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Lens review

2012-06-11
 

Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S.

11. Summary

Pros:
  • small, compact and neat casing with metal mount,
  • very good image quality in the frame centre,
  • negligible longitudinal chromatic aberration,
  • moderate lateral chromatic aberration at longer focal lengths,
  • well-controlled coma,
  • slight astigmatism,
  • efficient and noiseless autofocus,
  • efficient image stabilization.

Cons:

  • weak image quality on the edge of the frame at the longest focal length,
  • very high lateral chromatic aberration at the shortest focal length,
  • high distortion on both focal extremes,
  • significant vignetting,
  • weak performance against bright light.

The results of our test show that, when it comes to the optics, we deal here with a typical ‘kit’ lens which doesn’t stand out against the rest of contemporary devices of this type which are added at almost no charge to the reflex and mirrorless cameras of its rivals. The quality is something that makes the Panasonic stick out, though. It is a device produced in Japan, made of solid components with a metal mount. The second difference are the dimensions. In the folded position it is just slightly bigger than a typical “pancake” instruments and will be a neat addition to any mirrorless camera. The third difference is the zooming mechanism which works like that in compact cameras. It is a matter of taste whether you like it or not, but you can’t deny it the efficiency during movie recording.

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These three things, listed by us here, can be serious advantages. However if you already own a Micro 4/3 mirrorless camera and you want to buy only the lens you must take into account a serious expense of almost 1,500 PLN. It is a lot for such optical properties you get here. When you want to buy a camera-plus-lens set the difference between an ordinary ‘kit’ lens and a model, tested here, is far less daunting, just several hundred PLN. Such a sum is worth considering especially that it might assure that you’ll get a small, handy set which can fit a bigger pocket and won’t fall apart after a year or two of intensive usage.


Sample shots

Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/125 s, ISO 400
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.65 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/60 s, ISO 400
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.57 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/100 s, ISO 400
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.05 MB
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 24 mm, f/4.8, exp. 1/125 s, ISO 400
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.12 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 14 mm, f/4.5, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 400
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.55 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 26 mm, f/5.0, exp. 1/250 s, ISO 400
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 8.41 MB
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 14 mm, f/3.5, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 200
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 9.08 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 14 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/80 s, ISO 200
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 9.02 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 14 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/320 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.69 MB
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 14 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/1600 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.7 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 27 mm, f/5.1, exp. 1/1000 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 6.97 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 27 mm, f/7.1, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 6.9 MB
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/640 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 6.1 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/320 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 6.16 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/320 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 9.05 MB
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 14 mm, f/3.5, exp. 1/2000 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 8.92 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 28 mm, f/5.2, exp. 1/1000 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 8.96 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 28 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/400 s, ISO 100
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 9.02 MB
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Panasonic G X VARIO PZ 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. P.O.I.S. - Summary
Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/200 s, ISO 200
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 6.88 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 42 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/100 s, ISO 200
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 6.85 MB 		Camera: Olympus E-PL1
Parameters: 28 mm, f/6.3, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 200
File: JPEG, 4032×3024 pix, 7.03 MB

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