PANASONIC LUMIX G X Vario Power Zoom Lens, 14-42MM, F3.5-5.6 ASPH., MIRRORLESS Micro Four Thirds, Power O.I.S., H-PS14042K (USA Black)

Maybe I am one of the lucky ones. This lens is working perfectly and I like it a lot. None of the bugs or complaints described in other reviews have materialized after a month of using the Vario PZ 14-42 lens mounted on my Panasonic Lumix GR-6 camera. I really appreciate the smaller size after lugging my GR-6 around with the standard kit lens on it. The Vario PZ reduces the size and weight noticeably. I had some surprises using this lens. Once in place it activates the digital zoom feature on the camera and all of the camera features available with the kit lens remain, albeit some are accessed a little differently on the touch screen monitor. The function lever can be set to become the power zoom control while the lever's previous exposure compensation function is accessible on the monitor screen. There is a manual zoom right on the lens itself if one prefers to make the adjustment that way. Actually, my Lumix GR-6 can set the function lever to AUTO so the zoom can be adjusted on both the lens and on the function lever. The lens accepts a 37mm filter and that means the larger filters designed for the Lumix kit lens won't fit. That is not a big problem for me since the only filter I use is a standard UV type for lens protection. Those are cheap and easily found in a variety of sizes. This Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 14-42mm lens is actually the H-PS14042 lens as described in the Lumix GF6 instruction manual. I was not absolutely certain of that until the lens arrived and I put it on my camera. It is a micro 4/3 lens that will probably fit a variety of cameras. I thought the price on this power zoom lens was about right and a good investment for expanding the potential of my camera. The lens is probably best suited for travel photography, family photos and candid shooting. The pictures I have taken with this lens are sharp,accurately colored and show no edge anomalies. It is well made and looks great on my camera. As an advanced amateur photographer with an interest in taking pictures without fighting my camera, I can recommend this lens enthusiastically.

After reading ALL reviews I could find I was reluctant to try it. I have the original 14-42mm that came with my GX1. While it takes decent pictures it is not an easy lens to use. Sticky to adjust from one position to another. Not a small lens. I purchased the GX1 primarily for travel and like the small size and weight compared to my DSLR system. Took a chance and ordered the PZ; very, very happy that I did. Maybe I got a good copy but I have not experienced any of the problems associated with this lens. Great travel lens. Great walk around lens. Sharp with good resolution. I have the 20mm 1.7 and while this lens is not quite as sharp it is close and since it is a zoom it is more versatile. A pleasure to use; I highly recommend it. Update - I spent an afternoon taking photos in various conditions along with my original 14-42 kit that came with the GX1. I found that in most all situations the quality of both was very similar. I am keeping both, why? I think the bigger kit lens lends itself better for taking serious landscape photos; is easier to use with filters such as ND, Grad ND, Circular Polarizing filter etc. Handles better on a tripod. The PZ is a far better lens for candid photos, street photography and a general walk around lens. Fun to use. I found that while they are both f3.5-5.6 the bigger kit lens is a little faster. It does not go to f5.6 as soon as the PZ lens does. Now, a number of reviewers say that it is not as good as the Olympus lens. This is contrary to sites like Photozone that rate the Lumix higher in their testing as do all other test sites. Lumix rates quite a bit better. I continue to recommend the PZ 14-42. Has to be better with the Lumix/Panasonic line cameras. I might add that I also own, and use the Lumix LX7. A camera that I strongly recommend. LX has a far smaller sensor and lens is fixed. Can not put on a longer lens for wildlife etc. Most every time I leave my home, I bring a camera with me. Most of the time it is the LX7. Smaller, lighter and a joy to use. But if I'm heading out for a shoot, I take the M43 or DSLR. Example; next week I'll be on a cruise to Hawaii. Need to travel light. Will bring Lumix GX1, PZ 14-42, PZ 45-175 and 20 f1.7. ALSO the LX7 as a back-up.

After waiting for six months after it was promised I finally managed to buy this lens as a replacement for the kit 14-42mm Lumix lens ( not a bad lens itself). So far no complaints. it is fractionally sharper than the old Panasonic 14-42, smaller, and easier to use. Now I finally have some room in my camera case. I have found the motorized zoom and manual focus to be faster and easier than the old manual zoom. It seems slightly contrastier than the old lens and the color rendition is very pleasing. As far as rumors of this lens being soft at f8 and losing a bit of focus with the stabilizer set. I didn't see it. I ran tests with various f stops with and without stabilization and saw very little difference if any. f8 seemed as sharp as the rest. I generally shoot without the stabilizer unless the shutter speeds are below 25th, probably reason being my other two Lumix lenses (20mm f1.7 and 7-14 zoom) don't offer this feature and it hasn't been a problem even though I often shoot at low light levels. i have not tried the lens with video yet. If any problems I'll update the review. An innovative lens design with performance to match. A fine lens. I give it 4.5 stars, five if they hadn't made me wait six months after promising the lens would be available. UPDATE: see reader kevdog's review. I ran the tests suggested by reader Kevdog and saw no evidence of a double image with or without stabilization...I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. My lens is not a kit lens but was purchased separately and it's possible I got the lens from Canada, at least a card which came with the lens was in French. My firmware is 1.1. I continue to be very positive about the lens.

