Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 ED / EZ-M1442

100% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Excellent sharpness across the frame from maximum aperture; Compact collapsible design; Light weight; 25cm minimum focus distance

Rotating front element may make using polarisers or graduated filters tricky

very good image quality in the frame centre ; good image quality at the frame edge ; chromatic aberration well-corrected ; slight coma ; low astigmatism ; negligible vignetting ; efficient autofocus

very high distortion ; at longer focal lengths the work against bright light could have been better

Impressive entry-level standard zoom

Nothing, given its price point

Overall, the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 is a very competent standard zoom and excellent entry-level performer. The fact that it hasn't scored higher is due to the way in which the total figure is calculated, with just one of the five factors directly reflecting...

Excellent sharpness across the frame from maximum aperture; Compact collapsible design; Light weight; 25cm minimum focus distance

Slow AF; Rotating front element may make using polarisers or graduated filters tricky

As this is the lens that was supplied as a kit with earlier Olympus PEN digital cameras, it will be one many owners of these cameras already have. Unless you require a faster maximum aperture, or a longer zoom range, the quality produced by this lens...

Excellent resolution, tons of detail in the shots, Appealing, bright and punchy out of camera results and well optimized JPEGs, Very clever collapsible kit lens that's small, but offers decent quality, Unique retro design puts SLR quality into a...

Slow focus requires a more considered approach to shooting, Some highlight clipping (and poor dynamic range at ISO 100), Low resolution screen that's hard to see in bright light, No viewfinder, No built-in flash (and the optional flash is expensive and...

Great resolution in wide angle (compared to the other standard zooms), also in the corners.Very small when collapsed

Slow autofocus.Needs to be unfolded to take pictures.Doesn't exactly feel like a well lubricated mashine

Great resolution in wide angle (compared to the other standard zooms), also in the corners.Very small when collapsed

Slow autofocus.Needs to be unfolded to take pictures.Doesn't exactly feel like a well lubricated mashine

Very good resolution and contrast at wide (14mm) to normal (25mm) settings. Not much distortion.Very little flare for a zoom lens.Handy when folded

Lens has to be unfolded before use and becomes quite long.Lens mount feels loose and unstable.Zoom ring turns uneven with a kind of "lump" in the movement.Plastic has some moulding edges in it.Silver finish a bit uneven from back to front and not like...

Very good resolution and contrast at wide (14mm) to normal (25mm) settings. Not much distortion.Very little flare for a zoom lens.Handy when folded

Lens has to be unfolded before use and becomes quite long.Lens mount feels loose and unstable.Zoom ring turns uneven with a kind of "lump" in the movement.Plastic has some moulding edges in it.Silver finish a bit uneven from back to front and not like...

Optical quality is very good around the middle of the zoom range and pretty acceptable around the extremes.Very compact when collapsed for storage.Very light compared to other kit lenses.Good close focusing ability (~20cm)

Can not use polarizing or graduated filters due to the rotating front element.CA and some softness at the widest zoom angles.Mechanical construction is not sturdy at all.Can not carry more than two filters on the filter thread because the AF motor can...