, Lumix 100-300mm f/4-5.6, Lumix 14mm f/2.5, Lumix 20mm f/1.7

Olympus E-PM2, Zuiko 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6, Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R, Zuiko 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6, Zuiko 40-150 f/4.0-5.6 R, Zuiko 15mm body-cap lens, Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, Zuiko 45mm f/1.8