Review by Sebastian Milczanowski, published August 2012

Introduction

The Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm is a member of Panasonic's new premium “X” series. It is probably the smallest zoom lens in the whole industry. However, this compactness is achieved by a trick - out of the box (in its "transport position") the lens is not ready for shooting - it needs to be extended to its working mode similar to a digicam lens. Nevertheless, in working mode it is still shorter than e.g. the directly competing Panasonic G 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6.
The compact allrounder offers an equivalent focal length of about 28-84mm in full format (35mm) terms. The lens is offered both as part of camera-lens kit and individually. In the latter case is available for around 350 Euro which is certainly a bit expensive for a lens in this class but its "pancake" style character just doesn't come for free.

Objectively the build quality is fine thanks to very tight tolerances as well as good quality plastics and the metal mount. The electric zoom and focus lever operates smoothly and allows comfortable as well as shake-free operations during movie recording. Additionally, the front element does not rotate thanks to an inner Focus System.

The following figure shows the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm and the Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm just to give you an idea about the differences in size.

Last but not least, the AF performance of the lens is outstanding and the silent lens drive is well suited for movie shooting without annoying focusing noise.