Small Gem Kit lens for M 4/3

ABCMO wrote:

Adam, it's good to hear from another enthusiastic user of this lens. I don't see much discussion of it, which a friend who put me on to it thinks is because it is only packaged as part of kits in North America. Indeed, I purchased mine for $208 in January from a Japanese vendor on Amazon. Amazingly, after I completed the purchase process on Amazon, the lens was delivered to my door here in Columbia, Missouri in about eight days! The package even included a small amount of hard candy, presumably as a thank you for purchasing the lens. A Japanese business custom? I should note that mine has a metal base. I had read that there were two versions of this lens: one with a plastic base that I think was the one included in the kits, and the other was one with a metal base that was sold as a free-standing lens. And the material used in the base is apparently the only difference between the two lenses.

I got the plastic mount version and no problem with it after 1 1/2 years.

I use the lens on my E-M5, and to my eye it looks to be exactly the size that a lens should look like on this camera. As you note, although it isn't a pancake, it is still small and light. And something I really like is that the most it extends anywhere in its range is one quarter of an inch (about 5 or 6mm). I originally used the Oly 14-42R II that came with the camera, but something that always irritated me was the message to unlock the lens, something I invariably forgot to do. That doesn't happen with this lens. It's on when you turn on the camera. And as far as sharpness goes, it is very sharp. I found your comparison to the legendary Pany 14-45 especially interesting--and encouraging. I've often been tempted by the Oly 12-40, but its size and weight just seem to defeat the size advantages of m43 cameras. To me, the size of the Pany 14-42 MII is perfect, and I suspect the image quality in good light would be hard to distinguish from the 12-40 in a 13 x 19 print. And for one-fifth the price!

My thoughts exactly.

I also got the Panny 45-175mm because it doesn't change length when zooming.

As I said, I seldom see a discussion of this hidden gem, so your review was especially welcome and confirms many of my positive observations about it.

Al