eilivk wrote:
jeffharris wrote:
eilivk wrote:
Earlier the seller said he has an Olympus 14-42 for sale, are there more than one and is it good? Also on Panasonic cameras?
Skip the Olympus 14-42mm kit lenses. While okay, they’re not as good as either the Panasonic 12-32mm or 14-42mm II.
To be sure, here is the lens and camera, this is the one to be avoided?
Yep, that’s the one.
Hm, too late to cancel, but can maybe change. So which is worst?!
What follows is long, overly-detailed and based on my personal experience and opinions as far as optical quality goes, but hopefully of some use!
I agree with what alcelc said, actually (I used to have a Panasonic 14-42 PZ, which is what your picture shows) - it is pretty good optically - it's just that it is so vulnerable to vibration during exposure from the mechanical shutters of many cameras that its quality is then knocked down considerably by the softening inflicted by this in a wide range of typically-used shutter speeds. The fairly short-lived X series of which it is a member was intended to have higher-than-normal optical quality, in fact, so that was a great irony for this lens. Of course, with absolutely any of the other kit lenses discussed (Olympus and Panasonic 14-42 models, and the Panasonic 12-32), there is some scope for sample variation as they are made in large numbers for a low price - since they are heavily discounted, typically, when included in a kit with a body.
There are lots of different 14-42mm lenses in both the Panasonic and Olympus ranges. I believe you may have mentioned you have the first Panasonic 14-42mm lens which was kitted with the G3 - the large one that looks like the previous 14-45mm Panasonic kit lens but is not as well thought-of. Aside from a few colour variation restyles, that one didn't change (I was never a big fan of it as it is large and has a really patchy, stiff zoom action on every example I've had). The much smaller 14-42 II (which I think carries an A suffix on its code-like Panasonic model number, rather than a II) is a lot nicer, and is surprisingly small. It doesn't need extending for use (in fact, it's the same size as the Olympus 14-42 II or 14-42 IIR which I'll describe in a minute, when the latter is retracted and unusable) and it only extends a little on zooming, which is unusual. This lens first appeared as a standard kit lens for the GF6 and the GX7; it has been available in a very bright milled metal silver finish, an iridescent milled black metal, and the current black version is satin matte black metal (not milled) with greyish silver HD and focal length markings (vs red and goldish yellow on the earlier version). These are metal skins over the plastic chassis. Note: if this lens has a plastic mount, it's from a camera kit. If it's metal, it was sold on its own. In my experience of several, is optically very good, but can vary, as they all can.
The Panasonic 12-32, which is either matte silver or matte satin black, is very petite and requires manual extension past a strong detent to use. A similarly strong twist is required to retract it. At least on earlier ones, this sometimes resulted in its metal zoom ring coming unglued from the plastic body of the lens barrel. It has a good optical reputation; the ones I have are OK but not outstanding. The ones supplied initially in GM1 and GM5 kits had metal mounts; later, from the GX80/85 and presumably the GF7 onwards, they are plastic. I assume maybe separately boxed ones could have had metal mounts, like the 14-42 II/A. Something to note with the 12-32 - it has no physical ring for manual focus at all; Panasonics marketed from its time onwards typically use the touchscreen to produce a slider for manually focusing it; earlier Panasonics and all Olympuses just cannot do MF with it as far as I know.
The first Olympus 14-42mm kit zoom was supplied with the E-P1 and E-P2; it can be recognised by its 40.5mm filter thread and slightly broad barrel. It came in matte black (with matte silver mount ring) or matte warm silver and had a metal mount. It is pretty good optically but has a reputation for its two-part extending barrel being disturbed by shutter shock. It's retractible - you twist it through a light click stop to extend, and pull a little lock switch backwards to retract it (easily). Unlike the above Panasonics, it doesn't have internal focus, so it extends and rotates the barrel as it focuses, and it does this quite noisily and slowly in modern terms. The zoom action is also quite "crunchy". There was also a slight variation of this lens which was supplied as the kit lens for the E-PL1 - this one has a plastic mount instead. The black version doesn't have the contrasting silver rear ring - it's all-black. The silver one looks identical to the metal mount - they both have a little S added to the full spec designation that appears on top of the lens, between the focus and zoom rings. These both should be rare these days, and best avoided IMHO.
Both these lenses were replaced by the totally redesigned 14-42 II lens, which has a 37mm filter thread. Its finish is the same as the original version of the previous lens (i.e. black version has a matte silver ring at the rear, same now-dated scalloped zoom ring) but it always has a plastic mount. It's much slimmer than the original version albeit ever so slightly longer when retracted. It has the same extension and retraction mechanism (light click to extend, flip a little switch back to retract - this is to prevent accidental retraction - many use it when extending the lens but it is totally unnecessary to do so as with the previous version). Unlike the previous design, this lens has a very quiet, fast AF motor and internal focusing. It's usually quite a decent optical performer too.
This lens then became the 14-42 IIR, which is still current and is exactly the same in all but cosmetics. The focus ring is finely textured in the current style, with a finer ribbed focus ring and the black version is all-black; the silver version is a cooler, more metallic silver than the older lenses. Both have a removable trim ring that fits over the hood-mounting bayonet; it simply makes them look nicer with it in place. Neither the II nor the IIR is anything like as vulnerable to shutter shock as the original two versions.
Finally we have the still-current 14-42EZ, the pancake zoom. Like the Panasonic 14-42 PZ, this is an auto-extending/retracting power zoom lens. Like the Panasonic, it has a metal mount, but it is smaller. It too is not particularly bothered by shutter shock. Like the Panasonic, the motors are fast and quiet, and focus is internal. Whereas the Panasonic zooms with a switch, the Olympus disguises it as a zoom ring, though it operates a short-travel 2-direction sprung switch under the ring. Unlike the Panasonic, which uses a 2-way rocker switch to manually focus, the Olympus uses a ring just like the non power-zooms. Early production of the 14-42EZ (some years ago now) seemed to have some optical issues causing softness which were quickly corrected in later production (probably a manufacturing alignment issue I suspect) and I have only met one bad one personally out of about 8 (I found a supplier of really cheap ones split from kits and they came in handy for various bodies!!).
All the Panasonic lenses described have optical image stabilisation of one generation or another; all the described Olympuses don't. All of the lenses described except the original Olympus (metal mount and plastic mount S version) have quiet, fast internal focus.
