A very informal review of a Kit Lens for an entry level ICL (Interchangeable Lens) Camera.

[AndyS]

First a disclaimer: Cameras do not make images. They offer the chance to extract the beauty and meaning of what we see and share it with others.

I write this because photo equipment is getting more and more expensive as the market shrinks and camera makers are promoting the top end equipment as that's most profitable. An everyday 'walk around' kit can range from $600 to close to a $8,000. Do you really need to spend mega bucks to make really good images?

What follows was shot with an Olympus 14-42mm EZ lens. It's extremely compact at only 7/8 inch long in the off state and about 2" long at the most extended. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1026122-REG/olympus_v314070bu000_14_42mm_f_3_5_5_6_ez_lens.html/ I believe that this review applies to any brand kit. You judge.

First the 'bad news'. At closest focus this picture of my business card shows about a stop of vignette (darkening) in the corners. That said I couldn't get the whole standard size biz card in the picture. Not bad for close ups, eh?

Next is a snapshot of a regular hanging basket for scale at the wide end of the zoom range. No work of art but with the following pic will show range.

Max zoom at closest range. One of the blooms on the above basket. All images straight from camera, no post processing.

Here is a portrait of my dog, Jack, doing what he does best. Mid range zoom. There's no vignetting obvious because texture and details hide it unless it's 3 stops or more, really egregious.

So how sharp is it? This is a crop from the above portrait. It's about .13 megapixles from a 20 meg original. Look closely and the reflection in Jack's eye is the carpet and just above that is a dark blob (the camera) with a light spot on the right (my hand on the camera).

How much detail can you pull from this tiny crop?* I ran it through an enlarging app and pulled this. Look closely and you can see texture in the carpet!

I think modern optics even at the least expensive will produce "Pro Pictures" at far less than "Pro Lens" costs. You don't have to have the newest whiz bang or the latest 'Pro' equipment to make meaningful memories and share worthy or even wall hanging quality images. Whatever you get will offer a lot more than you will be able to use at first, you'll grow into it.

*Is all the detail really there? Yes and no. The way the app works is to take a pixel with information in it and surround it with empty space. Then it looks at two adjacent pixels and guesses at what should be in the empty space and fills it in. It 'makes up' detail BUT the two donor pixels have to have enough information to share.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I like your "informal" review very much, Andy!

There's a lot of information here. Thanks for your thorough critique.

I'd buy one of these!

[AndyS]

3. Kit lenses are relatively inexpensive largely because they are constructed

of high density resin and plastics. The optics are really quite good on all of them.

[Gato Moteado]

6. i've noticed this as well...

...i don't have any kit lenses but here in latinamerica, where most people can't afford expensive stuff, a lot of photographers use 10 year old gear with kit lenses and some of them make my work look second rate. so, yeah, the image quality on kit lenses is plenty good enough for good photographers to make great images.

on a related note, the $200 "nifty fifty" or "plastic fantastic", as i prefer to call it, is one of my favorite lenses for shooting people. the nikon 50mm f/1.8 is sharp and fun to shoot with despite having a build quality that isn't so impressive.

[mitch96]

2. This lens is a real stunner. I got it on my OM-10 mk3 as the std lense.. I like it alot..

I'm no great shakes on my camera and the lens makes ME look good...
m

[AndyS]

4. This is the third version of the standard zoom.

The other two are at least twice as large and heavy. The optics got a bit better in each generation as well not that most of us can actually see.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

5. My "walk around" cameras use kit lenses

My regular "walk around" or "everyday shooters" are both crop sensor cameras with amazing kit lenses. I usually carry a Canon T1i or T6s with a kit 18-135mm lens, which works out to a 28-200mm equivalent. I think back to the old days of film, and I would have had to carry two bodies with 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and a 75-210mm lenses, plus a flash, to have the same functionality. Plus these lenses are sharper and the photos have better resolution. If I had never bought another camera after purchasing these gems I would consider myself a very lucky person.

[ManiacJoe]

7. Kit lenses these days are good lenses.

Obviously, kit lenses will be of lesser quality than pro lenses. However, today's kit zoom lenses are better than the pro zoom lenses from the 80s and 90s.