Panasonic 14-42 PZ

Hi all,

I've had a 12-35 for about a year and whilst it's an excellent lens, I'm finding I do most of my shots with primes these days so it seldom gets an outing. When it does get used, it tends to be for casual walk-around use in the daytime. So, I'm thinking of replacing it with something smaller and cheaper. As luck would have it, a friend has just purchased an E-M10 with the new Oly 14-42 pancake and he's selling his old Panasonic 14-42 PZ.

I've got it for a few days on a sale or return basis and TBH, I'm fairly impressed with it. At 14mm, it's actually pretty damned close to the 12-35. I doubt I could tell them apart unless the images were side-by-side and even then it's a very small difference - just some better resolution of fine detail at the frame edge by the 12-35. At longer focal lengths (specifically, at 35mm), the 12-35 is noticeably better, but I think I can live with that for the intended use. It's slower of course, which would rule out low-light shots, but I'll usually have a prime or two with me to cover that.

The size is great too, especially when paired with my E-P5. So, I'm tempted, but then I look at the reviews which are generally fairly uninspiring (except for one by Ming Thein who rather liked it).

Any views?