Upgrade or not Panasonic 14-42II new version

Glick1 wrote:

I currently have the #1 version of this lens. Everyone that I have spoke with that has the 2 version says it is definitely worth the upgrade. I have seen them on ebay for about $125.

Is it worth selling mine and upgrading? Thanks!

Both of them cost so little in relative terms that if you already have v1, and are curious about v2, then simply buy v2 and compare them for yourself side by side. Sell the one you like less and recoup most if not all of your investment.

Having said that I've never owned v1 but do own a metal mount version of v2 that was shipped to me from Japan where it's available as a standalone retail unit. I am very pleasantly surprised by how well this lens performs for its price. I find that around f/4-f/8 I'm applying about the same sharpening (40%) as I do for images taken with my 20mm/1.7 to get them where I want, and given the reputation of the 20 for sharpness that's saying something.

As others have mentioned the lens changes very little in size through the zoom range, and is at its shortest in the middle (25mm). It's certainly not the trombone that my 12-35mm is. And yes, the zoom ring is also not as smooth but I think that has something to do with the fact that the 14-42mm is made of much lighter materials for one thing, and also there is the changing of direction of zoom extension at 25mm where slightly more resistance is felt (on my copy, anyway) as the barrel bottoms out and then extends again.