I am purchasing an E-PL1 so that I will have digital platform upon which to mount my legacy lenses. I am undecided between buying just a body and buying a kit with the 14-42 lens. The incremental cost is about $100. Is it worth it? I have seen mixed reviews on the Oly 14-42 MkI lens relative to build quality and I am beginning to think I should buy just the body and pickup a better lens later. Thoughts?

Thank you.

The kit lens is actually very nice once you update the firmware to the 1.1 version. The 1.0 had very serious autofocus issues.

If this is any indication, I'd feel lucky unloading my EPL-1 kit lens for anywhere near 100 dollars.

I wouldn't want to not have at least one AF lens. Legacy lenses are great to play with but sometimes I'd prefer to let the camera do a bit more work.

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Nic
E-M5, GH1
Flickr Photostream
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If you're shooting primarily with manual focus lenses and want an AF lens in your pocket "just in case", then the 14-42mm would fit the bill. It's a pretty good lens; maybe not as good as the Panasonic 14-45mm.

The 14-42 is not a bad lens at all. The build quality is what it is...it's a plastic lens with a plastic mount. When you upgrade the firmware the focus speed is nice and quick (well...a lot quicker than it was before).

Go look at the 14-42 image samples. I think you'll be surprised at what the lens is capable of. FWIW I sold off my 14-42 when I bought my EPL-1. I too wanted the EPL-1 for legacy lenses and it works great for that. BUT...I found there where times when I wanted the AF or the zoom or whatever. I ended up buying a second 14-42 to replace the one I sold off. It would have been cheaper to just keep the original one.