Excellent quality and a good solution for traveling with a professional camera but much lighter than large lens

Amazing lense, I just purchased the new Mevo Core, and this is a fantastic start up lense , you can take close shots or video 2 ft away or capture a large group if you go wide on the Mevo App.

Pros: The lens is compact which makes the camera more portable. I use it on the Olympus E-P3, or E-PM2. It is quite sharp also, giving good pictures with adequate contrast. Affordable. Cons: I read the reviews on this lens about occasional double image problems at certain shutter speeds. It's true. It doesn't do it every shot which makes it hard to figure out what to do. I end up using shutter priority most of the time to keep it out of the 1/100--1/360 shutter speed where the problem seems to happen, trusting the auto ISO feature of the camera. It doesn't double image every shot in this shutter speed range which makes it hard to figure out what to do. Ergonomically it's OK but the manual focus rocker switch is a little hard to stop at just the right focus spot. Of course the lens is slow but that is what you get in this price range for a zoom lens. Being an Olympus user with in body stabilization, I wish there was a switch to turn off the lens OIS. To my eyes, It is slightly sharper than the Oly kit 14-42.. My recommendation: Only buy this lens if you need a more compact solution than the standard kit lens and you are willing to take the gamble that you may get one that double images once in a while and are willing to live with that.

This is a great lens, if you are looking for a really compact standard M43 zoom, don't hesitate to pick one of these up! There have been lots of bad reviews about this lens. It seems that when it was first released (ca. late 2011), there were some quality problems, especially with the firmware. So the lens seems to have gotten a bad rap. But there have been at least some good reviews as well. I was looking for a more compact walk-around standard zoom, and this seemed like an interesting option, so I picked up a cheap one that had been de-kitted from a package deal GX1. I can't be more pleased! I've already got the Olympus 14:42 IIR lens -- which has mediocre image quality and isn't really all that small. I'd upgraded from that to the Panasonic 14-45 (better image quality, but fairly bulky). I have done quite a few test shots over the past week in different subjects, focal lengths, exposure, etc. and I am safely convinced that the GX 14-42 is the optical equal of the 14-45. I tested at focal lengths 14/20/25/35/42, and apertures 5.6/6.7/8.0. In about 75% of the cases, I judged the X14-42 as equal to the 14-45. In almost all the remaining cases, the X14-42 actually looked better. At both "whole image" and pixel peeping levels. (Caveat -- all shot on an Olympus EP3, with the older 12 MP sensor, so perhaps there is a bigger difference between the 14-42 and 14-45 with a higher-resolution sensor). Build quality is good. Size of the lens when collapsed is same as the Panasonic 20mm pancake, so the whole camera + lens now easily fits into a coat pocket. Now, this is still a kit zoom, with a minimum aperture of F3.5 on the wide side and F5.6 on the telephoto side. So don't think it's going to replace your favorite primes for "when it counts." But, as a standard walk-around zoom, this one has earned a place in my bag, and the previous favorite 14-45 is going into the closet. Given the initial quality control issues, make sure you get a new one or freshly de-kitted one from a reputable seller, don't take a chance on provenance of a used one.

I bought this 14-42mm compact mid-range (28-84mm-equivalent in 35mm fill-frame terms) power-zoom lens to accompany my 45-175mm power-zoom for video work - and both lenses zoom using the G5 and G6 on-body zoom levers, with zooming speed controlled by that plus a "Low/Medium/High" selection in the menus. Performance (in my particular sample) is quite good, with very good sharpness to the corners throughout its zoom range by f8. It also appears to be very good in ghosting and flare characteristics, and I have seen no evidence yet of "double-imaging" with some shutter-speeds being used - but I generally use the electronic shutters on my cameras. It can often be used successfully at VERY slow shutter speeds (especially when using it near 14mm, and with repeated photos being taken of the same thing). It's small size is useful when it is on any of the compact Panasonic MFT bodies for fitting the cameras into small carrying cases. Now for the "bad" part: while I can get fairly slow zooms with the two Panasonic "PZ" lenses with video, I cannot get my preferred zooming "crawl" speed (and in no exposure mode available on a Panasonic G6 body can I reliably get zooms without exposure "bobbles", which are VERY difficult to correct during editing - although, with a few tries I can sometimes get smooth zooms without "bobbles", but only with zooming from shorter to longer FLs). There are often image disturbances at the beginnings and endings of zooming also to account for while shooting and editing. In general, zooming while shooting video is much less successful with still-cameras-that-also-shoot-video than with video camcorders. Recommended (with a good sample, and for some purposes). --DR UPDATE: I found that by using "Continuous-Focus" set to "On" in the video menus, and with the auto 23-segment AF focus pattern selected, I can get much smoother exposures with zooming while shooting video while using the on-body (G5 and G6) zoom toggle. --DR