Olympus' second iteration of the kit lens was a marginal improvement: it felt more solid, and offered much better sharpness than previously. It's still not as sharp as the current lens, but it's on the same level for its other optical properties. First off, as this is a consumer-grade kit lens built out of plastic, it is unrealistic to expect professional-quality sharpness here (and as you probably know, kit lenses often get a bad rap for this). This lens, however, does perform remarkably well for a lens of its size and type — as long as you know how to use it. Sell the kit you’re not using to MPB. Trade in for the kit you need to create. Buy used, spend less and get more. Buy. Sell. Trade. Create. I focused on window frame in the center. Center performance is fine but upper right corner is just mush. The shingles, and patio door on the right is soft. Railing on the right is soft too but I can forgive that because I shot it near wide open. I'm not looking at the steps in the foreground because that probably outside the DoF. Barrel distortion is annoying too.

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 II R Overview

Which brings me to mention that one advantage of the 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 II R is that you can use the Oly WCON-P01 wide converter. You can read a review here:The IIR version is physically longer. The EZ collapses into I guess what you call a pancake form (less than 7/8") when the camera is off but upon powering up immediately extends to twice the length (1-3/4"). The zoom ring is electronic (EZ) which means it does not rotate but turns a bit right or left to zoom electrically controlled. That may be an advantage for remote camera control under wifi or Bluetooth where I think there is a remote zoom control. As focusing is performed internally the 37mm filter thread does not rotate, which makes this lens ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. There is a slim manual focus ring at the front of the lens barrel, which makes manual focusing possible. The minimum focus distance is 20cm, which makes this lens suitable for shooting in tight spaces or for the occasional close up. For instance, I bought an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II as a kit with the 14-42mm II R and it was a screaming deal! Especially considering the respectable optical performance that can be coaxed out of this lens. If you are already considering buying an Olympus body that offers a kit with this lens, I think it’s a no-brainer to grab it! What I Dislike! Retail Pricing

Olympus M.Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R Lens Review

Featuring an all plastic design, this is definitely a consumer grade lens, but can produce sharp, pro quality results if used correctly in the right situations. Unlike many pancake zooms, the Olympus M.Zuiko 14‑42mm f/3.5‑5.6 EZ has a powered mechanism, meaning that you don't have to manually telescope the optic to deploy it. Simply turn on the camera and the lens will automatically extend. As mentioned above, the build quality of this lens is, besides the glass optical elements, 100% plastic. Although this not surprising given the price of this lens, it is another reason why I would not pay the full retail price. For a throw-in kit lens, however this is perfectly acceptable. Given the exceedingly small size of this lens, the plastic seems more likely to be durable than if it was built for a larger lens that would have more mass to throw around in the case of being dropped.

No hood is supplied with this lens, probably because there is nowhere to attach it, also it would add to the bulk of the lens. Shooting into the light is no problem for this optic and it proved itself resistant to flare during testing. We tested the OM-D E-M10 III with Olympus's 14-42mm EZ 'pancake' lens, which extends when you switch the power on I will eventually get the 12-40Pro and one or two primes, but for the moment I'm happy with what I have - it's my favourite kit for travel.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III review | Digital Camera World Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III review | Digital Camera World

Smallest 3x zoom with 14-42mm focal length (especially 42mm end is important for landscape and portraiture) Curiously, macro performance has taken a bit of a hit compared to the previous model - just 0.19x magnification instead of the previous 0.24x magnification. Minimum close-focusing distance is unchanged at 25cm (just under a foot).

The lens took about a second to go from infinity to close-focus: quite fast, and nearly silent. Focus was quite confident, something we've been scrutinizing with Olympus' contrast autofocus detection method. Sample photos are available of two laboratory test targets to help in our readers' evaluation of the lenses we test. The VFA target should give you a good idea of sharpness in the center and corners, as well as some idea of the extent of barrel or pincushion distortion and chromatic aberration, while the Still Life subject may help in judging contrast and color. We shoot both images using the default JPEG settings and manual white balance of our test bodies, so the images should be quite consistent from lens to lens.

Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED Zuiko Digital Review Olympus 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED Zuiko Digital Review

Chromatic aberration is noticeable in any photograph taken with this lens, appearing in the corners and areas of high contrast as magenta-green fringing. It's most easily noticed in the wide angle (14mm).

The lens is designed to fit on micro four-thirds camera bodies such as those produced by Olympus and Panasonic, and the lens will work interchangeably on either system. It features a variable aperture design, so the widest aperture you have available changes as the lens is zoomed towards 42mm: Focal length The Zuiko Digital 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 ED is the standard kit lens which Olympus supply with their lower-tier DSLRs, including the E-420 and E-510. Announced in September 2006 to accompany the launch of the E-400, it shares that camera's defining characteristic, being remarkably compact in size. Indeed it takes advantage of the relatively small size of the Four Thirds sensor to be comfortably the smallest and lightest DSLR zoom lens currently available, great for those users who wish their camera systems to be as portable as possible.