Fuzzy image, not a user problem

[loeschaw]

I have an Olympus E-620 that I bought new about two two months ago with a 14-42mm lens. I got a just opened (technically used) 40-150 mm 3.5-4.5 zuiko lens to go with it, and the two lenses and camera have worked wonderfully for me up until yesterday. I noticed that the pictures were a little fuzzy, and I turned my noise setting to off and the reduction to off. I tested the camera with all the levels of sharpness, noise settings, and at fast enough shutter speeds to ensure image quality and no vibration. I also compared image quality with the 14-42 lens. That lens still had great image quality, narrowing it down to a problem with the 40-150 lens I believe. I just cleaned the optics on the lens and there are no scratches or blurs on the glass itself. I also tested to see whether or not it was an autofocus issue, and the same problem exists both with manual and autofocus. It is not a depth of field question either, as the image was still a little fuzzy whether at f4.5 or f22. The image is not super blurry, but the image appears as if there is just a little bit of motion blur all the time, even though I know there isn't any. Please help me if you know anything it could be! Thanks!

[Frog]

I don't know but it might help others answer if you post one of the pics involved.
Maybe with one before the problem appeared.

[freygr]

Are you sure it's not a DOF problem? The longer the lens is the more obvious DOF will be with the lens wide open. An other thing is at the longer focal lengths you have to have a faster shutter speed than with a normal lens as any camera movement will be amplified by the longer lens.

[loeschaw]

I don't think it's a DOF problem, as there have been a few times where there is nothing in the whole picture in focus. I have kept shooting and testing, and it appears that when I use a tripod that the fuzz doesn't show up. So I thought it was solved, but I'm still not sure. I took some shots handheld at 1/30 w/IS, 1/60, 1/80, and 1/125. Even at 1/80 and 1/125 when I zoom in to 50% and 100% resolution, they are a little fuzzy. On the other hand, the 1/30 shots with IS were just as good of quality as the ones taken at 1/125. By the way, these were all taken at f4.5, and were taken as steadily as one can with handheld shots. I was thinking it may be an autofocus problem, but I'm not sure. The other thing is, the lens in question is a 3.5-4.5 40-150 Olympus Zuiko lens, and it is by no means an expensive or super high quality lens. So maybe the problem is just that the image quality suffers a little at 150 mm when handheld?

[WesternGuy]

As Frog has said, it would help tremendously helpful if you could post an example, maybe a before and after type of scenario. It is difficult to judge these types of problems without some examples. One can, of course, speculate, but a couple of good images, narrows the speculation and may get you an answer that helps solve the problem My 0.02 ¢...FWIW.

WesternGuy