14-42ez decentered or something else

I bought a em10ii kit a few weeks ago before going on a trip. The pancake is surprisingly sharp, but soon after I noticed there was something wrong with the images being softer on one side from 14 to about 25mm or so when wide open.

I was short on time so I only did a few quick tests that showed the same thing before taking it to the service center. They cleared it with their "within normal operation" response, but I did more tests afterwards and I definitely see something that seems off.

I did a few more quick sample shots after I got it back, and now I'm quite sure it's decentered, or there is some kind of issue because there is a softness or a doubling of the image on the right side that improves at around f6.3. I've owned two other kit pancakes in the past which I did not use a lot, but I don't remember anything similar to what I'm seeing now.

The first shot is what made me suspect there was an issue, If you look at the full image you can see the right side is really soft:

Subsequent quick tests I took. I know they are not the best but the softness in the right side is present consistently enough on all of them to convince me there is definitely something off.

All shots are taken with the focus point in the center, S-AF, handheld on A priority with ibis on. I can't remember if I used antishock or silent or the regular shutter. As I mentioned, I was short on time so there were not too many options for me for testing, I tried to find a flat subject to shoot in between running errands.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.

I'm sorry for the late reply and lack of more samples, I have been on the road and I'm quite busy when I get back, the last thing I want to is to spend more time checking and going over this frustrating ordeal having already taken it to the service center the first time around.

Here is an repost of one of the sample scenes above which I have paried with another one at F8. You can see the doubling or fuzzyness in the right side start to go away.

As I've said, it's quite frustrating but I'm used to expecting something wrong with Olympus gear when I get it. My last few purchases have required an immediate trip to the service center for mostly minor corrections but they do occasionally miss something which makes it even worse.

I've spoken with them (quite angrily), about this and they've offered to test it again and replace it, but honestly I'm not too optimistic. I might be getting one which isn't as sharp or might have focusing issues like in a previous one I had.

Paul De Bra wrote:

What is happening on the righthand side does not look like plain "blur" as in out of focus, and that is what you would expect from a decentered lens. It looks like something is moving (sensor?) on the righthand side and not on the lefthand side. I don't know what can cause this.

It's definitely not right. My first thought was decentering but I would not rule out something related to the sensor moving or perhaps the mount. I've noticed the mount is unusually tight with some lenses and lose with one or two others. It doesn't seem to affect them though and this is not the first time I've had some play in a mount, it's not usually had any effect on the images. 
I wonder if it blur like this might be from pressing the shutter button, although I highly doubt that is the case. This is my first OMD in a year and my smallest/lightest camera in a while, it could be motion from pressing down on the button which is also on the right side, but I don't think so. I started this hobby in the late 90's with heavier film gear and one of the first things I learned  was to press down on the shutter without moving the rest of the camera. I'm a lot older now but I'm still confident enough in my ability to press the shutter button without moving the rest of the camera.

As @astrotripper suggested, I will also try to test it again with IBIS off. I forgot to do this during my tests, as well as which shutter settings I was using. I don't know if silent shutter or efcs/anti shock influences this sort of thing in such a specific way.

You have had such terrible luck with 14-42mm lenses. Your Panasonic 14-42mm gives you problems too:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/61139642

Henry Richardson wrote:

You have had such terrible luck with 14-42mm lenses. Your Panasonic 14-42mm gives you problems too:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/61139642

Yeah, at least the af issue is not as bad as having a decentered lens. I'm seriously not looking forward to replacing this lens, with Oly, it can be anything. My last one did not perform as well and another one I had seemed to have focusing issues.

I finally had some time to do more tests, IBIS on or off makes no difference. I think that's all the shooting modes and settings ruled out. I was already quite sure but wanted to test it for everything since they kept trying to blame it on something else when I spoke to them.

They definitely have some explaining to do. As a consumer who sent this product for testing for this specific issue and to have them return it and clear it is unacceptable.

Simon97 wrote:

Decentered lenses are certainly annoying. It seems to be more common with today's more complex lens designs. My Canon G9X is a bit soft on the right side when using telephoto. I just couldn't live with it and sold the camera. You will get the "Lens is within acceptable limits" argument when you send it in.

I have two copies of the Panasonic 12-32 pancake lens and it is a very good lens. It might be something to try. You give up some reach on the long end but gain a 24mm equivalent view on the wide end which you might find desirable in your shooting. Just a thought.

I've tried the 12-32 but never owned one. I've always had other lenses (14-140, 12-50, 12-40) in the past that negated the need for one. I sold pretty much all of my kit last year but I thought the E-m10ii would be ideal as a hiking camera for it's size so I picked it up last month.

It's more than annoying when they fail to spot it at the service center and only agree to an exchange after a long and extended conversation, during which they repeatedly suggested it may have been due to  something else.  Apparently their policy is ignore customer concerns at first and only acknowledge any issue if they return or threaten an official complaint.

I could probably tolerate  a bit of softness to one side, but if you look at my samples the defect is quite obvious, and with some instances, it seems to start out further towards the center of the frame. It's especially disappointing as this is the sharpest 14-42 i've owned. My previous ones were either soft or had a focusing issue.

As you stated, it's becoming more and more of a problem, maybe because of design, or mass production demands or the fact that more users are more aware of these issues with images now being easily magnified on a computer screen. Either way, i don't consider this to be an acceptable thing and a promise of an exchange provides little comfort to as I don't know what kind of quality I will be getting....