Panasonic Lumix G VARIO 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II Lens Review

Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 mm f/3.5-5.6 II Handling and features

The lens barrel is constructed from high quality plastics, with a gun-metal effect finish, which feel quite sturdy and it only weighs 110g. As this lens is marketed as a luxury alternative to their other standard zooms, the lens mount is metal. The small size of this lens should make it perfect for use with even the most compact Micro Four Thirds bodies and it also feels right at home on the Panasonic Lumix G3 used for testing.

As focusing is performed internally the 46mm filter thread does not rotate, which makes this lens ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. The manaul focusing ring is lightly damped, which means only a light touch is required to apply adjustments. The minimum focus distance is 20cm between 14mm and 20mm, but raises to 30cm at longer focal lengths, which makes this lens suitable for shooting in tight spaces at short focal lengths. The difference in minimum focusing can take a little getting used to, especially if the lens is zoomed to alter the composition at close distances.

The optical stabiliser is activated from the in-camera menu on Panasonic cameras. With a little care, the optical stabilisation system allows sharp shots to be taken just over half the time at 1/10sec at 42mm, which is roughly three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb would dictate.

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