Panasonic Announces New 14-42mm II Kit Lens

[Amin]

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Many here will wonder why the world needs another 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, but keep in mind that the lens which comes with the camera is the only lens most people will ever own. It's also the one sitting on the camera when most people decide which camera to buy.

Version II of Panasonic's 14-42mm kit lens sports some nice if unexciting refinements compared to version I. It is lighter (110g vs 160g), shorter (49mm vs 63mm), has a shorter minimum focus (0.2m vs 0.3m), and comes in either black or silver.

Source: DPReview via 1001 Noisy Cameras

 

[Armanius]

AWESOME!!!! Nothing like yet another slow aperture kit zoom!! Yes, I'm being facetious. At least it does come in black or silver now.

 

[xdayv]

looking forward if it will be optically good as the 14-45.

 

[jamespetts]

Have they not also improved the OIS?

 

[Cruzan80]

Why silver? I had thought that 90%+ of Panasonics came in black (the other 8% being red and 2% white/silver)? What about a red kit zoom? Doesn't that make it faster?

 

[Bacek]

I always thought that previous 14-42 was pretty large for m4/3.

 

[mrjr]

I always thought that previous 14-42 was pretty large for m4/3.

Yup. Especially on the GF bodies. I think Panasonic realized that and updated their lens to make a better show at Best Buy against the Nikon 1 stuff and Olympus EPLs.

 

[kevwilfoto]

It's a bit confusing - it's the third 14-42 lens from Panasonic, so are they considering the X pancake version a different line? Or are they trying to forget it ever existed? ;-)

 

[Steven]

I think it looks quite spiffy. Obviously the design styling from the new 45-150 zoom.
I do wonder what will happen to the 14-42 and 45-175 x zooms. Is Panasonic totally abandoning that line? I hope not. I hope they improve and rerelease them

 

[Mellow]

I'm not going to bash this lens until I see how it performs. The 14-45mm kit lens is probably my favorite lens for m43, even though I own several much more expensive lenses. It covers the focal lengths I'm most interested in, is fast enough for 90% of what I shoot, and is dang sharp. It's OIS is pretty amazing too.

So . . . if the new lens can do all that AND is about 1/2 the weight and 3/4 of the length then I'll be all over it. In a heartbeat.

 

[Djarum]

Really

Is it April 1st?

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I'll buy one if it's sharp.

 

[dhazeghi]

I always thought that previous 14-42 was pretty large for m4/3.

It was. Largest of the 14-4x lenses.

The nice thing about the new one is that it's now smaller and lighter than the Olympus 14-42 II R and all the other 14-4x zoom lenses, but doesn't have the idiotic retracting mechanism that the Olympus has, and offers equally close focusing.

 

[battleaxe]

I like it for it's size seeing as I have a GF3, and if the optically quality is better or even equal to the standard 14-42mm, then I may trade to get one, specially since it has a metal mount. Now the only question is, will it be priced like the 14-42mm X, or the standard 14-42?

On another note, what are the chances this is replacing both 14-42mm lenses seeing as the X lens is now discontinued, and this is suppose to be a lens option on the GF5, which is getting a bit old in the tech world.

 

[Mellow]

I had a 14-42mm x for a while and it just didn't seem that small--especially with a lens cap or filter attached. And I really didn't like the power zoom and power focus either.

This new lens seems about as small as it can be made without resorting to gimmicks like collapsing and power everything. I think it's a great addition to the kit lens lineup. Let's hope it's sharp!

Also curious about the price . . . hard to believe they can ask much more than a typical kit lens (i.e., nothing near the 14-42mm x).

 

[neon123]

If it works with the wideangle adaptor I'll get one.

 

[bongestrella]

They probably manufacture these for $25 and sell as part of the kit for $50. If I were Panasonic, why not?

 

[danisolatie]

Hi everyone.

Are you aware that the lens only extends 5mm at the 42mm focal length?
For me that is more interesting than the lens being smaller than the previous version: it almost stays the same size at all the zoom range.

I personally love zoom lenses with internal zoom, so they don't extend while zooming, and that's not the case with this new lens, but at least it only grows 5mm!

What I'm not sure yet is the length of the lens at 14mm, I don't know if the minimum 49mm length is only at the 25mm focal length, and maybe at widest it also extends a bit. All the pictures I have found show the lens at that focal length, except for this one:

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I found the image in this preview:
Zoom estándar de Panasonic

Cheers!

 

[gr6825]

Thanks for sharing that preview. I thought this was interesting:

Viewed from behind, appreciate the detail that remains stationary posterior lens with varying focal-good not pump air and dust-and particularly of his mount, metallic-looking ... although it is actually plastic with metallic coating.

I've never heard of a metallic-coated plastic mount, but maybe it adds some durability?

 

[xdayv]

it's still plastic, but with a mettalic gloss finish. it looks better though.