OM System’s Updated 14-42mm Kit Lens

credits: OM System

Alongside the new OM System PEN, which we looked at in yesterday’s magazine issue, OM Digital Solutions has introduced the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 III, a refreshed version of its small standard kit zoom. The lens covers 14-42mm, or 28-84mm equivalent on Micro Four Thirds, making it an straightforward zoom for everything from wider street photos to tighter portraits. The biggest change from the previous 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II is not the optics, though. OM System has given the new version an IPX1-rated splash-proof and dust-proof design, following a similar update to the 17mm f/1.8 II and 25mm f/1.8 II primes last year.

The other useful improvement is closer focusing. The previous 14-42mm II could focus down to 25cm, with a maximum magnification of 0.19x. The new Mark III cuts that minimum focusing distance almost in half to 13cm, reaching 0.26x magnification at 14mm, or roughly 0.53x in 35mm-equivalent terms. It is also very important to separate this lens from OM System’s existing 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ. That model is the much slimmer electronically controlled pancake zoom and remains a different lens altogether, it also does not have the new model’s IPX1 weather resistance.

Optically, the new 14-42mm III uses eight elements in seven groups, including three aspherical elements. It is still a very small lens despite the added weather sealing, weighing 125g and measuring 50.5mm long, with a 46mm filter thread at the front. For comparison, the electronic 14-42mm EZ pancake weighs only 93g. The OM System M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 III will arrive in late October for $349.99.