Lumix 45-175mm f/4-5.6 ASPH X Revisited

A friend who bought an Olympus OM-D recently, decided to supplement his 14-42 (Eqv 28-84) f3.5/5.6 "kit zoom" with a telephoto zoom. He had his eyes on the Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm f2.8 zoom, he nearly fainted when he found out how much this chunk of a glass cost!

A whopping NZ$ 1,959.00 at our local Photo Warehouse in Wellington city! Since he is a poor photographer like me, who have to save up our pennies for photography addiction; he came and seek a second opinion on an alternative cheaper lens.

First, our friend wanted to know why his dream lens cost so much more than something nearly in the same range, a Lumix 45-175mm f/4-5.6; which is also a "X" lens! The zoom range of this cheaper lens is even longer than the 35-100!