Not sure why the 12-50mm gets such a bad rap?(Warning: Pet photos)

Quite honestly, there seems to be a culture of bashing any kit lens as being not good enough for serious use, and I think it is just pure snobbery. It is the results that count, and having a fabulous lens with corner to corner sharpness won't make you take great images.

Which is fine - I was able to pick up a 14-42II m.Zuiko for not very much money recently, and it is a decent upgrade from the first version, and I'm using it a lot.

Almost invariably, you'll find those most critical of kit lenses (and other gear) don't have any images in their galleries, or even linked to elsewhere.