OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 IIR Silver For Micro Four Thirds System Camera, Compact 3x zoom Lens

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 176 ratings

Price: 99.99

Last update: 12-27-2024


About this item

Collapsible wide-to-portrait lens
7 aperture blades (circular aperture diaphragm for natural background blurring)
3x zoom range covers everything from landscapes to portraits
Nearly silent movie and still compatible auto-focus, great for movie shooting
Close focusing down to 9.84 inches
14-42 mm (35mm equivalent focal length 28-84 mm)
7 (circular aperture diaphragm for natural background blurring)
37mm filter size
Ver. II R Lens

Product information


Top reviews from the United States

Bobby Danger
5.0 out of 5 stars Great lens that might require some breaking in (if you're in video)
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2022
Full disclosure, I'm not a professional. I love my camera, I love shooting video, and I am really enjoying this lens, but consider a grain of salt if you're a working professional shooting every day and looking for a review to stake part of your livelihood on. That said, I'll speak from the heart/wallet.

This lens was a replacement for me of a much cheaper lens of similar specs, albeit at a shorter maximum focal length. But even more than the long zoom, the first thing that struck me right out of the box is that this lens feels solid and built to last.

I haven't done a definitive test of focal qualities, but in casual use I've found that the focus is consistent from the widest to tightest focal length. That is, I haven't had to refocus going from a wide shot to tight, which I understand to be the case in higher-quality lenses. I have not observed any softness at maximum zoom, personally.

So my one critique of this lens - and I'm reluctant to even call it a critique, as it feels like a reasonable break-in step to me - is that the action on the zoom was a little sticky at first. Turning the zoom ring by hand, it required significantly higher effort around the mid-zoom mark - just enough that doing a smooth zoom, as one might want in certain film genres, wasn't possible. BY NO MEANS was it so difficult I felt I'd endanger the lens; definitely not a manufacture issue, nothing jammed or anything like that. My focus motor also had trouble with it, for what it's worth; I use a Ronin S2 gimbal and its accessory focus motor when I'm shooting video, and here I repurposed the focus motor for zoom, attempting some genre-specific camera work. The motor calibration got hung up on the sticky spot, and once I overcame that, the actual zoom motion was still sticky and inhibited.

I looked into this and several professionals' websites recommended both "breaking it in" and lubricating it properly (which requires not only lens-specific lube, but the right lube for the particular lens manufacturer, and frankly, I'm cheap) so I started with breaking it in. Just kept the lens on my desk for a couple days, and during free moments I'd twist the zoom ring back and forth through its extents, for a few minutes at a time. I probably spent less than 30 minutes total on this before the action became considerably smoother - a truly minor investment for smooth-zooming action. Having done this, I'm confident I can snap-zoom by hand and slow-zoom with the focus motor when I want to.

In short, I'm happy with this lens. It'll fit a different role in your kit, I'm sure, but it's my first zoom and the versatility of it, after using nothing but primes, is fantastic.
J. V.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great pics
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2024
My last lens broke after 14 years of use, including around the world. This is the exact same lens and functions as well as the last. I could have purchased any micro four-thirds lens, but why mess with success?
S. M. Cox
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Lens
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2013
I am happy with the lens, it has a good range for everyday shooting. I like the fact that it collapses to such a small size, but it takes some getting used to to unlock and lock it for use and to close it up. I'm not ecstatic that the body is plastic, I do worry that it is a bit fragile so we handle with care. But it is a good price for the product and I am pleased with its performance.
Wu Yongwei
5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Nice Lens
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2011
I read reviews on DPReview and other sites first, so I knew what I would be buying. When I first attached it to my E-P1 body, the only thing that puzzled me a little was the message "Please check the status of a lens". One is expected to turn the zoom ring to make it useable, and the message is not very clear--more a problem of the body.

I like the look of the lens. For the second generation of M.Zuiko 14-42mm lens, there are two versions. I chose the R version, because I thought it looks better. The other non-R version is $15 cheaper, but it looks ugly to me. The silver colour I chose matches the E-P1 body perfectly.

It is a cheap and light lens, but the image quality is very good. As a Movie-Still-Compatible (MSC) lens, it focuses fast and silently, and is very suitable for taking videos. Just keep in mind that in silent environments the focusing sound can still be recorded, if you use the microphone on the camera body--again, it is not really an issue for this lens.

Of course, with f/5.6 on the telephoto end, it is really not for low-light photography. Still, it serves the purpose very well as a lightweight travel companion with my E-P1. My Canon body and four lenses are obviously better in many aspects, but I probably do not want to bring them on a business travel.
Andres Bertens
5.0 out of 5 stars More than good enough to me.
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2019
Not perfect but more than good enough to me. If allowed by light, stopping down 1 stop from minimum and pictures amaze me on detail. Chromatic aberration or soft borders exists but fortunately both low. Construction is good enough also, mainly plastic. I would prefer metal mount but a plastic one does not bother me (I have another one with plastic mount for more than a year now: 40-150mm).
H.Khan
5.0 out of 5 stars Very sharp lens
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2020
Brought this lens by mistake, was looking for the original kit lens. Started making gifts of my micro four third cameras after I found out that the good lens were out was too costly. I used mostly legacy lens with adaptors. The one EPL1 I kept was for an underwater housing for my daughter. I eventually found out that I had to buy another EPL1 to get the original lens.
See some examples above
Customer image
H.Khan
5.0 out of 5 stars Very sharp lens
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2020
Brought this lens by mistake, was looking for the original kit lens. Started making gifts of my micro four third cameras after I found out that the good lens were out was too costly. I used mostly legacy lens with adaptors. The one EPL1 I kept was for an underwater housing for my daughter. I eventually found out that I had to buy another EPL1 to get the original lens.
See some examples above
Images in this review
Customer image Customer image Customer image
corinnakao
1.0 out of 5 stars Broken after taking a flight
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2017
I bought it one month ago. I tested it with a few shots. It worked fine. I then put on my backpack for a long flight to a foreign country. When I used the lens again in the foreign country, I just saw a black screen on my camera body and the lens did not work at all. I could not believe it because I carefully handled the lens along the travel, and It worked before. I later figured out that some components inside the lens was not tightly screwed, so after some turbulences on the flight, the lens failed to work. Unfortunately I could not returned it cause I was away from the USA. I should buy a new one instead of this kind of used lens. You don't know if it has some inherent problems or not.

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